What was the typical total on the constituency election expense returns from candidates in the 1910 general elections who fought contested elections? Answer in today’s money is below the jump.
The answer is around £85,000.
Although this figure is very high by current standards, national expenditure was much lower. The 1906 Liberal election campaign centrally cost around £8.5 million in current money and, most impressively, raised so much money that it made a profit equivalent to around £15 million.
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5 Comments
The electorate was much smaller in those days (before women had the vote). It would be interesting to see the comparison for cost per vote.
I second Nigel’s point. Many other things have changed since 1906 – I doubt any party has run a significant profit on an election campaign for decades!
If you can dig out the figures, it would be interesting to do a 1906 version of Duncan Stott’s graphic: http://splithorizons.blogspot.com/2010/01/lib-dems-are-most-effective-spenders.html
What index did you use to uprate your figures, and where did you get your numbers from?
I can`t say how much the cost of mounting a constituency campaign would have been in 1906 but I have recently found details of the election returns for the parliamentary by election which took place in the Southport Division on 24th August 1898.
In that by election which was caused when George Nathaniel Curzon was made viceroy of India , the Liberal candidate, Sir Herbert Naylor-Leyland, gained the seat from the Tories whose candidate was Edward George Bootle-Wilbraham, otherwise known as Lord Skelmersdale. The voting figures were 5,100 to 4,828
Anyway Leyland spent £1182 . 14s. 2d. and Skelmersdale £997. 9s.. 9d. during the campaign.
Fast forward sixty years to the 1959 General Election campaign when Tory candidate Ian Percival spent £826.7s. 2d,Charlie Hadfield £425. 7s. for Labour and Sam Goldberg ,who only entered the lists five minutes before the close of nominations and regained second place for the Liberals for the first time since 1929 polled 11,292 votes at a cost of just £198.6s. .I think that works out at 4d per vote!
Does anyone know what were the election expenses limits of 100 years ago ?
Tim: figures came from various academic books on 1906 and 1910. Can’t recall off top of my head which of the various price adjustment series I used for them.
Michael: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corrupt_and_Illegal_Practices_Prevention_Act_1883