Penrith and Cockermouth by-election, 1921

The Penrith and Cockermouth by-election, 1921 was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Penrith and Cockermouth in Cumberland on 13 May 1921.

The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Coalition Conservative Member of Parliament, the Right Hon. James Lowther. Lowther was retiring as Speaker of the House of Commons and was created Viscount Ullswater later in 1921.

The election was straight fight between Major-General Cecil Lowther, the brother of the retiring MP, soldier and former big game hunter for the Unionists and Levi Collison, an art printer from Preston in Lancashire for the Asquithian Independent Liberal Party.

For the Liberals, the by-election was an opportunity to attack the record of the Coalition government of David Lloyd George. They particularly tried to highlight the waste and inefficiency of the government with the local farming community. They were however hampered by years of political inactivity and poor organisation in the constituency. It was reported that Collison, despite his principal trade of art printer, had considerable experience of farming, advocated an advanced agricultural policy and that many local farmers regarded him as a real friend. Collison also favoured some degree of nationalisation in the mining industry, which was less popular, even against the background of coal strikes which had made supplies in the area scarce.

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