Category Archives: Scotland

A Highland canvass in a ‘pocket county’: Ronald Gower (1845-1916) and the 1867 Sutherland by-election

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Martin Spychal

In the fourth blog of his series on Lord Ronald Gower (1845-1916), Dr Martin Spychal, uses Gower’s diaries to provide some rare insights into mid-Victorian electioneering in the ‘pocket county’ of Sutherland. This blog was also posted as part of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Constituencies, Elections, Parliamentary life, Queer Parliamentary Life, Ronald Gower Series, Scotland, women | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

From parliamentary reporter to Member of Parliament: Robert Spankie (1774-1842)

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Martin Spychal

January’s MP of the Month takes a look at the unusual pre-parliamentary career of Robert Spankie, who was returned for Finsbury in 1832. A ground-breaking parliamentary reporter during the 1790s, Spankie ascended to the editorship of the Morning Chronicle before re-training as a barrister and serving as a controversial advocate-general of Bengal. Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Elections, Empire, Images of MPs, MP of the Month, Parliamentary life, party labels, Scotland, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Disruption, Parliament and Conservative division: Alexander Campbell (1811-1869)

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Martin Spychal

In May 1843 a schism in the Church of Scotland, better known as the Disruption, led to the creation of the evangelical Free Church of Scotland. It was the culmination of a decade-long conflict over the ability of parishioners to appoint their minister, and wider concerns over state interference with the Scottish Church. April’s MP of the Month is the Conservative MP for Argyllshire, Alexander Campbell, who was one of the founding elders of the Free Church. His ruthless electioneering in Argyllshire from 1836, eventual election in 1841, and failed legislative attempts to prevent the breakup of the Church placed the looming controversy at the centre of parliamentary politics. It also revealed irreconcilable differences between the Conservative Prime Minister Robert Peel and one of his few Scottish backbenchers. Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Elections, MP of the Month, religion, Scotland | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

MP of the Month: James Lamont (1828-1913), Arctic explorer and scientist

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Kathryn Rix

Our MP of the Month blog for October comes from Dr Matthew McDowell, of the University of Edinburgh, who has contributed to our 1832-68 project with articles on Buteshire and its MPs. In this guest blog, he explores the career … Continue reading →

Posted in Biographies, Guest blog, MP of the Month, Scotland | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Scottish dimension (2)

Posted on April 26, 2013 by millerhenryj

Following on from the first blog in this series in January, this post focuses on the distinctive nature of the Scottish representative system before and after the 1832 Scottish Reform Act. Both the franchise (who had the right to vote) … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Scottish dimension (1)

Posted on January 10, 2013 by millerhenryj

The 1832 Scottish Reform Act increased Scotland’s representation from 45 to 53 MPs, who represented 51 constituencies. In the 1832-68 period, 221 different men sat for Scottish constituencies. The number of Scotsmen who sat for English, Irish and Welsh seats … Continue reading →

Posted in Scotland | Tagged , | 2 Comments