Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1870 Colchester by-election

The 1870 Colchester by-election was held on 3 November 1870. The by-election was fought due to the death of the incumbent Liberal MP, John Gurdon Rebow.


The 1870 Colchester by-election was held on 3 November 1870. The by-election was fought due to the death of the incumbent Liberal MP, John Gurdon Rebow.

The Liberal candidate was Sir Henry Storks, a strong supporter of the controversial Contagious Diseases Acts which provided for compulsory inspection and medical treatment of prostitutes in garrison towns, including Colchester. Opponents of the legislation, including Josephine Butler, supported a rival Liberal Baxter Langley, and used the election in their campaign for repeal. Langley withdrew on election day and the Conservative candidate Alexander Learmonth of Edinburgh, gained the seat convincingly. The gain was retained at the subsequent general election.

PartyCandidateVotes%.mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}±%
Conservative1,37761.8
Liberal85038.2
51023.6N/A
2,22770.5−20.2
Conservative gain from Liberal
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1870 Colchester by-election — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report