The 1803 Gatton by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom that took place on 24 January 1803. The parliamentary borough of Gatton was a notorious "rotten" or pocket borough "in the pocket" of the

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...

of Gatton, who at that time was Sir Mark Wood. It had, at most, seven voters - all tenants of Wood. At the 1802 general election, "Wood returned himself and his brother-in-law amesDashwood". Both were members of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

's faction of the

Tory Party The Tories were a loosely organised political faction and later a political party, in the Parliaments of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. They first emerged during the 1679 Exclusion Crisis, when they opposed ...

. At Pitt's request, shortly after the election, Dashwood vacated his seat so as to make way for

Philip Dundas Philip Dundas (baptised 7 May 1762 – 8 April 1807) was a Scottish East India Company naval officer, president of the East India Marine Board, and superintendent of Bombay. He returned to Britain and became a member of parliament and returned to ...

."Gatton: Borough Constituency"
''The History of Parliament'', 1986

Result

Dundas was to be elected in a simple formality, returned uncontested. This was complicated, however, when " Joseph Clayton Jennings, a barrister and reformer, arrived on the scene", making it unexpectedly a contested election, and found a person who claimed to be entitled to vote in his favour. A voter was therefore also brought in for Dundas. Dashwood, acting as the returning officer, rejected the ballot for Jennings, and Dundas was duly elected with one vote."Dashwood, James"
''The History of Parliament'' Dundas left for India two years later, causing another by-election, wherein Wood procured the seat for

William Garrow Sir William Garrow (13 April 1760 – 24 September 1840) was an English barrister, politician and judge known for his indirect reform of the advocacy system, which helped usher in the adversarial court system used in most common law nations to ...

- another reformist barrister, who won it uncontested and thereby made his entry in Parliament.

1802 result

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gatton by-election, 1803 1803 elections in the United Kingdom 1803 in England By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Surrey constituencies Reigate and Banstead 19th century in Surrey January 1803 events