1895 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

1895 United Kingdom general election

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All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party Third party   Leader Earl of Rosebery Marquess of Salisbury Keir Hardie Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Ind. Labour Party Last election 51 [a] 21 [a] [b] 0 Seats won 39 33 0 Seat change 12 12 Popular vote 236,446 [c] 214,403 [c] 4,269 [c] Percentage 51.7 46.4% 0.8% Swing 2.2% 3.0% New party
Results of the 1892 election in Scotland for the county and burgh seats   Liberal   Conservative   Liberal Unionist

Main article: 1895 United Kingdom general election

The 1895 United Kingdom general election was held from 13 July to 7 August 1895, 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. ^[d] 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.

William Gladstone had led to the Liberals to power three years earlier, however following his retirement in 1894 the Earl of Rosebery had been appointed as prime minister. Rosebery's government found itself largely in a state of paralysis due to a power struggle between him and William Harcourt, the Liberal leader in the Commons. The situation came to a head on 21 June 1895, when Parliament voted to dismiss Secretary of State for War Henry Campbell-Bannerman; Rosebery, realising that the government would likely not survive a motion of no confidence were one to be brought, promptly resigned as prime minister. Conservative leader Lord Salisbury was subsequently re-appointed for a third spell as prime minister, and promptly called a new election. Although the Liberals won a majority of the seats in Scotland, they suffered large losses, and when combined with results from across the United Kingdom the Conservatives/Liberal Unionist alliance achieved a parliamentary majority of 153 for Lord Salisbury.

The Independent Labour Party, having only previously existed as a loose grouping of left-wing politicians, formally organised into a party led by Keir Hardie in 1893 and contested their first election.

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	Liberal		39	51	12
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist (Total)		33	21	12
		Liberal Unionist	14	11	3
		Conservative	19	10	9
Total			72	72

Burgh & County constituencies

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Liberal	39	12	236,446	51.7	2.2
	Conservative & Liberal Unionist	31	12	214,403	47.4	3.0
	Independent Labour Party	0		4,269	0.8	0.8
Total		70			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 1895: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities ^[1]

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

General election 1895: Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities ^[1]

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

Votes summary

Popular vote [c] Liberal   51.7% Conservative and Liberal Unionist [b]   47.4% Independent Labour Party   0.8%

Parliamentary seats [a] Liberal   39 seats Conservative   19 seats Liberal Unionist   14 seats

Notes

1. Combined results for burgh, county and university seats
2. The seat and vote count figures given here combines the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists.
3. Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only
4. One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.

References

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