An election to the County Council of London took place on 2 March 1922. It was the eleventh triennial election of the whole council. There were sixty dual member constituencies and one four member constituency, making a total of 124 seats. The council was elected by First Past the Post with each elector having two votes in the dual member seats.
National government background
The Prime Minister of the day was the Liberal David Lloyd George who led a Coalition Government that included the Unionist Party and those Liberals and Socialists who had broken from the main Liberal and Labour parties who sat in opposition. The Coalition was numerically dominated by the Unionists who were still 7 months away from overthrowing Lloyd George. The Coalition had been losing parliamentary seats in by-elections to both opposition parties including two in London to Labour; at 1921 Southwark South East by-election and during the council election campaign at 1922 Camberwell North by-election where one of the incumbent London Labour councillors Charles Ammon was elected to parliament on 20 February 1922. Ten days later, the electors of Camberwell North re-elected him to the County Council.
London Council background
Although the Municipal Reform Party had an overall majority, in line with national politics, they decided late in 1917 to form a war-time coalition to mirror the national government. Some Progressive Party members were offered chairmanships of committees. This coalition had continued after the war ended, but both parties, along with the Labour Party, fought the 1922 elections on separate platforms.
Candidates
The leader of the Municipal Reform Party did not defend his seat, but was expected to remain a member when the new council appointed its new aldermen. There was no county wide electoral agreements between any of the parties, though clearly there had been some locally agreed situations. There were very few constituencies where all three parties stood two candidates. In the past, the Progressive Party had encompassed the Labour Party, with candidates running in harness. That situation had recently ended when former Progressive Party councillor Harry Gosling became leader of the Labour Party. In its place there were a few Progressive candidates running in harness with Municipal Reform candidates. Among Labour's candidates were members of the recently formed Communist Party, such as Albert Inkpin.
Outcome
Labour suffered a setback when their Leader, Harry Gosling was defeated at Kennington, thanks to an electoral arrangement between the Progressives and the Municipal Reformers, although he regained the seat at a by-election a month later. Labour had mixed results, managing to more or less hold their own. The leader of the Progressive Party, John Scott Lidgett, was also unseated at Rotherhithe, although he was able to remain a member of the council when he was appointed an alderman. The big winners were the Municipal Reform Party, who made a number of gains at the expense of the Progressives.
Constituency results
Incumbent Councillors shown in bold.
Battersea
Bermondsey
Bethnal Green
Camberwell
Chelsea
City of London
Deptford
Finsbury
Fulham
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith
Hampstead
Holborn
Islington
Naylor had contested the seat in 1919 as a Municipal Reform candidate.
Kensington
Lambeth
Lewisham
Paddington
Poplar
St Marylebone
St Pancras
Shoreditch
Southwark
Stepney
Stoke Newington
Wandsworth
Westminster
Woolwich
Aldermen
The council also appointed 20 aldermen, to serve for a 6-year term. After the elections, there were eleven aldermanic vacancies and the following alderman were appointed by the newly elected council; John Jacob Astor, Municipal Reform Alfred Ordway Goodrich, Municipal Reform (retiring councillor for Mile End) George Hopwood Hume, Municipal Reform (retiring councillor for Greenwich) Dr Florence Barrie Lambert, Municipal Reform (retiring councillor for Brixton) Ronald Collet Norman, Municipal Reform (retiring councillor for Chelsea) Jessie Wilton Phipps, Municipal Reform Sir Harry Lushington Stephen, Municipal Reform Herbert Arthur Baker, Progressive (retiring councillor for Camberwell North) Dr John Scott Lidgett, Progressive (retiring councillor for Rotherhithe) George Masterman Gillett, Labour (retiring Progressive councillor for Finsbury) Albert Emil Davies, Labour (re-appointed)