1905 The Barkston Ash by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the British House of Commons constituency of Barkston Ash, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on 13 October 1905. Vacancy The by-election was caused by the death, on 18 September 1905, of the sitting Conservative MP Sir Robert Gunter. Gunter had been seriously ill with neuritis and phlebitis since June 1905 and had been unconscious for several days before his death. Electoral history Barkston Ash was a safe Tory seat. It had been represented by Gunter since it was created in 1885. Gunter had been unopposed at the 1900 general election and also in 1895. The last contest had come in 1892, with Gunter winning easily; Candidates Conservatives Because of ill health, Gunter had told his local party in 1903, that he would be standing down as MP. They had then selected 35 year old George Lane-Fox, an Eton and Oxford educated barrister and a member of the West Riding County Council to be their candidate. Liberals The Liberals had already selected 32 year old Joseph Andrews, a barrister from Leeds to fight the next general election. They adopted Andrews as their by-election candidate. Other There was speculation that an Independent candidate, Henry Liversidge, would also stand. Earlier in 1905 he announced an intention to contest the next election as a Lib-Lab candidate, but on the platform of tariff reform. It was subsequently reported that no Tariff Reform League or other candidate would be standing specifically on that issue. Campaign The political tide seemed to be flowing against the Tory government of Arthur Balfour. In 1903 they had lost five seats in by-elections, in 1904 another seven and six seats had been gained by the Liberals in by-elections so far in 1905. Tariff Reform Although no tariff candidate entered the field, the issue of protectionism was one of the great issues of the day. Whereas the question of Irish Home Rule had dominated political debate in earlier elections, the ‘dumping’ of foreign goods on British markets and the struggle between tariff reformers and free traders was now seen as a prime election battleground. The Free Trade Union, founded in 1903 to safeguard the free import of food and raw materials and oppose the policy of protection as a barrier to good relations within the British Empire had acquired a reputation for intelligent and effective electioneering on behalf of