An election to the

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

took place on 2 March 1895. The council was elected by

First Past the Post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

with each elector having two votes in the two-member seats. The

Moderates Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...

made numerous gains, and tied the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Ita ...

in seats on the council.

Campaign

The Progressives campaigned on their record of running the council, arguing that they had achieved far more than the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Cou ...

had, and also that the various Metropolitan Borough Councils should be unified and their powers given to the London County Council. The Moderates argued that the Progressives had delayed in making improvements, and that measures should be taken to increase home ownership rates, rather than constructing council housing. The

Earl of Onslow Earl of Onslow, of Onslow in the County of Shropshire and of Clandon Park in the County of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1801 for George Onslow, 4th Baron Onslow. History The Onslow family descends ...

, a prominent figure in the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, was expected to stand for the Moderates in Islington South, but he was disqualified as his nomination papers were not received in time.

Results

The Moderates gained 23 seats from the Progressives, and lost only one seat to them, tying both parties on 59 seats. Although the result was a tie, the Progressives held the majority of

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

ic seats on the council, and thus were able to retain control of it. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' argued that the result was worse for Progressives than initially appeared, as they had not only lost seats, but many of their formerly safe seats were now marginal. ''

The Daily Chronicle ''Daily Chronicle'' may refer to: * ''Daily Chronicle'' (United Kingdom), a British newspaper which merged into the ''News Chronicle'' * ''Daily Chronicle'' (Illinois), a newspaper in DeKalb County, Illinois * ''Daily Chronicle'' (New Zealand), ...

'' argued that the poor result for the Progressives was due to apathy among workers, and that their vote had held steady among the middle class. In addition, it blamed the unsuccessful

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

and

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

candidates for taking votes away from some Progressive candidates.View of ''The Daily Chronicle'' reported in:

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1895 1895 elections in the United Kingdom County Council election London County Council election London County Council elections London County Council election