1907 London County Council Election
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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. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...
of
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
took place on 2 March 1907. The council was elected by
First Past the Post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
with each elector having two votes in the two-member seats. For the first time, the Progressive Party lost control of the council, being defeated by the recently formed
Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 194 ...
.


Campaign

The electorate had increased by 109,934 compared with the 1904 London County Council election, as it had been determined that tenants were entitled to vote, provided that they lived in separate tenements which were not directly controlled by the landlord. The
Municipal Reform Party The Municipal Reform Party was a local party allied to the parliamentary Conservative Party in the County of London. The party contested elections to both the London County Council and metropolitan borough councils of the county from 1906 to 194 ...
stood a full slate of 118 candidates, although ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' noted that only 14 of those candidates were existing councillors. There were 109 Progressive candidates, 12
Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...
or independent socialist candidates, nine independents, eight Labour Party candidates, four independent Catholic candidates, and two Labour Progressive candidates.


Results

The Municipal Reform Party won 79 seats on the council, a gain of 45 compared with the performance of the Moderates in 1904. The Progressive Party fell from 83 seats to only 38, and the only other candidate elected was an independent, who held their seat. The Progressives blamed their defeat on high spending by the Municipal Reform Party, with the support of the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' and ''
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'' and the fact that they had increased rates.


References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1907 1907 elections in the United Kingdom County Council election London County Council election London County Council elections London County Council election