1897 Liverpool Exchange by-election

The seat had become vacant in October 1897 when the Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament (MP), John Bigham, had been appointed as a judge of the Queen's Bench division of the High Court.

[2] Immediately after Bigham's appointment was announced, The Times newspaper reported on Saturday 16 October that the Liberal Unionist candidate was likely to be Charles McArthur, an average adjuster from Liverpool and former chairman of the city's chamber of commerce.

The businessmen were aggrieved at the Unionist government's treatment of shipping and at the unsympathetic reception received by a recent delegation to the President of the Board of Trade, Charles Ritchie.

[8] On the 24th, the Speaker of the House of Commons William Gully gave notice in the London Gazette that by accepting appointment as a judge, Bigham had vacated his seat.

[2] St Anne's and Vauxhall wards contained some of the worst slums in Liverpool, with about 2,000 Irishmen who were all expected to vote Liberal because of that party's support for Irish Home Rule.

He claimed that Rea "surrenders himself as the 'white slave' of their masters, the Nationalists, whose one avowed aim is the disintegration of the United Kingdom, the certain forerunner of the breakup of our great and valiant empire".

[12] On the 25th, McArthur told workers that his opponents were "exploiting" the light dues issue, but that he was equally committed to their abolition, preferring that navigational aids should be funded by central government.

Rea held a meeting at Liverpool Town Hall, where Northwich MP Sir John Brunner accused McArthur of bluffing.

[17] Local newspapers reported a Liberal victory, but a recount found a bundle of misplaced ballot papers, and shortly after 10pm the result was declared by the Lord Mayor John Houlding as a 54-vote majority for McArthur.