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 5 March 1904. 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

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 ...

retained control of the council, with a slightly reduced majority.

Campaign

Since the 1901 London County Council election, the electorate for the council had increased by 19,221, the increase being in the outlying boroughs, while most inner city boroughs lost voters. Turnout was also reported as being higher in the outer boroughs. All the seats were contested other than

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, which were held uncontested by the

. The main issue at the election was education policy, as the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

was to be abolished and its powers absorbed by the council. ''

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 Conservative Party candidates had undoubted loyalty to the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, whereas the Progressive Party candidates might have sympathy towards dissenters. Other issues were the attitude of candidates towards the employment of Chinese immigrants in South Africa, and the purchase of the county council of some rails manufactured in Belgium.

Results

The Progressive Party lost one seat, while the Municipal Reform Party gained four, and independents fell from four seats to one. Nine members of the School Board won seats on the new council.

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1904 1904 elections in the United Kingdom County Council election London County Council election London County Council elections London County Council election