1895 Speaker of the British House of Commons election explained

Country:United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:1839 Speaker of the British House of Commons election
Previous Year:1839
Next Election:1951 Speaker of the British House of Commons election
Next Year:1951
Election Date:10 April 1895
1Blank:Candidate's seat
Candidate1:William Court Gully
Party1:Liberal Party (UK)
1Data1:Carlisle
Popular Vote1:285
Percentage1:51.0%
Candidate2:Matthew White Ridley
Party2:Conservative and Liberal Unionist
1Data2:Blackpool
Popular Vote2:274
Percentage2:49.0%
Speaker
Before Election:Arthur Wellesley Peel
Before Party:Liberal Party (UK)
After Election:William Court Gully
After Party:Liberal Party (UK)

The 1895 election of the Speaker of the House of Commons occurred on 10 April 1895, following the retirement of the previous Speaker Arthur Wellesley Peel. The election resulted in the election of Liberal MP William Court Gully by the narrow margin of 11 votes. It was the first contested Speaker election since 27 May 1839. The next contested election would not be for another 56 years, until 31 October 1951.

Nominated candidates

Election

The election was conducted by means of a conventional parliamentary motion, originally to elect Gully. He was proposed by Samuel Whitbread and seconded by Augustine Birrell.

Sir John Mowbray then moved an amendment to the original motion to elect Sir Matthew White Ridley, who was then seconded by John Lloyd Wharton.

Both Gully and Ridley then gave their speeches of submission to the will of the House.

Results

MPs voted on the motion that Gully take the Chair as Speaker, which was approved by 285 votes to 274. Gully was then conducted to the Chair by Whitbread.

References