1917 Spalding by-election

However this truce was sometimes broken by Independents[2] and in September 1917, Mr A Montagu Lyons (almost certainly the same Abraham Montagu Lyons who was later Conservative MP for Leicester East), published an appeal to the electors of Spalding indicating he would be prepared to stand as an Independent.

He called for an overhaul of the conscription process, an increase in the pay of soldiers, sailors and airmen, the proper care of demobilized servicemen, the setting up of a Ministry of Health, air reprisals on enemy territory and a programme of national reconstruction.

The official newspaper of the local Unionist Association put forward the claim of William Royce who had fought the seat for the Tories in both January and December 1910.

At the same time, Montagu was arranging to visit the constituency and confer with his supporters[5] but on 22 October he decided not to submit a formal nomination, perhaps believing he had already made many of the political points he had wanted without actually having to provoke the controversy of contesting the election.

[6] In the circumstances the Unionists were content to honour the wartime truce and no opposing candidate was nominated against Peel.