During the run-up to the 2017 General Election, we're dipping into the archives to bring you a collection of events from elections past - noteworthy, amusing or just plain bemusing. You can catch up on the 2017 election in our dedicated hub.
At Llanrwst the popular feeling was very strong in favour of the Liberal candidates. There, during the polling, a number of men perambulated the streets, headed by a volunteer band, two men walking with them carrying two poles, upon one of which were affixed a large loaf and a leg of mutton, and on the other a potato, a miniature loaf, and a red herring.
The latter [pole] illustrative of a saying of a late Tory rector, that herrings and potatoes were quite sufficient food for working men.
But the most important indication of the state of feeling was a gigantic wooden screw carried about on the top of a pole as an intimation of the way the tenants were being coerced by their landlords.
What a farce, then, are country elections without the ballot, for it is quite evident that tenant farmers have no political opinions of their own to express, or, if they have any, in some parts of Wales they are coerced to vote against them.
Originally published by The Liverpool Mercury, 01-12-1868
Election Days
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Election days: 1769 - when 296 votes beat 1148
The radical John Wilkes had been pursued by the courts following his publication of a semi-pornographic parody of the work of Alexander Pope. His supporters returned him to the Commons as MP for Middlesex, but on the grounds of his conviction, Parliament had expelled him in February 1769, twice; and then again in March. He was re-elected every ...
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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Election days: 1779 - Save Britain from crisis!
Following the death of MP Sir Simeon Stuart, 'Cato' circulated a flier imploring those who could vote to save Britain from what appeared to be terminal decline.
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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Election days: 1880 - Squabbling peers
The Peers of Scotland gather to select their representatives for the new Parliament of 1880. It's not a smooth process.
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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Election days: 1868 - No vote, no verger
It wasn't just farmers coming under pressure to vote against their interests in 1868, as this letter from the Daily News suggests
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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Election days: 1908 - Churchill challenged by the women
At the start of the 20th Century, it was expected that MPs granted a seat in cabinet would seek re-election before taking up the posts. Winston Churchill, offered the Presidency of the Board Of Trade, found himself fighting a by-election on behlaf of the Liberals in Manchester North West. His candidancy became a target for Suffragette action.
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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Election days: 1910 - Asquith rejects foreign interference
Campaigning for re-election in Scotland, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith tells foreign nations to keep their opinions to themselves...
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
19th Century
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Death on the tracks: A 19th century train crash
An 1853 inquest takes evidence about a fatal train crash at New Cross.
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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The outgoing Prime Minister and his replacement: Gladstone makes way for Rosebery
As Downing Street changes hands again, we dip into the archives to find out what happened in 1894 when ill-health forced William Gladstone to quit in favour of his foreign secretary Lord Rosebery. This extract originally appeared in The Northern Echo.
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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How did Newcastle celebrate the 200th anniversary of Shakespeare?
The 400th anniversary of Shakespeare is being well marked around the nation, and around the globe (and the Globe). But how was the 200th anniversary marked?
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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Contemporary accounts of the 19th Century
Drawn from a range of sources - including diaries, newspaper reports, biography and more - a range of voices from the 19th Century.
Article
Level: 1 Introductory
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