The by-election was caused by the death on 30 July 1919 of the sitting Coalition Liberal Member of Parliament, Sir Joseph Compton-Rickett.

The by-election was a straight fight between Isaac Burns for the Labour Party, the nominee of the Yorkshire Miners' Association[2] and 50-year-old Walter Forrest, a woollen manufacturer from Pudsey for the Coalition Government of Prime Minister David Lloyd George, although the Liberals apparently had some trouble in finding a candidate at first.

[7] Burns stated he was in favour of a number of Labour policies including equal adult franchise for both sexes, pensions for mothers and free secondary education for all.

[8] Walter Forrest set out his position on a number of questions at his meetings of both the local Coalition Liberals and Unionist parties.

[9] He also strongly advocated economy and retrenchment [8] but one of the Liberal MPs who visited the constituency to speak for him, Dr T J Macnamara the Secretary to the Admiralty, in a speech designed to protect the position of his Department and no doubt appeal to the patriotic feelings of working class and Unionist voters, was keen to point out that national security must take precedence over economy.