Hugh Ferguson Explained

Hugh Ferguson (1863 – 4 November 1937) was a Scottish Unionist Party politician.

After a career as a soldier, Ferguson became involved in the Orange Order, a Protestant Unionist organisation based in Ireland. Believing that there was a base for his politics in the west of Scotland, he stood for the Motherwell constituency in several Parliamentary elections.

In the 1918 general election, Ferguson won only 10.7% of the vote. However, in the 1922 election, there was no official Unionist candidate, and standing as an "Independent Unionist", Ferguson came a close second with 29.1%. By the 1923 election, he was able to secure his adoption as the official Unionist candidate,[1] and narrowly took the seat. However, he held it for only a year, losing by an equally slim margin.

Ferguson then faded from public view. In 1933, he was convicted of receiving stolen goods, namely iron plates and railway chairs. He died on 4 November 1937.[2]

References

Notes and References

  1. although The Times of 8 Dec 1923 lists him as an Independent candidate
  2. Web site: Members since 1979 . . 20 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090618174016/https://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2009/rp09-031.pdf . 18 June 2009 . 20 April 2009.