The 1886 Derby by-election was a parliamentary by-election held for the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

constituency of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, the county town of

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

on 9 February 1886.

Vacancy

Under the provisions of the Succession to the Crown Act 1707 and a number of subsequent

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, MPs appointed to certain ministerial and legal offices were at this time required to seek re-election. The by-election in

was caused by the appointment of the sitting

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 ...

MP, William Vernon Harcourt as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Candidates

Liberals

Harcourt had been MP for Derby since 1880 when he had won the seat in a by-election. Before that he had been MP for

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, having first been elected there at the 1868 general election. In 1880 he was appointed

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national s ...

in Gladstone's second administration and had to resign to seek re-election in Oxford. He was however narrowly beaten by his

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

opponent, Alexander William Hall at the subsequent by-election on 8 May 1880. To enable Harcourt to return to Parliament and take up his appointment as Home Secretary, a seat was found for him at Derby by the resignation of the sitting Liberal MP

Samuel Plimsoll Samuel Plimsoll (10 February 1824 – 3 June 1898) was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line (a line on a ship's hull indicating the maximum safe draught, and therefore the minimum fr ...

. On becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer in February 1886, Harcourt had to resign again to seek re-election in Derby.

Conservatives

Derby was two member seat and very safely Liberal. Since the 1832 general election there had been only two occasions when the Conservatives had taken one of the two seats for the borough. Harcourt had been unopposed at his 1880 by-election and held a substantial majority over the sole Conservative candidate who had stood at the general election of 1885. Against this electoral background it is unsurprising that the

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. The ...

chose not to stand a candidate against Harcourt this time.

Moderate Liberals

It had been reported on 6 February that it was not at that point a certainty that Harcourt would be unopposed and there was talk of what was described as a 'moderate Liberal' being brought forward in support of Lord Hartington. Hartington had broken with Gladstone on the issue of

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...

, although had not yet formed the Liberal Unionist Party. It was thought however, as the day of the by-election approached, that there was not enough time to get such a candidate into the field.

The campaign

The

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for the by-election was moved in Parliament on 4 February by

Arnold Morley Arnold Morley (18 February 1849 – 16 January 1916) was a British barrister and Liberal politician. Background Morley was a younger son of Samuel Morley and Rebekah Maria, daughter of Samuel Hope of Liverpool. Lord Hollenden was his elder b ...

, who went on to be the new government's Chief Whip, along with a number of writs for other seats involving newly appointed

ministers Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...

in Gladstone's third administration. These included Gladstone himself,

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...

and

Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1 ...

amongst others. In an election address to his former constituents, Harcourt promised to support the government of Mr Gladstone and in particular to assist in finding a solution to the

Irish question The Irish question was the issue debated primarily among the British government from the early 19th century until the 1920s of how to respond to Irish nationalism and the calls for Irish independence. The phrase came to prominence as a result ...

. It was clear that Ireland and the consequences of Home Rule were the over-riding issue of the day, as the possibility of a moderate Liberal opponent had foreshadowed. In a further speech to Liberals in Derby, Harcourt placed his trust in Gladstone to ensure that whatever concessions were made in respect of Ireland these would not be at the expense of the maintenance of social order, the supremacy of the Crown or the unity of the

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

. . As it turned out there were many Liberals who felt that, when it came, Gladstone's

Home Rule Bill The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1870 to the e ...

did not fulfil these criteria.

The result

There being no nominations for any candidate but Harcourt, he was declared elected unopposed by the

returning officer In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies. Australia In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...

, the

Mayor of Derby Names of the Mayors for the Borough of Derby from the first that was chosen on 3 July 1638 by the king's charter then granted to the town. The two last bailiffs were the two first mayors, Mr Mellor being proclaimed 3 July 1638 to be the mayor u ...

, on 9 February 1886.The Times, 10 February 1886, p10