Hatch was aged 29, a wine merchant from London but had been active in the Gorton constituency for his party since June 1888.
Indeed, Mather declared it was the only question to be settled in the contest and hoped that the electors would not be influenced by any side issues.
During the by-election, they set up their own election committee on behalf of Mather and canvassed in their own end of the constituency.
[7] Mather held the seat for the Liberals with a slightly increased majority of 846 as opposed to Peacock’s 457 at the 1886 general election.
[9] It was reported that the Liberals had been confident of a much larger majority for Mather and that as the numbers of Irish electors in the division was about 1100, without that sectional support the seat might well have been lost.