The Preston election has resulted in the return of the
Unionist candidate by the substantial majority of 2,149. Mr. Kerr, the Unionist, polled 8,639 votes ; and Mr. Hodge, the Labour candidate, but receiving Liberal recog- nition and support, polled 6,490. At the last election- i.e., in 1900—Mr. Hanbury polled 8,944 votes, and the junior Member, Mr. Tomlinson, 8,067; while the Labour candidate, Mr. Hardie, only received 4,834.—Preston is a two- Membered constituency.—Thus Mr. Kerr, though he did not do quite so well as Mr. Hanbury, did a good deal better than the Member who yet polled enough votes to get in. The election is one which will gratify the Government and stimu- late the flagging spirits of their supporters. It will also please the official Liberals, as showing that Labour candi- dates, even in such essentially working-class constituencies as Preston, are by no means all-powerful. The moral of Preston, in fact, is that so wisely insisted on by Mr. Morley,—namely, that though working men ought to be welcomed in Parliament, they should come there, not ticketed as Labour Members, and so as the representatives of hard-and- fast caste divisions, but like other Members of Parliament, as representatives of all classes, though representatives holding, it may be, special views and opinions. Mr. Morley's view is clearly that best suited to the true interests of the nation, and we believe it will also prove to be the view endorsed by the electors.
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