City of London by-election, 1904
Encyclopedia
The City of London by-election, 1904 was a parliamentary by-election
held in England on 9 February 1904 for the House of Commons constituency
of City of London
.
The by-election was triggered by the disqualification of the sitting Conservative Party
Member of Parliament
(MP), Hon. Alban Gibbs
. The 57-year-old Gibbs was re-elected unopposed.
, when he was elected to succeed his father Hucks Gibbs
.
Alban Gibbs and his bother Vicary
(MP for St Albans
were partners in the family business Antony Gibbs and Son. This firm had organised the sale to the Admiralty
of the two Swiftsure class battleship
s, Triumph
and Swiftsure
, which had been constructed in England for the Chilean Navy
. Financial difficulties prevented Chile from completing the purchased, and they were bought for the Royal Navy
to prevent them from being purchased by Russia, which had made a cash a offer for them. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents that if the ships had passed into the hands of a rival nation, the balance of power would have been significantly altered, and that Britain would have fallen behind in naval power relative to its rivals.
However, in organising the sale, the two brothers had disqualified themselves from sitting in the House of Commons, under the terms of the House of Commons (Disqualification) Act 1782 (22 Geo. III, c. 45)
which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from the Crown
. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents on 18 January that he would resign from the Commons
by taking the Chiltern Hundreds
, and then present himself for re-election. On 26 January Alban Gibbs told the City of London Conservative Association that his seat would become vacant on the first day of the new session of Parliament, but he was unsure whether this would happen through taking the Chiltern Hundreds, or by some other means.
The Association's chairman, Sir John Puleston, moved a vote of thanks to Gibbs for rendering such a "patriotic service" to the country.
s were moved the following day.
The writ for the City of London was opposed by the South Donegal
MP J. G. Swift MacNeill
, who moved an amendment to establish a Select Committee to investigate whether the two MPs were actually disqualified. This, he said, was the procedure followed in relation to Baron Rothschild in 1845, and of Sir Sydney Waterlow in 1869; in each case the Speaker had suspended the Motion for the Writ until the question had been considered by the Committee. The Speaker disputed MacNeill's assessment, but when MacNeill sustained his objection, the writ was adjourned for debate on the following day. MacNeill similarly objected to the writ for St Albans, and debate on it was also adjourned.
Debate resumed on 3 February, when MacNeill submitted that the Gibbs bothers were broker
s, and should not necessarily be deemed to be contractors. He believed that it was for the House itself to decide whether the brothers were contractors within the meaning of the Act. This view was opposed by the Home Secretary
, Aretas Akers-Douglas
, who argued that there was a crucial distinction. Akers-Douglas pointed out that in the previous cases the members concerned had opposed disqualification and wanted to defend the right to retain their seats, whereas the Gibbs brothers wanted to vacate their seats and defend them in by-elections. He argued that the two men had acted in good faith, and that it would be wrong to leave the constituencies unrepresented while the question was decided.
The amendment was put and defeated. The writs were then issued for both the City of London and St Albans by-election
s.
newspaper on 3 February.
He told voters that having been obliged to vacate his seat, he intended to offer himself for re-election. Gibbs stated that his "views on political matters are so well known to you that it is unnecessary for me to dwell on them here", but he did venture a cautious comment on the then-current controversy between free trade
and protectionism
. He pledged his support for the Prime Minister Arthur Balfour
on fiscal policy, but professed "the greatest sympathy for the Imperial Policy by which Mr Chamberlain proposes to bind the Empire together". By contrast, his brother Vicary was less equivocal, telling voters in St Albans that if re-elected he would support Chamberlain's proposals
The nominations day was set as Tuesday 9 February, with polling to be on Saturday 13 February if the seat was contested.
However, The Times reported that there was "no probability of a contest", and when the returning officers received nominations at the Guildhall
on 9 February Gibbs was indeed unopposed. His election was announced from the Guildhall at 1pm.
His brother was not so lucky. Vicary Gibbs faced a strong campaign from his Liberal opponent at the St Albans by-election
, and was narrowly defeated.
, Gibbs was one of two Conservatives re-elected for the City of London with a large majority over their Liberal opponents. However, the outgoing Prime Minister Arthur Balfour
had been defeated in his Manchester East
. After consulting with leading Conservatives in the City of London, Gibbs wrote to Balfour on 24th January offering to resign his safe seat
to allow Balfour to stand, and the following day Balfour sent a telegram accepting the offer.
Gibbs resigned from the Commons
on 14 February by the procedural device of appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead. At the resulting by-election on 26 February
, Balfour was returned with 78.9% of the votes.
In September 1907, Gibbs succeeded his father as Baron Aldenham
, and took his seat in the House of Lords
.
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
held in England on 9 February 1904 for the House of Commons constituency
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
of City of London
City of London (UK Parliament constituency)
The City of London was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950.-Boundaries and boundary...
.
The by-election was triggered by the disqualification of the sitting Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP), Hon. Alban Gibbs
Alban Gibbs, 2nd Baron Aldenham
Alban George Henry Gibbs, MA, FSA, MP, 2nd Baron Aldenham was a British Conservative Party politician and peer, the son of Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham....
. The 57-year-old Gibbs was re-elected unopposed.
Vacancy
Gibbs had been an MP for the City of London since the 1892 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1892
The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...
, when he was elected to succeed his father Hucks Gibbs
Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham
Henry Hucks Gibbs, 1st Baron Aldenham MA BA FGS FSA was a British banker, businessman and Conservative Party politician.Aldenham the son of George Henry Gibbs,...
.
Alban Gibbs and his bother Vicary
Vicary Gibbs (MP)
The Hon. Vicary Gibbs was a British barrister, merchant and Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1892 to 1904.- Early life and family :Gibbs came from an old Devon family....
(MP for St Albans
St Albans (UK Parliament constituency)
St Albans is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Established in 1885, it is a county constituency in Hertfordshire, and elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.From 1554 to 1852 there was a...
were partners in the family business Antony Gibbs and Son. This firm had organised the sale to the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
of the two Swiftsure class battleship
Swiftsure class battleship
The Swiftsure class was a class of two British pre-dreadnought battleships. Originally ordered by Chile, they were purchased by the United Kingdom prior to completion.-Background:...
s, Triumph
HMS Triumph (1903)
HMS Triumph was a Swiftsure class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.-Technical characteristics:HMS Triumph was ordered by Chile as Libertad, laid down by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness on 26 February 1902, and launched on 12 January 1903...
and Swiftsure
HMS Swiftsure (1903)
HMS Swiftsure was the lead ship of the Swiftsure class of British predreadnought battleships.-Technical Characteristics:HMS Swiftsure was ordered by Chile as Constitución and laid down by Armstrong Whitworth at Elswick...
, which had been constructed in England for the Chilean Navy
Chilean Navy
-Independence Wars of Chile and Peru :The Chilean Navy dates back to 1817. A year before, following the Battle of Chacabuco, General Bernardo O'Higgins prophetically declared "this victory and another hundred shall be of no significance if we do not gain control of the sea".This led to the...
. Financial difficulties prevented Chile from completing the purchased, and they were bought for the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
to prevent them from being purchased by Russia, which had made a cash a offer for them. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents that if the ships had passed into the hands of a rival nation, the balance of power would have been significantly altered, and that Britain would have fallen behind in naval power relative to its rivals.
However, in organising the sale, the two brothers had disqualified themselves from sitting in the House of Commons, under the terms of the House of Commons (Disqualification) Act 1782 (22 Geo. III, c. 45)
which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents on 18 January that he would resign from the Commons
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
by taking the Chiltern Hundreds
Chiltern Hundreds
Appointment to the office of Crown Steward and Bailiff of the three Chiltern Hundreds of Stoke, Desborough and Burnham is a sinecure appointment which is used as a device allowing a Member of the United Kingdom Parliament to resign his or her seat...
, and then present himself for re-election. On 26 January Alban Gibbs told the City of London Conservative Association that his seat would become vacant on the first day of the new session of Parliament, but he was unsure whether this would happen through taking the Chiltern Hundreds, or by some other means.
The Association's chairman, Sir John Puleston, moved a vote of thanks to Gibbs for rendering such a "patriotic service" to the country.
Writ
When Parliament reassembled, neither of the Gibbs brothers applied for the Chiltern Hundreds. Instead they both wrote to the Speaker on 1 February to inform him of the contract. Their letters were read to the Commons on 2 February, and the writWrit of election
A writ of election is a writ issued by the government ordering the holding of a special election for a political office.In the United Kingdom and in Canada, this is the only way of holding an election for the House of Commons...
s were moved the following day.
The writ for the City of London was opposed by the South Donegal
South Donegal (UK Parliament constituency)
South Donegal was a UK Parliament constituency in Ireland, returning one Member of Parliament 1885–1922.Prior to the 1885 general election the area was part of the Donegal constituency. From 1922 it was not represented in the UK Parliament....
MP J. G. Swift MacNeill
J. G. Swift MacNeill
John Gordon Swift MacNeill was an Irish Protestant nationalist politician and MP, in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for South Donegal from 1887 until 1918, Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law at the King's Inns, Dublin, 1882–88, and Professor of...
, who moved an amendment to establish a Select Committee to investigate whether the two MPs were actually disqualified. This, he said, was the procedure followed in relation to Baron Rothschild in 1845, and of Sir Sydney Waterlow in 1869; in each case the Speaker had suspended the Motion for the Writ until the question had been considered by the Committee. The Speaker disputed MacNeill's assessment, but when MacNeill sustained his objection, the writ was adjourned for debate on the following day. MacNeill similarly objected to the writ for St Albans, and debate on it was also adjourned.
Debate resumed on 3 February, when MacNeill submitted that the Gibbs bothers were broker
Broker
A broker is a party that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller, and gets a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal...
s, and should not necessarily be deemed to be contractors. He believed that it was for the House itself to decide whether the brothers were contractors within the meaning of the Act. This view was opposed by the Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Aretas Akers-Douglas
Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston
Aretas Akers-Douglas, 1st Viscount Chilston GBE PC , born Aretas Akers and known as Aretas Akers-Douglas between 1875 and 1911, was a British Conservative statesman and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1880 until he was raised to the peerage in 1911...
, who argued that there was a crucial distinction. Akers-Douglas pointed out that in the previous cases the members concerned had opposed disqualification and wanted to defend the right to retain their seats, whereas the Gibbs brothers wanted to vacate their seats and defend them in by-elections. He argued that the two men had acted in good faith, and that it would be wrong to leave the constituencies unrepresented while the question was decided.
The amendment was put and defeated. The writs were then issued for both the City of London and St Albans by-election
St Albans by-election, 1904
The St Albans by-election of 1904 was a parliamentary by-election held in England in February 1904 for the House of Commons. It elected a new Member of Parliament for the constituency of St Albans, a county division of Hertfordshire....
s.
Nominations
After notifying the Speaker of his disqualification, Gibbs published a brief address "to the electors of the City of London", which was published as an advertisement in The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
newspaper on 3 February.
He told voters that having been obliged to vacate his seat, he intended to offer himself for re-election. Gibbs stated that his "views on political matters are so well known to you that it is unnecessary for me to dwell on them here", but he did venture a cautious comment on the then-current controversy between free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
and protectionism
Protectionism
Protectionism is the economic policy of restraining trade between states through methods such as tariffs on imported goods, restrictive quotas, and a variety of other government regulations designed to allow "fair competition" between imports and goods and services produced domestically.This...
. He pledged his support for the Prime Minister Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
on fiscal policy, but professed "the greatest sympathy for the Imperial Policy by which Mr Chamberlain proposes to bind the Empire together". By contrast, his brother Vicary was less equivocal, telling voters in St Albans that if re-elected he would support Chamberlain's proposals
The nominations day was set as Tuesday 9 February, with polling to be on Saturday 13 February if the seat was contested.
However, The Times reported that there was "no probability of a contest", and when the returning officers received nominations at the Guildhall
Guildhall, London
The Guildhall is a building in the City of London, off Gresham and Basinghall streets, in the wards of Bassishaw and Cheap. It has been used as a town hall for several hundred years, and is still the ceremonial and administrative centre of the City of London and its Corporation...
on 9 February Gibbs was indeed unopposed. His election was announced from the Guildhall at 1pm.
His brother was not so lucky. Vicary Gibbs faced a strong campaign from his Liberal opponent at the St Albans by-election
St Albans by-election, 1904
The St Albans by-election of 1904 was a parliamentary by-election held in England in February 1904 for the House of Commons. It elected a new Member of Parliament for the constituency of St Albans, a county division of Hertfordshire....
, and was narrowly defeated.
Aftermath
Two years later, at the general election in January 1906United Kingdom general election, 1906
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, Gibbs was one of two Conservatives re-elected for the City of London with a large majority over their Liberal opponents. However, the outgoing Prime Minister Arthur Balfour
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour, KG, OM, PC, DL was a British Conservative politician and statesman...
had been defeated in his Manchester East
Manchester East (UK Parliament constituency)
Manchester East was one of six single-member parliamentary constituencies created in 1885 by the division of the existing three-member Parliamentary Borough of Manchester...
. After consulting with leading Conservatives in the City of London, Gibbs wrote to Balfour on 24th January offering to resign his safe seat
Safe seat
A safe seat is a seat in a legislative body which is regarded as fully secured, either by a certain political party, the incumbent representative personally or a combination of both...
to allow Balfour to stand, and the following day Balfour sent a telegram accepting the offer.
Gibbs resigned from the Commons
Resignation from the British House of Commons
Members of Parliament sitting in the House of Commons in the United Kingdom are technically forbidden to resign. To circumvent this prohibition, a legal fiction is used...
on 14 February by the procedural device of appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead. At the resulting by-election on 26 February
City of London by-election, February 1906
The City of London by-election, February 1906 was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 February 1906 for the British House of Commons constituency of City of London, which covered the "Square Mile" which was the United Kingdom's traditional financial district....
, Balfour was returned with 78.9% of the votes.
In September 1907, Gibbs succeeded his father as Baron Aldenham
Baron Aldenham
Baron Aldenham, of Aldenham in the County of Hertford, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was created on 31 January 1896 for the businessman Hucks Gibbs. He was head of the family firm of Antony Gibbs & Sons and a director and Governor of the Bank of England...
, and took his seat in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
.