NOTES

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 156, 30 December 1918, Page 7

NOTES

Tho new Parliament will assemble on 21sfc January. The lajsi; Generol Election was held nearly eight yoara ago, the life of the late Parliament having teen extended five times till its duration has had no equal since the Long Parliament, which eat from IWO to 1653. Aa the result af the Roforav Bill, ,y«Hed-ft few vtotfia pgo, eeviMsl |m

constituencies were cut up into smaller electorates, increasing the number of members from 670 to 70?, and the franchise was extended. Every man over 21 years "of age, -whether a property holder or not, can now exercise the vote, whilp the age for enfranchisement for soldiers was lowered to 19 years. Women over 30 years of age were entitled to vote v There were 14 women candidates, including Miss Christabel Pankhurst and Mrs. Despatd (sister- of Field-Marshal Lord French), who stood for the Battersea seat as ,a Labour candidate, the former representative, Mr. John Burns, having been adopted as candidate by the Pontefract (Yorkshire) Miners' Federation. The nomination of Mrs. Hodges, who sought to oppose Mr. Asquith in East Fife, was rejected owing to an informality. The parties contesting the elections ar©: — "' ' Liberal Coalitionists 125 Unionist Coalitionists 425 Labour Coalitionists 15 Independent Coalitionists 15 Asquith Liberals '270 Labourites ..- 400 Women's Party -.-. 14 Nationalists 57 Sinn 'Feiners "..'.. ... 1...,..;.....'...*. 80 Australians who engaged in the cot tests are Sir F. W. Voting, former Agent-General for South Australia (Coalitionist), returned foi' the Swindon division of Wiltshire; Sir E. Newton Moore, former Premier of Western Australia, who succeeded the late Sir George Reid as- Unionist representative of St. George's, Hanover-square, .returned for North Islington; Rear-Admiral Sir Guy Gaunt, formerly of Victoria, who stood for the- Leek division of Staffordshk*; and Lieutenant A. S. Parker, of the 14th Battalion (Victoria), A.1.F., who was selected as Liberal-Labour candidate for Birmingham. One hundred and seven candidates werereturned unopposed, the parties represented being:—Coalition Unionists, 41; Coalition Liberals, 27; Sinn Feiners, 27 ; Labourites, H; Nationalist, 1. Amongst the re-elected members are tho following, the places given in parentheses I being the seats fqr which they sat in the last Parliament:—Mr. Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (City of London); Sir Frederick Ban-bury (City of London); Mr. James Lowther, Speaker (Penrith Division of Cumberland); Mr. Austen Chamberlain (West Division of Birmingham); Mr. T. P. O'Connor, Irish Nationalist (Scotland Division of Liverpool); Mr. J. R. Clynes, Labour, formerly Food Controller (North-East Division of Manchester); Mr. W L. J Burdett-Coutts (Westminster); Mr. J. Cathoart Wason (Orkney and Shetland); Mr R. W Brace (Glamorgan South); Mr. Will Crooks (Woolwich); Mr. Kennedy Jones (Horusey Division of Middlesex) ; Mr, Henry Wilson-Fox (Tamworth Division of Middlesex); Colonel John Ward (Stoke-on-Trent); Mr. G. J. Wardle (Stockport); Mr. S. L. Hughes (Stockport); Mr J. C. Wedgwood (New-castle-under-Lyme); Sir Henry Dalziel (Kirkcaldy Burghs); Mr W Abraham (Rhondda Division of Glamorgan); Mr. E. de Valera (Clare E.); Count Plunkett (Roscommon N.); Mr Tom Richards (Moranontbshire W.); and Colonel C. E. Yate (Meton). Dr. W. A. Chappie, who was defeated, is an ex-New Zealand M.P , and was in medical practice in New* Zealand. He has been M.P. ..for Stirlingshire since 1910.,