British Election Fray

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 655, 6 May 1929, Page 9

British Election Fray

FIERCE AND COMPLICATED Issue Not Clearly Defined GREAT BRITAIN is warming- up thoroughly to the General Election on May 30. No fewer than 1,634 candidates are battling for the 615 seats. Mr. J. L. Garvin, a shrewd observer, gives the Liberals little chance and considers that Labour cannot possibly capture even a bare majority of the seats.

(United P.4. —By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association)

Reed. 9.5 a.m. LONDON, Sunday. "With peace in industry established, this is not the time to put into office either the Socialist Party, a large section of which is definitely pledged to class warfare, or the Liberal Party, whose unemployment scheme even the Liberals declare to be impracticable,” says Mr. Stanley Baldwin, the Conservative leader, in a message to the nation. After detailing the Government’s record, he claims that trade is more prosperious now than at any other time since the war. Parliament will be dissolved on Friday, and members of the House of Commons then disperse all over the country. Mr. J. L. Garvin, writing it) “The Observer,” arrives at two negative conclusions—firstly, that the Liberal dreams of becoming the strongest or even the second strongest single party are out of the question; secondly, it is impossible that the Labourites can double their present Parliamentary numbers and gain the 150 seats necessary to secure even a bare majority in the Commons, He adds: “No one knows the extent to which the Labourites and Liberals will knock out each other.” 1,634 CANDIDATES Nomination day has been fixed for May 20, and polling day for May 30. The following table shows the state of parties after the election of 1924 and the number of prospective candidates for the coming election; 1924 1929 Poll. Candidates. Conservatives .. 413 584 Liberals 40 475 Labour 151 575 Constitutionalists 6 Independents .. 5 Totals 615 1.534 The election campaign has not yet been fully developed, but there is sufficient evidence to show that it will be one of the fiercest and most complicated and puzzling in the political history of Britain. All the parties are at present manoeuvring for position. The issue is not yet clearly defined, but platform and press campaigns alike are already being conducted in very strong language. The first official lists of candidates are not expected to be issued before the end or next week. The Labour Party already has endorsed 555 candidates and in all probability will endorse a further 20. This is easily a Labour record. WOMEN CANDIDATES There are at present 64 women candidates, compared with 41 at the last election. These are divided as follow: Conservatives, eight; Liberals, 25; Labour, 28; Communist, two; Independent, one. Even this increased total is small in view of the fact that women voters are predominant in the electorate, which now includes half the people in the nation. Less than a century ago scarcely a 15th part of the people of the nation voted. Of the women voters there are many thousands of young women of Britain’s middle-class and better class homes who live in an atmosphere quite remote from Socialism. There is no fear that they will be enveigled into Labour's battalions, but admittedly a huge unknown factor has been thrown into the scales. The chief puzzle will be the political leanings of the thousands of women and girl workers who live alone in lodgings in the big cities, detached from home influence or any organisation. After the General Election of 1924 the state of the parties wash; Conservatives .. .. 415 Labour .. .. 151 Liberals ............ 44 Independents 5 This gave the Conservatives a clear majority of 215 over all other parties in the House. A certain number of members were returned as Constitutionalists, but for convenience they

have been classified according: to the political party from which they now receive a whip. Reckoning the two seats rendered vacant by the deaths of Mr. Stephen Walsh and Mr. Frank Varley as Labour, the present position of the parties is: Conservatives .. .. .. .. 400 Labour 162 Liberals 46 Independents ........ 7 Thus after nearly five years of office the Conservative majority over all other parties combined stands at 185. compared with 215 at the opening of the Parliament. There have been 62 by-elections since the General Election of 1924 and in only two instances was there an unopposed return. In the 61 contested elections the following votes were cast: 55 Conservative candidates 630.680 56 Labour candidates 567,914 59 Liberal candidates . . 447,834 l Communist candidate . 2.61 S 6 Independent candidates 10.60 S

STALKING THE VOTER

PARTY SPOKESMEN ARE BUSY BALDWIN’S MANIFESTO British. Official Wireless Reed. 10.59 a.m. RUGBY, Sunday. It is expected that in only eight of the 615 constituencies will there be no contest when the General Election takes place at the end of the month. Already 1,685 candidates are in the field, which constitutes a record for Parliamentary elections in this country. The registration figures show that on the' new registers the women entitled to vote predominate. For the first time, wireless broadcasting is playing and will continue to play an important part In the contest. The Conservative, Labour and Liberal spokesmen have in turn used the mic rophone during the last few weeks, and arrangements have been made for the women representatives of each of the three parties to broadcast a special address to women. Mr. Lloyd George, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald and Mr. Stanley Baldwin, the three Party leaders, will speak on May 27, 2S and 29, respectively, delivering their final messages to the voters prior to the polling on May 30. One in every three houses in the country has wireless, and it is estimated that the listeners-in number 20,000,000. The Prime Minister this week-end issued a manifesto in which he urges the voters to regard the Government's fulfilment of pledges in the past four years as a guarantee that if returned to power it would again keep faith. Reviewing the work of his administration, the Prime Minister says that, despite the industrial troubles of 1926, which cost the ratepayers £80,000.000 and the trade of the country £4,000,000,000, trade is now more prosperous than at any time since the war. As indications of improvement, he states that 78 coal mines reopened this year, and he points to the shipbuilding revival, to the increase In the national trading profit from £86,000,000 to £149,000,000 during the past four years, and to the fact that 600,000 more people are working than in 1924. Since that date 800,000 houses have been erected, the cost of living has been reduced, much social legislation has been passed, including extensions of the old-age pensions to insured workers at 65 Instead of 70, and a large scheme of rating and local government reform introduced, which will be of vast benefit to agriculture and industry.