1889 Govan by-election facts for kids
The 1889 Govan by-election was a special election held in Govan, Scotland, on January 18, 1889. It was called to choose a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the area. An MP is a person who represents a local area in the British House of Commons, which is part of the UK government.
This election happened because the previous MP, Sir William Pearce, had sadly passed away. Sir William was a member of the Conservative Party. He was also a very important shipbuilder and owned a big company called Fairfield Shipbuilding. He had been the MP for Govan since 1885.
Who Ran in the Election?
For this special election, the Conservative Party did not put forward a candidate. So, only two main candidates ran for the Govan seat.
- John Wilson represented the Liberal Party.
- John Pender represented the Liberal Unionist Party. John Pender had been an MP before for other areas like Totnes and Wick Burghs.
What Were the Results?
The election was won by John Wilson of the Liberal Party. He became the new Member of Parliament for Govan. John Wilson continued to be the MP for Govan until the year 1900.
John Pender, who lost this election, did return to Parliament later. He won his old seat of Wick Burghs again in 1892.
How People Voted
Here are the results from the Govan by-election in 1889:
| Govan by-election, 18 January 1889 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | John Wilson | 4,420 | 56.9 | ||
| Liberal Unionist | Sir John Pender | 3,349 | 43.1 | ||
| Majority | 1,071 | 13.8 | |||
| Turnout | 7,769 | ||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | N/A | |||
Learn More
- Govan constituency
- Lists of United Kingdom by-elections
