Edinburgh East by-election, 1909

The Edinburgh East by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Vacancy

Sir George McCrae had been Liberal MP for the seat of Edinburgh East since the Edinburgh East by-election, 1899. He resigned from the House of Commons to take up a position in Scottish government service, accepting the appointment of Vice-President of the Scottish Local Government Board.^[1]

Electoral history

The seat had been won by a Liberal at every election since it was created in 1885. They easily held the seat at the last election, with an increased majority;

General Election January 1906[2] Electorate 11,572
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George McCrae	6,606	73.1
	Conservative	Rankin Dawson	2,432	26.9
Majority			4,174	46.2
Turnout				78.1
	Liberal hold		Swing

Candidates

The local Liberal Association selected 60-year-old James Gibson to defend the seat. He had been Lord Provost, of Edinburgh since 1906. The Conservatives selected 29-year-old Patrick Ford as their candidate.

Campaign

Polling Day was fixed for the 16 April 1909.

Result

The Liberal majority was only a ninth of their 1906 result. This was generally ascribed to the loss of the Roman Catholic vote because of the failure to settle the education question.;^[3]

James Gibson

Edinburgh East by-election, 1909[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Puckering Gibson	4,527	52.7	-20.4
	Liberal Unionist	Patrick Johnstone Ford	4,069	47.3	+20.4
Majority				5.4	-40.8
Turnout				73.4	-4.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	-20.4

Aftermath

General Election January 1910[5] Electorate 12,544
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir James Puckering Gibson	6,760	61.3	+8.6
	Liberal Unionist	Patrick Johnstone Ford	4,273	38.7	-8.6
Majority			2,487	22.6
Turnout				88.0	+14.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.6

References

1. Edmund Burke, The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year; Longmans, Green, 1910
2. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918
3. A Liberal Chronicle: Journals and Papers of J.A. Pease
4. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918
5. British parliamentary election results 1885-1918