1911 Ross and Cromarty by-election

The Ross and Cromarty by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Vacancy

James Galloway Weir died. He had been the sitting Liberal MP since 1892.

Electoral history

This was a safe Liberal seat that the party had won at every election since 1847. Weir was returned unopposed at the last general election in December 1910. The last contested election was the General Election in January 1910;

General Election December 1910: Ross and Cromarty Electorate 8,211

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Galloway Weir	4,430	75.8
	Liberal Unionist	Neil Maclean	1,418	24.2
Majority			3,012	51.6
Turnout				71.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

Candidates

• The Liberal candidate selected to defend the seat was 31-year-old Ian Macpherson. He was educated at the University of Edinburgh and was called to the Bar, by the Middle Temple in 1906. He had contested Wigtownshire in January 1910 and East Renfrewshire in December 1910.
• The Liberal Unionist candidate was the 35-year-old William Paterson Templeton. He was the Organising Secretary of Unionist Workers’ League. He was standing for Parliament for the first time.

Result

Polling took place on 14 June. Macpherson easily held the seat for the Liberals. Compared with the last contested election, his share of the vote only dropped by 1%;

Ian MacPherson

Ross and Cromarty by-election, 1911 Electorate

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Ian Stewart Macpherson	3,717	74.8	−1.0
	Liberal Unionist	William Paterson Templeton	1,253	25.2	+1.0
Majority			2,464	49.6	−2.0
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.0

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election.

• Liberal:James Ian Stewart Macpherson

Due to the outbreak of war, the election never was postponed. Macpherson supported the Lloyd George Coalition Government and received their endorsement at the 1918 election.

General Election 14 December 1918: Ross and Cromarty Electorate 20,685

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rt Hon. James Ian Stewart Macpherson	8,358	78.9	+4.1
	Independent	Hector Munro	2,238	21.1	n/a
Majority			6,120	57.8	+8.2
Turnout				51.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

Templeton did not contest the 1918 elections but was later elected as MP for Banffshire.