Whitty received some Unionist support, while Hamill received separatist support.[2] Whitty was aged just 21, becoming the youngest MP at the time. He was the nephew of Richard Hazleton, elected MP for the seat in December 1910 but subsequently unseated on petition (although Hazleton continued to sit for North Galway where he had been elected at the same election). Whitty was imposed on the constituency of North Louth by the Party leadership in what was widely ridiculed as an act of nepotism. D.P. Moran's paper the Leader referred to him as "Whitty the Kid" and published a cartoon in which his victory procession included a pram labelled "The Next Candidate".
