The Parties and their Candidates

Abstract

The total of 1313 candidates in January 1910 was greater than in any electoral contest since 1885.¹ Only the fact that the virtual single-party systems of Ireland had hardened in the generation since 1885 prevented the record total of that year from being surpassed. In Great Britain the total of 1171 candidates was the greatest ever. Never before had so few seats been uncontested, while a third party, Labour, placed its largest contingent in the field. Every seat was fought in Scotland and Wales; only eight were left unfought in England.² Even in Ireland, where the unopposed election had become the rule, the O’Brienite revolt resulted in the greatest number of contests — thirty-seven — since the intra-party troubles of the 1890s.