1899 Edinburgh South by-election
The 1899 Edinburgh South by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Edinburgh South in Scotland on 19 June 1899.
Vacancy
The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Liberal Unionist MP, Robert Cox on 2 June 1899. Cox had held the seat since the 1895 general election when he had narrowly defeated the sitting Liberal MP Herbert Paul.[1]
Candidates
Unionists
The Unionist Association of South Edinburgh held an executive meeting on 7 June to consider their choice of candidate. They provisionally decided to recommend the adoption of
Liberals
The Liberals chose 39-year-old
The Campaign
It was clearly the intention of the
Dewar had opened the new premises of the South Morningside Liberal Club on 10 June and had taken the opportunity to make a short address. He appears to have accused Wauchope of being a Tory, presumably a reference to the fact that the Unionist mantle had passed from the Liberal Unionists to the Conservatives in Edinburgh South, perhaps judging that this would drive some former Liberal Unionist voters back to the Liberal fold, perhaps also appealing for working-class votes in recalling Wauchope's stance in 1892 when he refused to support the Eight Hours Bill proposing the restriction of the working day for miners.[8] Wauchope spoke on the same day, in the evening, at the Edinburgh Literary Institute. He responded by saying there was no disgrace in being a Tory. On social issues, he added that much had been done for the working man by the Tories and if returned as MP he would work as hard for the working man as anyone calling himself a Liberal.[9] Dewar renewed this attack on the state of the Unionist coalition later in the campaign, again alluding publicly to Wauchope's devout Toryism, and arguing that Liberal Unionism was now dead in the constituency.[10] Nonetheless, Wauchope did receive a letter of recommendation from Joseph Chamberlain, the leading Liberal Unionist and at that time Colonial Secretary urging all Liberal Unionists in the constituency to vote for him.[11]
Dewar, it was reported, devoted most of his limited campaigning time to meeting workmen. Apart from social questions he also spoke in favour of the
Wauchope was now focusing on foreign policy and the efforts of the government to promote peace. He also received the support of various
The result
Dewar gained the seat for the Liberals with a majority of 831 votes.[14] A separate by-election in the neighbouring seat of Edinburgh East which took place a few days later also resulted in a lower share of the vote for the Liberal Unionists.[15] Despite this apparent trend however Dewar lost the seat to a Liberal Unionist rival, albeit narrowly, at the general election of 1900 when there was also a modest revival in the Liberal Unionist vote in Edinburgh East. He then won it back in 1906, holding it in January 1910 before resigning from Parliament later that year upon appointment as a judge.[16]
The result of the by-election was not therefore a reliable pointer to the outcome of the next general election, as no doubt Edinburgh Liberals hoped – although the political situation would be transformed by the time of the 1900 Khaki election as a result of the country's involvement in the Boer War and the depiction of many Liberal candidates as pro-Boer and unpatriotic.[17]
As to Major-general Wauchope, he did not get the chance to stand for Parliament again as he was killed in action on 11 December 1899 during an engagement at Magersfontein in the Boer War[18] and was buried at Modder River in South Africa.[19]
The votes
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal | Arthur Dewar | 5,820 | 53.8 | +4.3 | |
Conservative | Andrew Gilbert Wauchope
|
4,989 | 46.2 | -4.3 | |
Majority | 831 | 7.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 10,269 | 77.8 | -1.1 | ||
Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +4.3 |
See also
- List of United Kingdom by-elections
- United Kingdom by-election records
- February 1886 Edinburgh South by-election
- 1910 Edinburgh South by-election
- 1917 Edinburgh South by-election
- 1957 Edinburgh South by-election
References
- ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918;Macmillan, 1974 p499
- ^ The Times, 8 June 1899 p13
- ^ E I Carlyle, revised Roger T Stearn, Andrew Gilbert Wauchope; in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online, 2004-13
- ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918;Macmillan, 1974 p537
- ^ The Times, 12 June 1899 p8
- ^ The Times, 10 June 1899 p8
- ^ The Times, 12 June 1899 p8
- ^ E I Carlyle, revised Roger T Stearn, Andrew Gilbert Wauchope; in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online, 2004-13
- ^ The Times, 12 June 1899 p8
- ^ The Times, 16 June 1899 p11
- ^ The Times, 19 June 1899 p8
- ^ The Times, 12 June 1899 p8
- ^ The Times, 12 June 1899 p8
- ^ The Times, 20 June 1899 p10
- ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918;Macmillan, 1974 p498
- ^ F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918; Macmillan Press, 1974 pp499
- ^ Roy Douglas, Liberals: The History of the Liberal and Liberal Democrat Parties; Hambledon and London, 2005 pp. 104–105
- ^ The Times, 14 December 1899 p9
- ^ The Times, 16 December 1899 p7
- Conservative Central Office, page 184 (208 in web page)