By 1920, the prospect of a merger of the Conservative and Liberal parties was being seriously considered. The local Conservative group considered that had it run candidates in 1918, it would have won both seats. As a result, when Hughes died, they considered it their turn to nominate a candidate for the constituency. Meanwhile, the Liberal group was determined to run a candidate to replace Hughes. David Lloyd George and Bonar Law, national Liberal and Conservative leaders, had been considering merging their organisations to form a single party, and considered that it would be a disaster to have Conservative and Liberal candidates facing each other. In order to keep their local organisations happy, they convinced Wardle to resign, enabling both to stand a candidate. The Liberals chose Henry Fildes, and the Conservatives, William Greenwood.