1889 United Kingdom local elections

Resulting party control by county council.

Elections to the municipal and county councils of England and Wales were held in 1889. Elections to the various county councils were held in January 1889. Progressive candidates won a majority on London County Council, although at this point party labels were relatively unimportant, with municipal and county politics in Victorian Britain being somewhat detached from national politics, and national political divisions.[1] Liberal candidates would do particularly well in Wales however, winning clear majorities in 11 of Wales' 13 counties.[2] The Liberals only failed to take Brecknockshire and Radnorshire, which had hung councils.[2] In the English counties the Liberals took only Cumberland, Holland, London, and the West Riding, with most councils being run on a non-party basis.

The elections were the first following the Local Government Act 1888 (51 & 52 Vict. c. 41), which had established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales. Prior to the act there had been no elected body at the county level, with counties being governed by justices of the peace in Quarter Sessions.[3]

A similar act - the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 - would later establish county councils in Scotland. Irish local governance would remain unreformed until 1898, and the passing of the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

Results

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England

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English administrative counties, 1890-1965.
Representation by divisions on the London County Council. Liberals held a majority.
Council Result Details
Bedfordshire Independent Details
Berkshire Independent Details
Buckinghamshire Independent Details
Cambridgeshire Independent Details
Cheshire Independent Details
Cornwall Independent Details
Cumberland Liberal Details
Derbyshire Independent Details
Devon Independent Details
Dorset Independent Details
Durham Independent Details
East Suffolk Independent Details
East Sussex Independent Details
Essex Independent Details
Gloucestershire Independent Details
Hampshire Independent Details
Herefordshire Independent Details
Hertfordshire Independent Details
Holland Liberal Details
Huntingdonshire Independent Details
Isle of Ely Independent Details
Kent Independent Details
Kesteven Independent Details
Lancashire Independent Details
Leicestershire Independent Details
Lindsey Independent Details
London Progressive Details
Middlesex Independent Details
Nottinghamshire No overall control Details
East Riding Independent Details
North Riding Independent Details
West Riding Liberal Details
West Suffolk Independent Details
West Sussex Independent Details
Westmorland Independent Details
Wiltshire Independent Details
Worcestershire Independent Details

Wales

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Council Result Details
Anglesey Liberal Details
Brecknockshire No overall control Details
Carnarvonshire Liberal Details
Cardiganshire Liberal Details
Carmarthenshire Liberal Details
Denbighshire Liberal Details
Flintshire Liberal Details
Glamorgan Liberal Details
Merionethshire Liberal Details
Monmouthshire Liberal Details
Montgomeryshire Liberal Details
Pembrokeshire Liberal Details
Radnorshire No overall control Details

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Saint, Andrew (1 January 1989). POLITICS & PEOPLE OF LONDON: London County Council, 1889-1965. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781852850296 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ a b "p.2" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Surrey History Centre – Electoral Registers Research Guide" (PDF). www.surreycc.gov.uk. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 31 May 2021.