1886 Edinburgh South by-elections

UK parliamentary by-election December 2023 November 2013 The 1886 Edinburgh South by-elections were two parliamentary by-elections held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Edinburgh South in the Scottish capital in January and February 1886. It was the latest occurrence of two by-elections in the same constituency in the same year until the 1990 Bootle by-elections. Vacancy Under the provisions of the Succession to the Crown Act 1707 and a number of subsequent Acts, MPs appointed to certain ministerial and legal offices were at this time required to seek re-election.Craig F. W. S. British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918 1974 Macmillan Press London 9781349022984 xiv The by-election in Edinburgh South was caused by the appointment of the sitting Liberal MP, Hugh Childers as Home Secretary.The Times, 4 February 1886, p5 Candidates Childers had been the MP for Edinburgh South for just a few days when he had to resign to seek re-election. He had won the seat on 29 January 1886 in a by-election occasioned by the death of Sir George Harrison who had been elected as an Independent Liberal at the 1885 general election. At the by-election, Childers beat his Conservative challenger, Walter George Hepburne-Scott, 9th Lord Polwarth, taking 70% of the poll.Craig 1974, p499 Before being selected for Edinburgh South, Childers had been MP for Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire since 1860 Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1832-1885; Macmillan Press, 1977 p242 but had lost the seat narrowly at the 1885 general election.Craig 1974, p170 Childers also had a distinguished government career behind him by 1886 having been, amongst other posts he held, First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for War and Chancellor of the Exchequer in previous Liberal administrations.William Carr, revised H C G Matthew, Hugh Culling Eardley Childers; in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online, 2004-13 The writ for the by-election was moved in Parliament on 4 February by Arnold Morley, who went on to be the new government’s Chief Whip, along with a number of writs for other seats involving newly appointed ministers in Gladstone's third administration. These included Gladstone himself, Joseph Chamberlain, Vernon Harcourt and Henry Campbell-Bannerman amongst others.The Times, 5 February 1886, p8 Having been so roundly beaten so recently in the constituency, the Tories did not wish to contest Childers’ appointment to the government and there being no other nominations, Childers was returned unopposed.The Times, 10 February 1886, p10 January result 1886 by-election: Edinburgh SouthCraig 1974 Liberal Party (UK) Hugh Childers 4,029 70.0 +29.8 Conservative Party (UK) Walter George Hepburne-Scott, 9th Lord Polwarth 1,730 30.0 New Walter Hepburne-Scott 2,299 40.0 N/A 5,759 65.8 −15.8 8,754 Liberal Party (UK) Independent Liberal N/A February result Edinburgh South by-election, 9 February 1886The Constitutional Year Book, 1904, published by Conservative Central Office, page 184 (208 in web page) Liberal Party (UK) Hugh Childers Unopposed N/A N/A Liberal Party (UK) N/A See also 1899 Edinburgh South by-election 1910 Edinburgh South by-election 1917 Edinburgh South by-election 1957 Edinburgh South by-election See also List of United Kingdom by-elections United Kingdom by-election records References Category:1886 in Scotland 1886 Edinburgh South Category:1886 elections in the United Kingdom South, 1886 Category:Unopposed ministerial by-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies Category:1880s in Edinburgh Category:January 1886 in the United Kingdom Category:February 1886 in the United Kingdom