1879 Canterbury by-election

The Canterbury by-election of 1879 was held on 8 May 1879. The byelection was fought due to the resignation of the incumbent Conservative MP, Lewis Majendie. It was won by the Conservative candidate Robert Peter Laurie.[1]

Corruption

The Liberal candidate Charles Edwards was accused of spending about £140 (equivalent to £13,494 in 2019) on buying votes during the campaign. Although Edwards disclaimed knowledge of this and blamed his campaign manager, he did admit that the money was spent on bribery.[2]

Canterbury by-election, 1879[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Peter Laurie	1,159	51.2
	Liberal	Charles Edwards	1,103	48.8
Majority			56	1.4
Turnout			2,262
	Conservative hold		Swing

References

1. http://www.leighrayment.com/commons.htm
2. Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons (1881). Parliamentary Papers. H.M. Stationery Office. pp. 5–14.
3. "Canterbury Election". Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald. 10 May 1879. Retrieved 5 October 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.