He was the son of Henry Arthur Bright JP of Ashfield, Knotty Ash, Liverpool and his wife Mary Elizabeth née Thompson of nearby Thingwall Hall.
[1] Following education at Malvern and Harrow Schools, he became a member of the Liverpool firm of Rogers & Bright, tinplate merchants and ship agents, and in 1885 he married Edith Turner, a prominent campaigner for women's and workers' rights.
The by-election took place during the Second Boer War, and the candidate of the incumbent Conservative Party, Sir Edgar Vincent, was elected with a large majority.
[4] In January 1900 he became a member of the South Africa Conciliation Committee, which was formed for the "dissemination of accurate information" on the war, and to seek an early "peaceable settlement between this country and the Boer Republics".
For the consequent by-election Bright was again chosen as the Liberal candidate, and The Times noted that he had "nursed the constituency assidiously of late".
[11] The election was held in January 1910, but Bright failed to hold the seat for the Liberals, losing by 57 votes in spite of a large swing to the party in much of the country.
[12] A further general election was held at the end of the year, and Bright consented to be the Liberal candidate at Stalybridge again, but failed to regain the seat.