# Crofters Party > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Crofters_Party > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Crofters_Party.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crofters_Party > Source revision: 1299142141 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British political party}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:United Kingdom general election 1885 in Scotland.svg|thumb|The results of the [1885 UK general election in Scotland](/source/1885_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Scotland), showing the western [Highlands](/source/Scottish_Highlands) and [Caithness](/source/Caithness_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) having elected MPs from the Crofters Party]] '''The Crofters' Party''' was the parliamentary arm of the [Highland Land League](/source/Highland_Land_League). It gained five MPs in the [1885 general election](/source/1885_United_Kingdom_general_election_in_Scotland) and five in [the election of the following year](/source/1886_United_Kingdom_general_election). The Highland Land League had started on the [Isle of Skye](/source/Isle_of_Skye), and in 1884 protest action was much more widespread: many thousands of [crofters](/source/Crofting) became members of the Highland Land League. A number of candidates stood with the Highland Land League's backing in the 1885 general election and in subsequent elections in the rest of the 19th century. == MPs == The [MPs](/source/List_of_MPs_elected_in_the_1885_United_Kingdom_general_election) elected with the backing of the Highland Land League formed themselves into the Crofters' Party, although they were also known as [Independent Liberals](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)). The MPs were:{{cite book |last=Craig |first=F. W. S. |authorlink= F. W. S. Craig |title=British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 |orig-date=1974 |edition=2nd |year=1989 |publisher=Parliamentary Research Services |location=Chichester |isbn=0-900178-27-2 |page=527 }} * [Donald Horne Macfarlane](/source/Donald_Horne_Macfarlane), [Argyllshire](/source/Argyllshire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) * [Gavin Brown Clark](/source/Gavin_Brown_Clark), [Caithness](/source/Caithness_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) * [Charles Fraser-Mackintosh](/source/Charles_Fraser-Mackintosh), [Inverness-shire](/source/Inverness-shire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), who joined the [Liberal Unionist Party](/source/Liberal_Unionist_Party) before the 1892 election, so [Galloway Weir](/source/Galloway_Weir) was endorsed the Land League in his stead. * [Roderick Macdonald](/source/Roderick_Macdonald_(politician)), [Ross and Cromarty](/source/Ross_and_Cromarty_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) * [Angus Sutherland](/source/Angus_Sutherland_(politician)) was defeated in [Sutherland](/source/Sutherland_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), but won [in 1886](/source/1886_United_Kingdom_general_election), when the incumbent [Marquess of Sutherland](/source/Cromartie_Sutherland-Leveson-Gower%2C_4th_Duke_of_Sutherland) did not stand. In 1894, Angus Sutherland was appointed Chairman of the [Fishery Board for Scotland](/source/Fishery_Board_for_Scotland), causing a [by-election](/source/1894_Sutherland_by-election) in which [John MacLeod](/source/John_MacLeod_(Sutherland_MP)) was elected unopposed; MacLeod defeated the Liberal Unionist candidate [the following year](/source/1895_United_Kingdom_general_election). * [John Macdonald Cameron](/source/John_Macdonald_Cameron), [Wick Burghs](/source/Wick_Burghs_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) (allied with the Crofters Party) Also standing in 1885 was Walter McLaren, a Land League-endorsed Independent Liberal who was beaten by Liberal candidate [Robert Finlay](/source/Robert_Finlay%2C_1st_Viscount_Finlay) in the [Inverness Burghs](/source/Inverness_Burghs_(UK_Parliament_constituency)). A year later Parliament passed the Crofters Act, formally the [Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886](/source/Crofters'_Holdings_(Scotland)_Act_1886) ([49 & 50 Vict.](/source/49_%26_50_Vict.) c. 29), which applied to croft tenure in an area which is now recognisable as a definition of the ''Highlands and Islands''The ancient counties of [Argyll](/source/Argyll), [Inverness-shire](/source/Inverness-shire), [Ross and Cromarty](/source/Ross_and_Cromarty), [Sutherland](/source/Sutherland), [Caithness](/source/Caithness), [Orkney](/source/Orkney) and [Shetland](/source/Shetland). The name is used now as a name for an electoral area of the [Scottish Parliament](/source/Scottish_Parliament); ''see [Highlands and Islands](/source/Highlands_and_Islands)''. The Act granted real security of tenure of existing crofts and established the first [Crofters Commission](/source/Crofters_Commission)The same name was given to a different body in 1955 [http://www.crofterscommission.org.uk/ Commission website today] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121153158/http://www.crofterscommission.org.uk/ |date=2010-11-21 }} which had rent-fixing powers. Rents were generally reduced and 50% or more of outstanding arrears were cancelled. The Act failed however to address the issue of severely limited access to land, and crofters renewed their protest actions.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} At the same time there was a shift in the political climate: [William Gladstone](/source/William_Ewart_Gladstone)'s Liberal government fell from power; the new [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) government was much less sympathetic to the plight of crofters and much more willing to use troops to quell protests.{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=James |title=Last of the Free: A History of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland |date=1999 |publisher=Mainstream Publishing |location=Edinburgh |page=323}} The Liberal Party appeared to adopt and champion Land League objectives and, as a distinct parliamentary force, the Land League fragmented during the 1890s.{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} == Electoral results == {| class="wikitable" ! scope="col" | Constituency ! scope="col" colspan="2" | [1885](/source/1885_United_Kingdom_general_election) ! scope="col" colspan="2" | [1886](/source/1886_United_Kingdom_general_election) ! scope="col" colspan="2" width=100 | [1892](/source/1892_United_Kingdom_general_election) ! scope="col" colspan="2" width=100 style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;" | [1894](/source/1894_Sutherland_by-election) ! scope="col" colspan="2" width=100 style="font-weight: normal; font-style: italic;" | [1895](/source/1895_Inverness-shire_by-election) ! scope="col" colspan="2" | [1895](/source/1895_United_Kingdom_general_election) |- ! scope="row" | [Argyllshire](/source/Argyllshire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | '''[Macfarlane](/source/Donald_Horne_Macfarlane)'''* ([Ind. Lib.](/source/Independent_Liberal)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Unionist Party (Scotland)}}; width: 0.25em;" | | [Malcolm](/source/John_Malcolm%2C_1st_Baron_Malcolm)† ([U.](/source/Unionist_Party_(Scotland))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="5" | '''[Macfarlane](/source/Donald_Horne_Macfarlane)'''* ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Unionist Party (Scotland)}}; width: 0.25em;" | | [Nicol](/source/Donald_Ninian_Nicol)† ([U.](/source/Unionist_Party_(Scotland)), ''to 1903'') |- ! scope="row" | [Caithness](/source/Caithness_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="11" | '''[Clark](/source/Gavin_Brown_Clark)'''*‡ ([Ind. Lib.](/source/Independent_Liberal), then [Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) |- ! scope="row" | [Inverness-shire](/source/Inverness-shire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="3" | '''[Fraser-Mackintosh](/source/Charles_Fraser-Mackintosh)'''* ([Ind. Lib.](/source/Independent_Liberal), then [Lib. U.](/source/Liberal_Unionist_Party)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="3" | '''[MacGregor](/source/Donald_MacGregor_(Liberal_MP))'''* ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Unionist Party (Scotland)}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="3" | [Baillie](/source/James_Evan_Bruce_Baillie)‡ ([U.](/source/Unionist_Party_(Scotland))) |- ! scope="row" | [Inverness Burghs](/source/Inverness_Burghs_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}; width: 0.25em;" | | [Finlay](/source/Robert_Finlay%2C_1st_Viscount_Finlay) ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Unionist Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | [Finlay](/source/Robert_Finlay%2C_1st_Viscount_Finlay) (now [Lib. U.](/source/Liberal_Unionist_Party)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="5" | [Beith](/source/Gilbert_Beith) ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Unionist Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | [Finlay](/source/Robert_Finlay%2C_1st_Viscount_Finlay) ([Lib. U.](/source/Liberal_Unionist_Party), ''to 1906'') |- ! scope="row" | [Ross and Cromarty](/source/Ross_and_Cromarty_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="3" | '''[Macdonald](/source/Roderick_Macdonald_(politician))'''* ([Ind. Lib.](/source/Independent_Liberal), then [Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="7" | '''[Weir](/source/Galloway_Weir)'''* ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK)), ''to 1911'') |- ! scope="row" | [Sutherland](/source/Sutherland_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Party (UK)}}; width: 0.25em;" | | [{{abbr|Mqs|Marquess}} of Stafford](/source/Cromartie_Sutherland-Leveson-Gower%2C_4th_Duke_of_Sutherland) ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="3" | '''[Sutherland](/source/Angus_Sutherland_(politician))'''* ([Ind. Lib.](/source/Independent_Liberal), then [Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="5" | '''[MacLeod](/source/John_MacLeod_(Sutherland_MP))'''*† ([Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) |- ! scope="row" | [Wick Burghs](/source/Wick_Burghs_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) | style="background-color: {{party color|Crofters Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="3" | '''[Cameron](/source/John_Macdonald_Cameron)'''* ([WRWA](/source/Wick_Radical_Workingmen's_Association), then [Lib.](/source/Liberal_Party_(UK))) | style="background-color: {{party color|Liberal Unionist Party}}; width: 0.25em;" | | colspan="7" | [Pender](/source/John_Pender)† ([Lib. U.](/source/Liberal_Unionist_Party), ''resigned 1896'') |- style="font-size: 90%;" ! scope="row" | References | colspan="2" | Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889 | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | Whitaker's Almanack, 1893 | colspan="2" | Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901 | colspan="2" | | colspan="2" | |} Candidates with asterisks (*) and names in bold were endorsed by the Land League as Crofters Party candidates. Candidates with a dagger (†) were elected ahead of candidates endorsed by the Land League. Candidates with a double dagger (‡) were unseated in the [1900 United Kingdom general election](/source/1900_United_Kingdom_general_election). [John Macdonald Cameron](/source/John_Macdonald_Cameron), MP for Wick Burghs, ran under the banner of the [Wick Radical Workingmen's Association](/source/Wick_Radical_Workingmen's_Association) in 1885, but was endorsed by the Land League; subsequently he ran as the official Liberal Party candidate. Liberal Unionist [John Pender](/source/John_Pender) beat John Macdonald Cameron in 1892 but his 1896 opponent was not Land League endorsed. ==References== {{reflist}} {{Defunct political parties in Scotland}} Category:Defunct political parties in Scotland Category:Defunct agrarian political parties in Europe Category:Politics of Highland (council area) Category:19th century in Scotland Category:Crofting --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Crofters Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crofters_Party) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crofters_Party?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.