Sir Robert Aske, 1st Baronet

Robert Aske in 1910

Sir Robert William Aske, 1st Baronet, Kt (29 December 1872 – 10 March 1954) was a barrister and Liberal Party politician in the United Kingdom.

Biography

He was born on 29 December 1872. He first stood for parliament in 1910, contesting Hull Central, a seat that the Conservatives had held in the 1906 Liberal landslide. Though it was not a promising seat, he did very well, coming to within 20 votes of defeating the Tory.

General Election January 1910: Hull Central^[1] Electorate 8,181

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Henry Seymour King	3,606	50.1
	Liberal	Robert William Aske	3,586	49.9
Majority			20	0.2
Turnout				87.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

At the second general election of the year, he did not do quite as well;

General Election December 1910: Hull Central^[2] Electorate 8,181

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Sir Henry Seymour King	3,625	51.5	+1.4
	Liberal	Robert William Aske	3,418	48.5	-1.4
Majority			207	3.0	+2.8
Turnout				86.1	-1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.4

A third opportunity came to contest Hull Central at a by-election. His Conservative opponent had been unseated on petition. However he was again unsuccessful;

Kingston upon Hull Central by-election, 1911^[3] Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes	3,823	51.9	+0.4
	Liberal	Sir Robert William Aske	3,545	48.1	-0.4
Majority				3.8	+0.8
Turnout			7,368
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.4

He did not contest Hull Central again and did not stand for parliament again until 1923.

At the 1923 general election he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East, but lost his seat a year later, at the 1924 general election, to Labour's Martin Henry Connolly.

Aske regained the seat at the 1929 general election, and held it until the Labour landslide at the 1945 general election. When the Liberal Party split in 1931 over participation in Ramsay Macdonald's Conservative-dominated National Government, Aske was one those who broke away to form the new National Liberal Party, which merged in 1948 with the Conservatives.

Having been knighted in 1911,^[4] he was created a baronet in the 1922 New Year Honours.^[5][6] He also served as Deputy Sheriff of Hull on three occasions.^[7]

He died on 10 March 1954.

References

1. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
2. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
3. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
4. The London Gazette: no. 28469. p. 1469. 24 February 1911.
5. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 32563. p. 10710. 30 December 1921.
6. The London Gazette: no. 32668. p. 2916. 11 April 1922.
7. The Times House of Commons, 1929; Politico's Publishing, 2003 p. 52

Sources

• Leigh Rayment's list of baronets
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Sir Robert Aske