Edwin Scrymgeour
Encyclopedia
Edwin Scrymgeour was a Member of Parliament
(MP) for Dundee
, Scotland
. He is the only person ever elected to the House of Commons
on a prohibition
ist ticket as the candidate of the Scottish Prohibition Party
.
A native of Dundee
, he was educated at West End Academy. He was a pioneer of the Scottish temperance movement
and established his party in November 1901 to further this aim.
He served on Dundee City Council
and began contesting elections in the 1908 Dundee by election which saw Winston Churchill
first elected for Dundee and continued to fight at every election thereafter, increasing his vote. In part this was because of his popularity, general left-wing sympathies and history with the labour movement. Churchill's stance against suffragette
s may have had an impact in a city where many women were breadwinners, while many men were "kettle boilers".
In the 1922 election
, Scrymgeour and Labour candidate E. D. Morel
jointly ousted Winston Churchill
, who had represented the city as a Liberal
(at that point Coalition Liberal). Scrymgeour remained an M.P. for Dundee until the 1931 general election
when he lost his seat to Florence Horsbrugh
.
Out of Parliament Scrymgeour worked as an evangelical Chaplain at East House and Maryfield Hospitals in Dundee. Scrymgeour was a leader of the unsuccessful opponents of disbanding the Scottish Prohibition Party in January 1935.
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) for Dundee
Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)
Dundee was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1950, when it was split into Dundee East and Dundee West....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. He is the only person ever elected to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
on a prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
ist ticket as the candidate of the Scottish Prohibition Party
Scottish Prohibition Party
The Scottish Prohibition Party was a minor Scottish political party which advocated alcohol prohibition.The party was founded in 1901. In its early years, Bob Stewart acted as the party's full-time organiser...
.
A native of Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
, he was educated at West End Academy. He was a pioneer of the Scottish temperance movement
Temperance movement
A temperance movement is a social movement urging reduced use of alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence , or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation or complete prohibition of alcohol.-Temperance movement by...
and established his party in November 1901 to further this aim.
He served on Dundee City Council
Politics of Dundee
Politics in the Dundee City council area are evident in the deliberations and decisions of Dundee City Council, in elections to the council, and in elections to the Scottish Parliament and the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom .In the European Parliament, the city area is...
and began contesting elections in the 1908 Dundee by election which saw Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
first elected for Dundee and continued to fight at every election thereafter, increasing his vote. In part this was because of his popularity, general left-wing sympathies and history with the labour movement. Churchill's stance against suffragette
Suffragette
"Suffragette" is a term coined by the Daily Mail newspaper as a derogatory label for members of the late 19th and early 20th century movement for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom, in particular members of the Women's Social and Political Union...
s may have had an impact in a city where many women were breadwinners, while many men were "kettle boilers".
In the 1922 election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
, Scrymgeour and Labour candidate E. D. Morel
E. D. Morel
Edmund Dene Morel, originally Georges Eduard Pierre Achille Morel de Ville was a British journalist, author and socialist politician. In collaboration with Roger Casement, the Congo Reform Association and others, Morel, in newspapers such as his West African Mail, led a campaign against slavery...
jointly ousted Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, who had represented the city as a Liberal
Liberal Party (UK)
The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
(at that point Coalition Liberal). Scrymgeour remained an M.P. for Dundee until the 1931 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1931
The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...
when he lost his seat to Florence Horsbrugh
Florence Horsbrugh, Baroness Horsbrugh
Florence Gertrude Horsbrugh, Baroness Horsbrugh, GBE, PC was a Scottish Unionist Party and Conservative Party politician....
.
Out of Parliament Scrymgeour worked as an evangelical Chaplain at East House and Maryfield Hospitals in Dundee. Scrymgeour was a leader of the unsuccessful opponents of disbanding the Scottish Prohibition Party in January 1935.