WI Baldwin delays election until 1926?

Instead of the idiotic decision for a protectionist mandate less than 2 years into his term? Will there still be a three-cornered result, or will Lab have completely overhauled Lib by that point? Maybe the Libs get lucky and depose that **** Asquith?
 
I would say a three-cornered result with Conservative probably first, Labour probably second and Liberal third. Labour would gain seats from Conservative and Liberal. I would guess they would increase their representation to somewhere between 220 and 250 seats. Assume that a reunited Liberal Party contested a 1926 general election they would have a net gain of seats from the Conservatives and a net loss to Labour. They would not collapse as they did in the 1924 general election in OTL when they fell from 159 seats to 40 seats. As a rough guess I would say they would end with somewhere in the range of 90 to 130 seats. So in a 1926 general election the result could be Labour 220-250 seats, Liberal 90-130 seats, Conservative 228-298 seats, independents and others 7 (as in 1923 in OTL).

I will compare the results of by-elections in 1926 with the results in the same constituencies in the 1922 general election, in the book British
Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1950.

The result of a 1926 general election would depend on whether there is general strike as in OTL and whether Baldwin calls a general election immediately or soon after it has ended.

After the 1924 general election in OTL most Liberal MPs were supporters of Lloyd George. If after a 1926 general election there are two to three times as many Liberal MPs, the majority would probably be anti Lloyd George. So Asquith could hang on as Liberal leader until he has to resign because of illness or incapacity in 1927.
 
Here are the percentage votes in by-elections in 1926 with the 1922 general election result in brackets.

29 January - Dunbartonshire:
Conservative: 48.0 (50.4)
Labour: 43.9 (49.6)
Liberal: 8.1 (no candidate)

29 January - Renfrewshire, East:
Conservative: 52.0 (40.0)
Labour: 48.0 (42.5)
(Liberal: 17.5)

17 February - Darlington:
Labour: 44.5 (33.8)
Conservative: 43.3 (49.7)
Liberal: 12.2 (16.5)

8 March - Combined English Universities. Election for one member in a two-member constituency.
Conservative: 53.9
Liberal: 46.1
In general elections in this constituency two members were elected by the single transferable vote. The result of the first round of voting in 1922 was Conservative 32.8, National Liberal 27.7, Independent 19.4, Labour 12.2, Independent Conservative 4.8, Independent Conservative. The by-election was caused by the resignation of H. A. L. Fisher who was elected as a National Liberal in 1922.

26 March - Lanarkshire, Bothwell:
Labour: 59.7 (57.0)
Conservative: 35.2 (43.0)
Liberal: 5.1 (no candidate)

29 April - East Ham, North:
Labour: 40.7 (27.8)
Conservative: 34.5 (29.7)
Liberal: 24.8 (6.2)
(National Liberal: 19.7)
(Independent - "People's" candidate: 16.6)

5 May - Yorkshire: Buckrose:
Conservative: 48.7 (51.3)
Liberal: 42.5 (48.7)
Labour: 8.8 (no candidate)

28 May - Hammersmith, North:
Labour: 53.4 (29.8)
Conservative: 38.6 (46.3)
Liberal: 8.0 (23.9)

21 July - Wallsend:
Labour: 57.7 (46.8)
Conservative: 30.1 (37.6)
Liberal: 12.2 (9.6)
(National Democratic and Labour party: 6.0)

17 September - Cumberland, Northern:
Conservative: 47.8 (50.6)
Liberal: 37.1 (49.4)
Labour; 15.1 (nio candidate)

25 November - Yorkshire, Howdenshire:
Conservative: 54.2 (60.5)
Liberal: 34.0 (no candidate)
Labour: 11.8 (no candidate)
(Independent - farmers' candidate: 39.5)

29 November - Kingston-upon-Hull, Central:
Labour: 52.9 (no candidate)
Conservative: 37.6 (44.5)
Liberal: 9.5 (55.5)
The by-election was caused by Joseph Kenworthy, the Liberal MP since being elected in a by-election on 29 March 1919, resigning the seat and seeking re-election as a Labour candidate.

30 November - Essex, Chelmsford:
Conservative: 47.8 (52.6)
Liberal: 30.2 (29.8)
Labour: 22.0 (17.6)

21 December - Smethwick:
Labour: 57.1 (50.7)
Conservative: 33.7 (49.3)
Liberal: 9.2 (no candidate).
 
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