1909 Edinburgh East by-election

UK parliamentary by-election February 2017 February 2017 1909 Edinburgh East by-election presidential United Kingdom Edinburgh East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1900s 1906 Edinburgh East (UK Parliament constituency)#Elections in the 1910s Jan. 1910 16 April 1909 Gibson 85px Liberal Party (UK) 4,527 52.7% Ford 85px Liberal Unionist Party 4,069 47.3% 250px MP Subsequent MP Sir George McCrae Liberal Party (UK) Sir James Gibson Liberal Party (UK) The 1909 Edinburgh East by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 16 April 1909.Craig F.W.S. 1987 Chronology of British Parliamentary By-elections 1833–1987 Chichester Parliamentary Research Services 103 The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system. Vacancy Sir George McCrae had been Liberal MP for the seat of Edinburgh East since the 1899 Edinburgh East by-election. He resigned from the House of Commons to take up a position in Scottish government service, accepting the appointment of Vice-President of the Scottish Local Government Board.Edmund Burke, The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year; Longmans, Green, 1910 Electoral history The seat had been won by a Liberal at every election since it was created in 1885. They easily held the seat at the last election, with an increased majority; General election 1906: Edinburgh EastWhitaker's Almanack, 1907 Liberal Party (UK) George McCrae 6,606 73.1 +14.6 Liberal Unionist Party Rankin Dawson 2,432 26.9 −14.6 4,174 46.2 +29.2 9,038 78.1 +8.9 11,572 Liberal Party (UK) +14.6 Candidates The local Liberal Association selected 60-year-old James Gibson to defend the seat. He had been Lord Provost of Edinburgh since 1906. The Conservatives selected 29-year-old Patrick Ford as their candidate. Campaign Polling Day was fixed for 16 April 1909. Result The Liberal majority was only a ninth of their 1906 result. This was generally ascribed to the loss of the Roman Catholic vote because of the failure to settle the education question.;A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J.A. Pease thumb|120px|Gibson Edinburgh East by-election, 1909Craig F. W. S. British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918 1974 Macmillan Press London 9781349022984 Liberal Party (UK) James Gibson 4,527 52.7 −20.4 Liberal Unionist Party Patrick Ford 4,069 47.3 +20.4 458 5.4 −40.8 8,596 73.4 −4.7 11,710 Liberal Party (UK) −20.4 Aftermath General election January 1910: Edinburgh East Liberal Party (UK) James Gibson 6,760 61.3 +8.6 Liberal Unionist Party Patrick Ford 4,273 38.7 -8.6 2,487 22.6 +17.2 11,033 88.0 +14.6 12,544 Liberal Party (UK) +8.6 References Edinburgh East by-election Category:1900s elections in Scotland Edinburgh East by-election Edinburgh East by-election East, 1909 Category:1900s in Edinburgh