In the 1897 election, Diggle was the leading personality, leading his own group into the elections; he was largely blamed for the Moderate split and lost his own seat by 4,000 votes.
In the 1897 election, Diggle was the leading personality, leading his own group into the elections. He was largely blamed for the Moderate split and saw his vote drop by nearly two-thirds from over 30,000 to less than 10,500, losing his own seat by 4,000 votes.