Alfred Scott (British politician)

Alfred Henry Scott (24 June 1868 – 17 July 1939) was a British Liberal politician.

Alfred Henry Scott MP, circa 1906

Background

Scott was born in Ardwick, Manchester, the eldest son of Charles Henry Scott JP. He was educated at Altrincham Grammar School; Tideswell Grammar School and Lichfield Grammar School. In 1907 he married Katherine Duncan, the widow of Mr Lewis of Kentucky.[1]

He entered business as a merchant in the city.[2] He was elected to Manchester City Council in 1897. At the 1900 general election he was the Liberal candidate at Manchester East, where he stood against the Conservative First Lord of the Treasury, Arthur Balfour. In his election address he set out his political views: he supported reform of the Army, Home Rule for Ireland, the temperance movement, abolition of the House of Lords, and nationalisation or municipalisation of land, railways and mines.[2]

2 October 1900: Manchester East[3] Electorate 12,727
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Arthur Balfour 5,803 63.4
Liberal Alfred Scott 3,350 36.6
Majority 2,453 26.8
Turnout 71.9
Conservative hold Swing

At the next general election in 1906 he stood at Ashton under Lyne, and was elected as the town's Member of Parliament.[4]

General election 1906: Ashton-under-Lyne[3] Electorate 8,248
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Alfred Scott 4,310 56.3 +20.4
Conservative Herbert Whiteley 3,342 43.7 -9.4
Majority 968 12.6
Turnout 7,652 92.8 +6.6
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +14.8

Following his election to parliament, he stood down from Manchester City Council, after 9 years service. In 1907 he became Vice-President of the Association of Municipal Corporations. Whilst an MP he voted in favour of the 1908 Women's Enfranchisement Bill.[5] He held the seat at the January 1910 election.

General election January 1910: Ashton-under-Lyne[3] Electorate 8,597
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Alfred Scott 4,039 49.3 -7.0
Conservative Herbert Whiteley 3,746 45.9 +2.2
Independent Labour William Gee 413 5.0
Majority 293 3.6 -9.0
Turnout 8,198 95.4 +2.6
Liberal hold Swing -4.6

A second general election was held in December of the same year. Scott was defeated by the Canadian millionaire Max Aitken (later Lord Beaverbrook), who had been "parachuted" in as the Liberal Unionist candidate.[6]

General election December 1910: Ashton-under-Lyne[3] Electorate 8,597
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Max Aitken 4,044 51.1 +5.5
Liberal Alfred Scott 3,848 48.8 -0.5
Majority 196 2.4
Turnout 7,652 91.8 -3.6
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +3.0

Scott moved to London. In 1913 he contested the 1913 London County Council election as a Progressive Party candidate at Greenwich but was defeated.[7]

Greenwich in the metropolitan area, 1885-1918
London County Council election, 1913: Greenwich Electorate
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Municipal Reform Y George Hume 4,815
Municipal Reform Y Lord Hill 4,787
Progressive Alfred Scott 4,486
Progressive Hugh Moulton 4,463
Majority 301
Municipal Reform hold Swing
Municipal Reform hold Swing

Despite this defeat he was immediately appointed to be a Progressive Party alderman on the London County Council.[8] The Progressives were the municipal wing of the Liberal Party in London. He remained a member of the LCC until 1919. Scott attempted to return to the Commons, and was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate at Darlington in 1918, where the Unionist candidate was endorsed by the Coalition Government;

General election 1918: Darlington[9] Electorate 28,660
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Herbert Pease 11,951 61.5
Liberal Alfred Scott 7,494 38.5
Majority 4,457 23.0
Turnout 67.8
Unionist hold Swing

In 1922 he stood for election to the London County Council and was defeated by a Municipal Reform Party opponent in the St Pancras South East Division.[10]

St Pancras South East in the London County area 1918-49
1922 London County Council election: St. Pancras South East[11] Electorate 26,111
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Municipal Reform Y E J Hopkins 5,158 26.8
Municipal Reform Y David Davies 5,114 26.6
Labour S Presbury 2,617 13.6
Labour HD Large 2,613 13.6
Progressive Arthur Lewis Leon 1,859 9.7
Progressive Alfred Scott 1,856 9.7
Majority 2,497 13.0
Municipal Reform hold Swing
Municipal Reform hold Swing

Later that year he again stood as a candidate at the General Election; West Ham Stratford in 1922

Stratford in Essex, showing boundaries used in 1922
General election 1922: Stratford West Ham[12] Electorate 32,930
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Groves 10,017 46.8 n/a
Unionist Leonard Lyle 8,641 40.5 -23.3
Liberal Alfred Scott 12.7 -23.5
Majority 1,376 6.3 33.9
Turnout 64.9 +22.6
Labour gain from Unionist Swing n/a

and the following year he stood for parliament at Finsbury in 1923.[13]

Finsbury in the County of London, showing boundaries used in 1923
General election 1923: Finsbury[12] Electorate 39,109
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Gillett 8,907 42.4 +19.1
Unionist Martin Archer-Shee 7,063 33.6 -11.0
Liberal Alfred Scott 5,054 24.0 -6.4
Majority 1,844 8.8 30.1
Turnout 21,024 53.8 -0.5
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +15.0

He retired to Birchington, Margate where he was appointed as an Alderman and served as a Justice of the Peace. He died in Thanet, Kent aged 71.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Herbert Huntington-Whiteley		 Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne
1906 – Dec. 1910		 Succeeded by
Max Aitken

References
  1. 'SCOTT, Alfred Henry', Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2007; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 accessed 19 Dec 2013
  2. "The Position in the Constituencies", The Times, 18 September 1900, p.4
  3. British parliamentary election results, 1885-1918 by Craig
  4. "Progress of the General Election" The Times, 13 January 1906
  5. http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1908/feb/28/womens-enfranchisement-bill-1
  6. "Discover Tameside's Heritage". The Tameside Citizen. Tameside Council. 10 October 2006. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
  7. The New Hazell Annual and Almanack, 1914
  8. "London County Council, First Meeting of the New Body", The Times, 14 March 1913, p.5
  9. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  10. "L.C.C. Elections, Municipal Reform Gains, Labour Stationary", The Times, 3 March 1922, p.12
  11. London Municipal Notes - Volumes 18-23, London Municipal Society
  12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, F W S Craig
  13. The Times, 26 November 1918, p.7; 27 October 1922, p.8; 27 November 1923, p.8
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