1884 Aberdeen Corporation election

Election

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November 4, 1884 (1884-11-04)

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8 out of 25 seats of City of Aberdeen Council
13 seats needed for a majority

	First party	Second party

Party	Independent	Trades Council
Seats won	6	2
Seats after	23	2
Seat change	2	2
Popular vote	5,018	1,101
Percentage	82.0%	18.0%

Composition of Corporation after the election

An election to the Aberdeen Corporation was held on 4 November 1884, alongside municipal elections across Scotland. 8 of the corporation's 25 seats were up for election.

This election was the first time labour-affiliated candidates won seats in Aberdeen's municipal elections. The candidates, James Forbes and George Maconnachie, were supported by the Aberdeen United Trades Council.^[1] The primary question at hand was the rates of councillors' salaries, and public feelings on the matter were clear as all retiring councillors but one were not re-elected.^[2]

Ward Results

Ferryhill
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Berry	731	69.7
	Independent	Henry Gray (incumbent)	318	30.3
Majority			395
Turnout
	Independent hold

Greyfriars
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Wallace Thom	629	56.2
	Independent	Baillie Macdonald (incumbent)	491	43.8
Majority			138
Turnout
	Independent hold

Rosemount
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	John Ogilvie (incumbent)	Unopposed
Majority
Turnout
	Independent hold

Rubislaw
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Sutherland	471	57.9
	Independent	Archibald Duff (incumbent)	342	42.1
Majority			129
Turnout
	Independent hold

St. Andrew
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Trades Council	George Maconnachie	505	41.7
	Independent	William Findlay	486	40.1
	Independent	A. S. Cook (incumbent)	219	18.1
	Independent	Charles Dickie	2	0.1
Majority			19
Turnout
	Trades Council gain from Independent

St. Clement
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Alexander Cook Jr.	615	70.0
	Independent	Dr. Beveridge (incumbent)	263	30.0
Majority			352
Turnout
	Independent hold

St. Machar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Trades Council	James Forbes	596	56.9
	Independent	Alexander Lyon Jr.	451	43.1
Majority			145
Turnout
	Trades Council gain from Independent

St. Nicholas
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Thomas Curr	Unopposed
Majority
Turnout
	Independent hold

^[2]^[3]

References

^ Diack, William (1939). History of the Trades Council and the Trade Union Movement in Aberdeen. Aberdeen: Trades Council. pp. 82–83.
^ ^a ^b "The Municipal Elections". The Press and Journal. 8 November 1884. p. 7. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
^ "Aberdeen Municipal Elections". Evening Express (Aberdeen). 5 November 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 30 November 2023.