ABSTRACT
Despite the ‘political immorality’ of Lloyd George’s so-called ‘coupon election’, the sudden dissolution of Parliament, ten days after the Armistice, did not find the Derbyshire Miners’ Association unprepared. Plans had already been made, before the end of the war, for Frank Hall and Frank Lee to contest the Clay Cross and North-East Derbyshire divisions respectively. In North-East Derbyshire there were four candidates, three of whom claimed to be coalitionists. The Marquis of Harrington was the official coalition candidate. Harland Bowden, who had been disowned by the local Conservative caucus during the war, appeared as an Independent candidate prepared to support the coalition. In January, 1919, the Council reminded members that it was prepared to pay the expenses of any Labour candidate who had a reasonable chance of success in the county council elections.
