1885 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

none August 2019 1885 United Kingdom general election in Scotland Scotland parliamentary no 1880 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1880 List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1880 1886 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1886 All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885 24 Nov. – 18 Dec. 1885 82.0% ( 2.0 pp) William Ewart Gladstone, 1892 (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 William Ewart Gladstone April 1880 Liberal Party (UK) Midlothian 53 seats,fn2 Combined results for burgh, county and university seats 70.1% 51fn2 2 238,627fn1 Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only 53.3%fn1 16.8%fn1 Robert-Gascoyne-Cecil-3rd-Marquess-of-Salisbury (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Marquess of Salisbury April 1881 Conservative Party (UK) House of Lords 7 seats,fn2 29.9% 10fn2 3 151,137fn1 34.3%fn1 4.4%fn1 Gavin Clark.jpg 123 120 160 0 0 Gavin Brown Clark Crofters Party Caithness DDFF55 Did not stand 4fn2 4 16,551fn1 3.7%fn1 New party United Kingdom general election 1885 in Scotland.svg From 24 November to 18 December 1885, the 1885 United Kingdom general election was held in Scotland, to elect all 670 members of the House of Commons, with 72 seats being in Scotland.British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 12 2006British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 1 0333197348 1976 Scotland was allocated 70 territorial seats, comprising 32 burgh constituencies and 37 county constituencies,One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament. and two university constituencies, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities. The election came about due to the resignation of the Liberal Government and request for a dissolution after a defeat in the House of Commons on an amendment to the Finance Bill by the Liberal Party. The Marquess of Salisbury formed subsequently a minority Conservative Government but within five months he requested a dissolution.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 164 0333197348 1976 As a result of the election nationally, the Liberal Party were returned with the greatest number of seats, but short of an overall majority in its own right. Electoral system All constituencies contested under the first past the post electoral system. It was the first general election to be held after enactment of the Representation of the People Act 1884, known also as the Third Reform Act.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 173 0333197348 1976 This was also accompanied with the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885. The former Act brought about an extension of the franchise and voting rights which had already existed in towns to rural areas of the United Kingdom, and together with the latter Act, brought about the general use of single-member constituencies under first-past-the-post voting and increased the general distribution of more rural constituencies amongst the counties. As part of the general re-distribution, Scotland had gained 12 seats since the previous election as a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and the electorate had increased from 293,581 to 560,580 (out of 3,735,573 people registered as living in Scotland in the 1881 census)https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/sct/population Population of Scotland GENUKI 14 October 2025 8 March 2025 as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1884. This arrangement would last until 1918.British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 20 2006 It was also the first election following the passing of the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Prevention Act 1883. This Act criminalised attempts to bribe voters and standardised the amount that could be spent on election expenses. Candidates Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1885 general election in Scotland.https://api.parliament.uk/uk-general-elections/general-elections/13 UK General Elections Results 1832-2019 12 August 2026British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 12 2006Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 1977 Macmillan Press London 978-1-349-02349-3 1st e-book Affiliation Candidates Liberal Party 70 Conservative Party 55 Independent Liberal 17 Crofters Party 6The candidates that stood were Donald Horne Macfarlane in Argyllshire, Gavin Brown Clark in Caithness, Roderick Macdonald in Ross and Cromarty, Walter McLaren in Inverness Burghs, Charles Fraser-Mackintosh in Inverness-shire, and Angus Sutherland in Sutherland . Scottish Land Restoration League 5The candidates that stood were James Shaw Maxwell in Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown, William Forsyth in Glasgow Bridgeton, Wallace McGuffin Greaves in Glasgow Tradeston, John Morrison Davidson in Greenock, and John Murdoch in Partick. Independent Conservative 1Candidate John Steven Storr stood in Kilmarnock Burghs. Wick Radical Workingmen's Association 1Candidate John Macdonald Cameron stood in Wick Burghs. Scottish Farmers' Alliance 1Candidate Quintin Kerr stood in West Aberdeenshire. Hamilton Liberal Association 1Candidate James Galloway Weir stood in Falkirk Burghs.Total 157 Analysis Liberal Party and independents Of particular note was the splintering of the Liberal representation in Scotland. Some 7 MPs were returned as Independent Liberals, with Edinburgh in particular seeing 3 of its 4 constituencies return Independent Liberals. Amongst those in Edinburgh were John Wilson in Edinburgh Central, George Goschen in Edinburgh East, and George Harrison in Edinburgh South.https://books.google.com/books?id=qSyxCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 British Historical Facts, 1830–1900 Chris Cook Brendan Keith 1975 Springer Verlag 9781349013487 96–97 Wilson and Goschen would go on to instead stand as candidates for the Liberal Unionist Party when it had formed prior to the election in 1886.https://books.google.com/books?id=qSyxCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 British Historical Facts, 1830–1900 Chris Cook Brendan Keith 1975 Springer Verlag 9781349013487 96–97 Charles Stuart Parker in Perth, George Campbell in Kirkcaldy Burghs, with Sir Robert Anstruther winning the seat of St Andrews Burghs by only 2 votes. All winning Liberal candidates, except Anstruther who would retire from Parliament in 1886, would go on to stand as official candidates for Liberal Party at the next election. This number included John Macdonald Cameron in Wick Burghs, under the specific sponsorship of the Wick Radical Workingman's Association. Cameron would run again in the following year as an official Liberal candidate.https://books.google.com/books?id=qSyxCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 British Historical Facts, 1830–1900 Chris Cook Brendan Keith 1975 Springer Verlag 9781349013487 96–97 Crofters Party In the western Highlands the Crofters Party emerged as the dominant force, taking four constituencies. The Independent Liberal MP elected for the Wick Burghs also aligned with the group. The emergence of the group was owed to the Representation of the People Act 1884, which had reduced the property qualifications for voters. As a result many crofters were able to vote for the first time in 1885. The Crofting Party worked in close collaboration with the Highland Land League, and opposed the lack of secure and tenure and the severely reduced access to land for crofters.https://books.google.com/books?id=qSyxCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96 British Historical Facts, 1830–1900 Chris Cook Brendan Keith 1975 Springer Verlag 9781349013487 96–97 In terms of seat, the Crofters Party returned 4 seats in Scotland out of the 6 candidates which stood amongst the highland constituencies. These were Donald Horne Macfarlane in Argyllshire, Gavin Brown Clark in Caithness, Roderick Macdonald in Ross and Cromarty, and Walter McLaren in Inverness Burghs. The group would, however, stand again in the following election but as supportive of the Liberal Party and unopposed by the party. This was true for of such MPs apart from Fraser-Mackintosh in Inverness-shire, who would go on to join the splitting party from the Liberal Party, the Liberal Unionist Party in the 1886 general election.Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 1977 Macmillan Press London 978-1-349-02349-3 1st e-book The other of such candidates ––Walter McLaren in Inverness Burghs and Angus Sutherland in Sutherland–– were unsuccessful. Nonetheless, McLaren would go onto be elected in 1886 in Crewe in England, with Sutherland being elected in the constituency of Sutherland in 1886.Craig F. W. S. F. W. S. Craig British Parliamentary Election Results 1832–1885 1977 Macmillan Press London 978-1-349-02349-3 1st e-book Seats summary Below is a table summarising the total number of seats, gains and losses for each party in both the territorial county and burgh constituencies and the university constituencies. +PartySeats Total Gains Losses Net Of all (%) Liberal Party (UK) 51 colspan=2 Difficult to calculate due to significant boundary changes. 2 70.8 Conservative Party (UK) 10 colspan=2 3 13.9 Independent Liberal 6 colspan=2 Did not stand in 1880 6 8.3 Crofters Party 4 colspan=2 New 4 5.6   Wick Radical Workingmen's 1 colspan=2 New 1 1.4 Total 72 12 County and burgh constituencies Below is a table summarising the constituency results of the 1885 general election in Scotland, excluding the result in the university constituencies. +PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 12 2006SeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%)Adjusted for multi-member constituencies. Change (%) Scottish Liberal Party 51 colspan=2 Difficult to calculate due to significant boundary changes. 1 72.9 238,627 53.3 16.8 Conservative Party (UK) 8 colspan=2 2 11.4 151,137 34.3 4.4 Independent Liberal 6 colspan=2 Did not stand in 1880 6 8.6 35,702 8.0 Crofters Party 4 colspan=2 New 4 5.7 16,551 3.7 New   Scottish Land Restoration 0 colspan=3 New — 2,359 0.5 New   Scottish Farmers' Alliance 0 colspan=3 New — 1,530 0.3 New   Wick Radical Workermen's 1 colspan=2 New 1 1.4 913 0.2 New Independent Conservative 0 colspan=3 New — 55 0.0 New   Hamilton Liberal 0 colspan=3 New — 14 0.0 New Total 70 12 100.0 446,888 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 530,118Electorate in contested constituencies. The total electorate was 560,580.British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 75 0333197348 1976 82.0British Electoral Facts 1885-1975 F.W.S. Craig Macmillan Press 3 75 0333197348 1976British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006 87 2.0 Popular votefn1 #ddd 600px 410px Liberal Scottish Liberal Party 53.3 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 34.3 Ind. Liberal Independent Liberal 8.0 Crofters Party Crofters Party 3.7 Other Independent (politician) 0.7 Parliamentary seatsfn2 #ddd 600px 410px Liberal Scottish Liberal Party 70.8 Conservative Conservative Party (UK) 13.9 Ind. Liberal Independent Liberal 8.3 Crofters Party Crofters Party 5.6 WRA Liberal Independent Liberal 1.4 University constituency results Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities General election 1885: Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities Conservative Party (UK) John Macdonald CB QC LLD 2,840 53.7% Liberal Party (UK) John Eric Erichsen 2,453 46.3% Conservative Party (UK) Liberal Party (UK) Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities General election 1885: Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities Conservative Party (UK) James Alexander Campbell Unopposed Unopposed N/A Conservative Party (UK) See also 1885 United Kingdom general election in Ireland 1885 United Kingdom general election in Wales History of Scotland 19th century Notes References Politics Scotland United Kingdom Category:1885 in Scotland Category:1880s elections in Scotland 1885 #Scotland Category:Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury Category:William Ewart Gladstone