1896 Glasgow Corporation election

Elections to the Corporation of the City of Glasgow were held on Tuesday 3 November 1896, alongside municipal elections across Scotland, and the wider British local elections.^[1]

The usual process was for one third of the councillors to be re-elected annually, however Glasgow had seen boundary extensions and had transformed from a Town Council to a City Corporation, and as such the election saw all 75 councillors from all 25 wards (3 councillors per ward) seeking re-election simultaneously. This was the first time since 3 November 1846 that all of Glasgow's councillors had been up for re-election simultaneously. The 1846 re-election had occurred as a result of the towns of Calton, Anderston, and the Gorbals being subsumed into Glasgow.^[1]

The election saw a group of social and civic reformers known as the Progressive Union emerge as the largest group on the council. The Progressive's had been inspired by the London-based Progressive Party, although Glasgow's Progressive platform had a more evangelical religious focus, combined with a belief in temperance, observance of the sabbath, and good municipal governance.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Contests took place in 23 of the cities 25 wards, with only the wards of Kingston and Sandyford going uncontested. Overall 114 candidates contested the 75 seats.^[1] The election saw an unusually heavy turnout, with female voters in particular voting in unprecedented numbers. This was credited to the efforts and influence of the new Progressive Union grouping.^[4]

The election was also the first to be contested by the Workers Municipal Elections Committee, which had been set up in June 1896 and comprised the Irish National League, the Independent Labour Party, and the Co-operative movement. This grouping was brought together under the leadership of John Ferguson (elected for Calton ward), a prominent Irish Home Rule activist with close contacts to both the Labour movement and radical politics.^[5]

Aggregate results

Glasgow Corporation election, 1896^[1]
(Contested seats)
Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Progressive Union
	Unionist
	Ind. Labour Party	3

Wards

Anderston

Anderston
3 seat
Electorate: 5242
Spoiled votes: 42^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Joint-ticket	William Bilsland (incumbent)	2191
	Joint-ticket	Hugh Wallace (incumbent)	1708
	'People's candidate	Cpt. John Walker	1463
	'Popular' candidate	Robert Somerville Brown	1380
	'Workers' candidate	Francis J. Doran	1059
Majority
Turnout

Blackfriars

Blackfriars
3 seat
Electorate: 4441
Spoiled votes: 34^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Re-elect Joint-ticket	Alexander Osborne (incumbent)^c	1793
	Re-elect Joint-ticket	Adam M. Dunlop	1752
	Re-elect Joint-ticket	William Fife (incumbent)	1563
	Ratepayers	James Quigley	974
	'One of yourselves'	Marr Grieve	908
Majority
Turnout

Blythswood

Broomielaw

Calton

Calton (2nd Ward, previously 4th)
3 seat
Electorate: 6400
Spoiled votes: 49^[1]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Ind. Nationalist	Councillor John Ferguson (incumbent)	2,717	21.94
		ex-Baillie James McLennan	2,216	17.90
	Ind. Labour Party	Boyd S. Brown	1,940	15.67
	Socialist^[6]	W. G. Hunter	1834	14.81
		Robert Harvie	1283	10.36
		John S. Lawson	1026	8.29
		Thomas McDougall	809	6.53
		Robert Burns	557	4.50
Majority
Turnout			~4127	~64.48
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Cowcaddens

Cowcaddens
3 seat
Electorate: 6446
Spoiled votes: 35^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Simon Dallas	2775
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Treasurer James Gray (incumbent)	2491
	Progressive	Dr John Carswell	2428
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	ex-Bailie Robert Graham (incumbent)	1855
	Irish Nationalist / Trade Unionist / Social Reformer	Joseph F. McGroary	1383
Majority
Turnout

Cowlairs

Darlmarnock

Ward I: Darlmarnock
3 seat
Electorate: 8972
Spoiled votes: 50^[1]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	James Willock (incumbent)	3,284
	Ind. Labour Party	John Cronin	2,397
	Independent	John Pollock McPhun (incumbent)	2,131
	Progressive	William George Hunter	1834
	Progressive	J.M. Macmannus	1824
Majority
Turnout
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing
	Progressive gain from Independent

Dennistoun

Dennistoun
3 seat
Electorate: 4843
Spoiled votes:^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Ind. Temperance	Thomas M. Cunningham	1987
	Temperance Joint-Ticket	Hugh Brechin (incumbent)	1933
	Temperance Joint-Ticket	James M. Jack (incumbent)	1719
	Temperance Joint-Ticket	James McLachlan	1520
Majority
Turnout

Exchange

Exchange
3 seat
Electorate: 2172
Spoiled votes: 12^[1]
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Robert Murdoch (incumbent)	886
	Thomas Watson (incumbent)	849
	James R. Paton (incumbent)	812
	Hugh Caldwell	503
Majority
Turnout

Gorbals

Gorbals
3 seat
Electorate: 6723
Spoiled votes: 33^[1]
Party	Candidate	Votes
	W. Fleming Anderson (incumbent)	2,950
	James R. Sandilands	2,716
	William Stevenson (incumbent)	2,275
	Henry Vallance	1821
	Thomas Neilson	1153
Majority
Turnout

Govanhill

Hutchesontown

Hutchesontown
3 seat
Electorate: 6721
Spoiled votes: 86^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
		David Richmond (incumbent)	2,658
		P. G. Stewart (incumbent)	2,652
	Progressive	John Battersby (incumbent)	2,605
		D. J. M. Quin	1389
Majority
Turnout

Kelvinside

Kelvinside
3 seat
Electorate: 3151
Spoiled votes: 17^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Bailie James Dick (incumbent)	1198
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Bailie Robert M. Mitchell (incumbent)	1113
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Bailie James M. J. Thomson (incumbent)	1085
	Progressive	William Martin	756
Majority
Turnout

Kingston

Kingston
3 seat
Electorate:
Spoiled votes:^[1]
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Shearer (ex-Baillie)	Uncontested
	Primrose (ex-Baillie)	Uncontested
	Paton (ex-Baillie)	Uncontested
Majority
Turnout

Langside

Langside
3 seat
Electorate: 3879
Spoiled votes: 26^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Baillie William Maclay (incumbent)	1649
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Councillor Alexander Sinclair (incumbent)	1605
	Re-elect Joint-Ticket	Councillor John L. Oatts (incumbent)	1296
	Independent	James Hunter (Ex-Provost)	1111
Majority
Turnout

Maryhill

Mile-end

Mile-end
3 seat
Electorate: 5983
Spoiled votes: 54^[1]^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes
		George Mitchell (incumbent)	2,170
	Ind. Labour Party	James Shaw Maxwell	2,040
		James Hamilton (incumbent)	1,760
		Daniel M. Scott	1619
		Alexander R. McGregor	1579
Majority
Turnout

Park

Park
3 seat
Electorate:
Spoiled votes: 33^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Joint-ticket	Joseph Currie Robertson	1861
	Joint-ticket	Alexander Brown	1840
	Joint-ticket	Robert Paterson	1819
		Archibald C. Holms (incumbent)	1457
		John Harrison	1289
Majority
Turnout

Pollokshields

Sandyford

Sandyford
3 seat
Electorate:
Spoiled votes:^[1]
Party	Candidate	Votes
	Baillie Alexander (incumbent)	Uncontested
	McFarlane (ex-Baillie)	Uncontested
	Preceptor James Hunter Dickson	Uncontested
Majority
Turnout

Springburn

Springburn
3 seat
Electorate: 4810
Spoiled votes: 35^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Joint-ticket	Dr William Dougan	2000
	Joint-ticket	George B. Main (incumbent)	1974
	Joint-ticket	William Cochrane	1613
	Vetoist & Trade Unionist	Patrick O'Hare	1457
Majority
Turnout

Townhead

Townhead
3 seat
Electorate: 6749
Spoiled votes: 46^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent Progressive	Norman MacLeod Thomson^α	2846
	Progressive	William Finlay (incumbent)^α	2011
	Progressive	David Morris (incumbent)^α	1965
	Workers candidate	William Forsyth^b	1793
	Progressive	Michael Joseph Connell^α	1313
	Workers candidate	George Pringle^b	1273
Majority
Turnout

Whitevale

Whitevale
3 seat
Electorate: 6150
Spoiled votes: 36^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Unionist	James H. Martin (incumbent)	2,460
	Unionist	David Willox	1,774
	Progressive	John Dunn (incumbent)	1,646
	Ind. Labour Party	Hugh Murphy	1515
	Progressive	Hugh Blair	1247
Majority
Turnout

Woodside

Woodside (17th Ward)
3 seat
Electorate: 7672
Spoiled votes: 63^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Re-elect Joint-ticket	Bailie Samuel Chisholm (incumbent)	3137
	Re-elect Joint-ticket	Bailie Winston Pettigrew (incumbent)	3024
	Re-elect Joint-ticket	Councillor D. M. Stevenson (incumbent)	2893
	Labour Co-op	Peter Glasse	1478
	'Popular Candidates'	Dr. Archibald Gunn	1318
	'Popular Candidates'	Alexander McLaughlan	1120
	'Popular Candidates'	Charles Tosh Grant	1075
Majority
Turnout

Notes

^α Thomson, Finlay, Morris, and Connell all ran as 'Progressive' candidates, however Finlay, Morris, and Connell ran on a joint-ticket claiming to be 'popular Progressive' candidates, who the electors knew due to their past service. Thomson ran a separate campaign claiming to be 'The Progressive candidate,' focusing on the issue of temperance.^[1]

^b Forsyth and Pringle ran as 'Workers' candidates, with a developed policy platform. This platform prioritised the establishment of a judicial rent commission to fix fair rents, and for the taxation of land values.^[1]

^c Whilst running on a 're-elect' basis, Osborne is cited elsewhere as a member of the Glasgow Conservative party.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y "Glasgow Municipal Elections". The Glasgow Herald. 4 November 1896. p. 8.
^ THE EVOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF GLASGOW
^ p.471
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The Scotsman - Wednesday 04 November 1896 pg.8
^ Fraser, W. Hamish (1995). Glasgow: 1830 to 1912. Glasgow: Manchester University Press. p. 471. ISBN 0719036925.
^ Davies, Andrew (2013). City of Gangs: Glasgow and the Rise of the British Gangster. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1444739787.
^ "The Glasgow Story," Alexander Osborne: Mitchell Library, The Bailie

[Glasgow_Herald-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y "Glasgow Municipal Elections". The Glasgow Herald. 4 November 1896. p. 8.

[2] THE EVOLUTION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF GLASGOW

[3] .471

[Scotsman-4] The Scotsman - Wednesday 04 November 1896 pg.8

[5] Fraser, W. Hamish (1995). Glasgow: 1830 to 1912. Glasgow: Manchester University Press. p. 471. ISBN 0719036925.

[6] Davies, Andrew (2013). City of Gangs: Glasgow and the Rise of the British Gangster. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-1444739787.

[7] "The Glasgow Story," Alexander Osborne: Mitchell Library, The Bailie

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

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[6]

[7]

v t e Elections in Glasgow
Glasgow Town Council	1846
Glasgow Corporation	1895 1896 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973
Glasgow District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992
Glasgow City Council	1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017 2022
Strathclyde Regional Council	1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Abolished

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