The 1894 United Kingdom local elections took place in late 1894. The elections were the first following the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
(
56 & 57 Vict. c. 73), which had created Urban and Rural Districts in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
, and saw the election of members to these various new districts.
Party politics in local municipal government was undeveloped at this point, with many candidates making no reference to their party affiliations, and instead running on local or personal platforms. The election did however see increasing numbers of both
Independent Labour
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
, and also
Socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
, candidates. In most instance these candidates appeared to win votes at the expense of Liberals, allowing Conservative candidates to capture Liberal seats. Prominent examples of this took place in
Northampton,
Salford
Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...
, and
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 ...
.
By 2 November the Conservatives had gained 69 seats in England, the Liberals 29, Labour 15, Liberal Unionists 8, Independents 6, and Socialists 2.
References
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