The result of tile Abbey by-election was a victory for
Mr. Otho Nicholson over Mr. Churchill by the narrow majority of 33. The figures were :— Mr. Otho Nicholson (Conservative) .. 8,186 Mr. Churchill (Independent) .. .. 8,153 Mr. A. Fenner Brockway (Labour) .. 6,154 Mr. J. Scott Duckers (Liberal) .. .. 290 The huge anti-Socialist vote is a further strong reminder to the Government that they have nothing resembling a Socialist mandate and must go very cautiously. The result is hard on Mr. Churchill, but the Party Machine was too strong for him. The smash for Liberalism is sensational. There has not been such a lively election in London for many years. Mr. Churchill is a new kind of stormy petrel ; he is the creator rather than the symbol of the storm. On the polling day, on Wednesday, the Abbey Division might have been the scene of a fête with the decorated cars and men shouting rallying cries through megaphones. Mr. Churchill was easily first in the organization of effect, just as he had been the most unconventional and daring in enlisting the oratorical support of a popular boxer and a popular jockey.
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