The 1900 Portsmouth by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1900 for one of the two seats in the

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP)

Walter Clough Walter Owen Clough (15 September 1846 – 17 April 1922) was a British Liberal Party politician. Clough was born in Huddersfield, Yorkshire on 15 September 1846. He was elected at the 1892 general election as a Member of Parliament for Portsmo ...

had resigned his seat on 23 April 1900 by the technical device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead, a notional "office of profit under The Crown". The writ for the by-election was moved in the Commons three days later, on 26 April.

Previous result

Candidates

The Liberal Party selected

Thomas Bramsdon Sir Thomas Arthur Bramsdon (27 February 1857 – 29 September 1935) was a British solicitor from Portsmouth and a Liberal Party politician who was elected for four non-consecutive terms as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth constituencie ...

, a 43-year-old solicitor and a native of Portsmouth. 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 ...

selected 29-year-old

James Majendie James Henry Alexander Majendie (1871 – 12 January 1939) was a British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party politician. In August 1897 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the Essex, County of Essex. He was elected to the House of C ...

Results

The result was a narrow victory for Bramsdon. However, he held the seat only briefly; at the general election in October 1900, he lost his seat to Majendie.

References

;Bibliography *

External links