On This Day

September 17, 1903

Edward Ellice gains St Andrews Burghs from the Liberal Unionists

Liberal candidate Edward Charles Ellice gains St Andrews Burghs from the Liberal Unionists in a by-election by the narrow majority of 36 votes, or 1.4% of the poll. Ellice was the cousin of Edward Ellice, who was Liberal MP for the constituency from 1837-1880. Ellice declared against traditional Liberal policies on Home Rule for Ireland and the disestablishment of the church in Scotland which made it hard to distinguish him from his Liberal Unionist opponent W. Anstruther-Thomson but they did adopt different stances on Free Trade versus Tariff Reform, each following his own party’s line. Ellice only held the seat until 1906 when Anstruther-Thomson (now known as Anstruther-Gray) regained it by a majority of 23 votes.