Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1929. THE BRITISH ELECTIONS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 157, 4 June 1929, Page 6

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 1929. THE BRITISH ELECTIONS

The British elections have resulted in a very serious setback tor the Conservative and Unionist Government, which has now to give way to the Labour Party in governing England, for Mr Baldwin has decided to resign office instead of meeting Parliament and being defeated on a no-confidence motion. It is evident that many of the seats gained by Labour, have been obtained on the split vote, the Labour candidates being returned in very many cases on the minority vote, in some instances their j r ote being thousands short of the combined Conservative and Liberal vote. Seats safely held in the last Parliament by Conservatives or Unionists were thus handed over to Labour by the intrusion of Liberal candidates. To cite a few cases : In Islington North, where Labour gained the seat with 18,272 votes, the combined Conservative and Liberal vote, with the Conservative 5000 in the lead, was 25,417. In Rochester, the Labour candidate came in first with 13,007 votes, the Conservative (with 12,221) and Liberal candidates polling 17,505. Salford North, another seat held by a Conservative, went to Mr Ben Tillett with 17,333 votes, while 20,016 were recorded for the Conservative and Liberal candidates, of which the latter only obtained 6609. The result was much the same in Salford West, the Labour candidate obtaining the seat with 15,647 votes, 20,903 being obtained by his two opponents, only 3909 being polled by the Liberal. In constituencies returning two members, Labour won at Sunderland with 62,879 votes, • 100,549 being recorded against them by the Conservative and Liberal candidates. At Southampton, again, Labour gained the two seats held by the Conservatives with 63,501 votes against 80,501 polled for their opponents, the defeat of the Conservative candidates being brought about by the two Liberals, who only polled 25.802 votes against their 54,699. In many other cases also the loss of seats, held by the Government, was directly attributable to the Liberals who polled a considerably inferior vote to their Conservative opponents. The Liberals.

indeed, made a very poor showing in the majority of the constituencies, althougli they have gained fifteen seats more than they held in the late Parliament. To what extent the granting of the franchise, by the late Conservative Government, to all women over 21 years of age had on the election it is impossible at this distance to say with any degree of certainty; but the leaders of the Labour Party were confident the great majority of the new voters would support Labour candidates and the results seem to confirm that view. According to the cables some other circles in England have now come to the same conclusion and the results in the great industrial centres seem to confirm that impression. However, the Conservative defeat cannot be attributed to any one cause or set of circumstances —a multitude of reasons may be advanced; but there can be no doubt that the campaign conducted by leading English papers, during the past year, against the regulations under the Defence of the Realm Act—a war time measure —had a great deal to do with the discrediting of the Conservatives. Just as the electors in New Zealand revolted —at the 1928 election—against so much government by regulation so a great section of English voters have revolted with the result now before us.