divided the right-way vote in Islington East to give a normally safe Tory seat to Labour generated a strong reaction within the Conservative ranks. Both Rotheremere and Beaverbrook were considered to be useful to the Conservative party because of their vast wealth and newspaper empires, but at the same time, their efforts to threaten MPs via unfavorable newspaper coverage was considered to be a form of crass backmail. In March 1931, an by-election was called for the riding of St. George's. The by-election was widely seen as a sort of referendum on Baldiwn's leadership, and both Rothermere and Beaverbrook aggressively used their newspapers to campaign for the United Empire Party candidate. Sensing defeat, the Conservative candidate dropped out, and for a time Baldwin considered running. Alfred Duff Cooper volunteered instead and ran as a Conservative loyal to Baldwin. It was believed that if Duff Cooper lost the by-election, Baldwin would have to resign and as such the by-election attracted much more media attention than usual for a by-election. Through most of the Conservative party leaders wanted Baldwin to resign by this point, the fear of the party being taken over by the "press lords" proved even more stronger. Baldwin campaigned for Duff Cooper and in a speech denounced Beaverbrook and Rothermere, saying: "What the proprietorship of these papers is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility-the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages...this contest is not a contest as to who is to lead the party, but as to who is to appoint the leader of the party". Baldwin's dignified speech which stood in stark contrast to the often hysterical and shill claims of the Beaverbrook and Rothermere newspapers made a very favorable impression. Duff Cooper won the St. George's by-election by a comfortable margin, which marked the failure of the United Empire party and saved Baldwin's leadership. "Enthusiast" for fascism In the 1930s Rothermere used his newspapers to try to influence British politics, particularly reflecting his strong support of the appeasement of Nazi Germany; historian Martin Pugh considers him "perhaps the most influential single propagandist for fascism between the wars". In 1937, the Daily Mail had a daily circulation of 1,580,000 subscribers and was the only popular broadsheet newspaper with a predominantly middle-class readership, making Rothermere into an influential media mogul. The British historian Richard Griffiths made a distinction between "enthusiasts" for fascism, which were a group of