1892 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

1892 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 43 [a] [b] 29 [a] [c] Seats won 51 21 Seat change 8 8 Popular vote 256,944 [d] 209,944 [d] Percentage 53.9% 44.4% Swing 0.3% 2.0%
Results of the 1892 election in Scotland for the county and burgh seats   Liberal   Conservative   Liberal Unionist

Main article: 1892 United Kingdom general election

The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 to 26 July 1892, ^[1] 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.

Although the Liberals, led by William Ewart Gladstone won a majority of the seats in Scotland, when combined with results from across the United Kingdom the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury again won the greatest number of seats, however they were no longer able to command a majority in the House of Commons. Salisbury refused to resign on hearing the election results and waited to be defeated in a vote of no confidence on 11 August. Gladstone formed a minority government dependent on Irish Nationalist support.

The election was the first election in Scotland to see meaningful attempts by groups associated with the trades union movement to win seats: the Scottish United Trades Councils Labour Party stood in four seats whilst the Scottish Labour Party (1888) stood in three seats. Neither group was able to win seats.

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	Liberal [b]		51	43	8
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist (Total)		21	29	8
		Liberal Unionist	11	17	6
		Conservative	10	12	2
Total			72	72

Burgh & County constituencies

Main article: 1892 United Kingdom general election

Party		Seats [1]	Seats change	Votes [1]	%	% Change
	Liberal	51	8	256,944	53.9	0.3
	Conservative & Liberal Unionist	19	8	209,944	44.4	2.0
	Scottish Trades Councils Labour	0		2,313	0.5	0.5
	Scottish Parliamentary Labour	0		2,043	0.4	0.4
	Other	0		3,886	0.8	0.8
Total		70		475,130	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 1892: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Charles Pearson	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1892: Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities ^[2]

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

Votes summary

Popular vote [d] Liberal   53.4% Conservative and Liberal Unionist [c]   44.4%

Parliamentary seats [a] Liberal   70.8% Liberal Unionist   15.3% Conservative   13.9%

Notes

1. Combined results for burgh, county and university seats
2. The seat and vote count figures are compared to the combined results for the Liberals and the Independent Liberals/Crofters at the previous election.
3. The seat and vote count figures given here combines the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists.
4. Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only
5. One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.

References

1. Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 14. ISBN   978-1-907278-03-7.
2. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1916