1879 Canterbury by-election

The 1879 Canterbury by-election was held on 8 May 1879. The by-election 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 £16,920 in 2023) 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	−10.4
	Liberal	Charles Edwards	1,103	48.8	+10.3
Majority			56	2.4	−7.6
Turnout			2,262	73.2	−2.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	-10.4

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs
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.