1886 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

1886 United Kingdom general election

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All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party   Leader William Ewart Gladstone Marquess of Salisbury Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Last election 62 [a] [b] 10 [a] [c] Seats won 43 29 Seat change 19 19 Popular vote 193,801 [d] 164,314 [d] Percentage 53.6 46.4% Swing 12.1% 12.1%
Results of the 1886 election in Scotland for the county and burgh seats   Liberal   Conservative   Liberal Unionist   Crofters

Main article: 1886 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held in the United Kingdom over the period was held from 1 to 27 July 1886, and members were returned for all Scottish seats. Scotland was allocated 72 seats in total, with 70 territorial seats, comprising 32 burgh constituencies and 37 county constituencies. ^[e] There were also two university constituencies, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities. As voters in university constituencies voted in addition to their territorial vote, the results are compiled separately.

The election was called following the defeat of the Government of Ireland Bill 1886, which led to a split in the Liberal party: Liberals who did not support Home Rule for Ireland formed the breakaway Liberal Unionist Party. The election in Scotland was effectively fought between two blocs, as the Conservatives did not put up candidates against sitting Liberal Unionist MPs, whilst the Liberals did not oppose sitting Crofters Party MPs even where they did not take the Liberal whip (several Crofters candidates elected in 1885 had been endorsed by Liberals prior to election, or had since become fully alligned with them).

Although the Liberals won a majority of the seats in Scotland, when combined with results from across the United Kingdom the election resulted in the defeat for William Ewart Gladstone's government. Although the Liberal Unionists did not formally join with the Conservatives, in practice the two groups acted together to control a parliamentary majority in the House of Commons.

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	Liberal and Crofter (Total)		43	62	19
		Liberal	41	51	10
		Independent Liberal & Crofters Party	2 [f]	11	9
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist (Total)		29	10	19
		Conservative	12	10	2
		Liberal Unionist	17	New	17
Total			72	72

Burgh & County constituencies

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% at last election	% Change
	Liberal & Crofters Party [b]	43	19	193,801	53.6	65.7	12.1
	Conservative & Liberal Unionist [c]	27	19	164,314	46.4	34.3	12.1
Total		70		358,115	100	100

University constituencies

The two university constituencies each elected an additional member to the house. In this election both seats were uncontested, with the sitting members being returned unopposed.

General election 1886: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Macdonald	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1886: Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Alexander Campbell	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Votes summary

Popular vote [d] Liberal and Crofters [b]   53.6% Conservative and Liberal Unionist [c]   46.4%

Parliamentary seats [a] Liberal   41 seats Liberal Unionist   17 seats Conservative   12 seats Crofter [f]   2 seats

Notes

1. Combined results for burgh, county and university seats
2. The seat and vote count figures given here combines the Liberals and the Independent Liberals/Crofters, compared to their combined performance at the previous election.
3. The seat and vote count figures given here combines the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists, compared to Conservative performance only at the previous election.
4. Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only
5. One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.
6. This figures covers only those MPs who were not also official Liberal candidates.

References

1. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1916