The 1905 Elgin Burghs by-election was a Parliamentary by-election held on 8 September 1905. The constituency returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.
Vacancy Alexander Asher had been Liberal MP for the seat of Elgin Burghs since the 1881 Elgin Burghs by-election. He died on 5 August 1905, causing a by-election.'ASHER, Alexander', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, April 2014 accessed 13 May 2014
Electoral history The seat had been Liberal since the party was founded in 1859. They easily held the seat at the last election, with a comfortable majority;
Candidates On 17 August the local Liberal Association selected 51-year-old John Sutherland as their candidate to defend the seat."Election Intelligence." The Times. London, England. 18 August 1905. p. 5. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 13 May 2014. He had not stood for Parliament before. He was born in nearby Lossiemouth.The Times, 19 August 1918 He was educated at Aberdeen University.The Times, House of Commons, 1910; Politico's Publishing 2004, p. 94 He was a partner in the firm of J & P Sutherland, fish curers of Portsoy.The Times, 19 August 1918 The local Conservative Association selected 52-year-old Patrick Rose-Innes as their candidate to gain the seat."News in Brief." Times [London, England] 8 Aug. 1905: 8. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 13 May 2014. He also had not stood for Parliament before. He was born in Aberdeenshire and educated at Aberdeen University. He had been a barrister since 1878.'ROSE-INNES, His Honour Sir Patrick', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014; online edn, April 2014 accessed 13 May 2014
Campaign Polling day was fixed for 8 September 1905, 34 days after the death of the previous MP.
Result There was a large swing of over 11% to the Liberals who comfortably held the seat:
The result was the biggest victory that the Liberals had ever had in the constituency.
Aftermath Sutherland was re-elected at the following General Election. The result was:
Rose-Innes was not his opponent and instead contested West Lothian in 1906, the 1907 Jarrow by-election and Middleton in 1910 without success. Sutherland remained as the MP until his death in 1918.
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