1900 Portsmouth by-election

The 1900 Portsmouth by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 3 May 1900 for one of the two seats in the British House of Commons constituency of Portsmouth in Hampshire.

Vacancy edit

The seat had become vacant when the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) Walter Clough had resigned his seat on 23 April 1900 by the technical device of accepting appointment as Steward of the Manor of Northstead, a notional "office of profit under The Crown". The writ for the by-election was moved in the Commons three days later, on 26 April.^[1]

Walter Clough

General election 1895: Portsmouth (2 seats) Electorate 24,057
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir John Baker	10,451	26.1	+0.3
	Liberal	Walter Owen Clough	10,255	25.6	+0.2
	Conservative	Alfred Charles William Harmsworth	9,717	24.3	-0.2
	Liberal Unionist	Rt Hon. Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley	9,567	23.9	-0.3
Majority			538	1.3	+0.4
Turnout			39,990 (20,129 voted)	83.7	+3.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3

The Liberal Party selected Thomas Bramsdon, a 43-year-old solicitor and a native of Portsmouth. The Conservative Party selected 29-year-old James Majendie.

The result was a narrow victory for Bramsdon.

T.A. Bramsdon

**Portsmouth by-election, 3 May 1900**^[2] Electorate 26,698
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Arthur Bramsdon	10,287	51.4	-24.3
	Conservative	James Henry Alexander Majendie	9,708	48.6	+24.3
Majority			579	2.8	+1.5
Turnout			19,995	74.9	−8.8
	Liberal hold		Swing

However, he held the seat only briefly; at the general election in October 1900, he lost his seat to Majendie.

Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 171. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.