| In February
1921 a by-election was called in Ceredigion on M L Vaughan Davies's elevation
to the House of Lords. The two candidates for the seat were Captain Ernest
Evans, Coalition Liberal, and W Llewelyn Williams, Independent Liberal. |
|
|
|
Ernest Evans was a barrister in
Aberystwyth and was previously private secretary to Lloyd George. He
was the official Liberal Party candidate but he was opposed by another Liberal candidate, W Llewelyn Williams. Williams was an avid supporter
of Asquith and disliked Lloyd George. He had been the MP for Carmarthen Boroughs from 1906 until the seat was abolished in 1918. |
| A new Welsh Liberal Federation
was formed by some of Asquith's supporters, such as Ellis W Davies and Rhys Hopkin
Morris. It was formed to oppose the Welsh National Council that was being
run by Lloyd George. The Federation believed that the Government was ignoring
the calls for Home Rule and that they were trying to destroy the Temperance
Bill. |
|
|
This by-election created major rifts within the community.
The Methodists and townspeople tended to support Captain Evans while the
people living in the countryside, especially the Baptists and the Congregationalists,
gave their support to Llewelyn Williams. The Conservatives did not nominate
a candidate for this particular by-election and it's likely that Ernest
Evans won most of that party's traditional vote. |
| Captain Ernest Evans, Lloyd George's favoured
candidate won the by-election with 14,111 votes compared to Williams's
10,521. |
|
