London School Board election, 1870

The first election to the School Board for London was held on Tuesday, 29 November 1870.

The election was historic, as the school board was the first London-wide popularily elected body. The electorate was very wide. It included all ratepayers, including women, who were entitled to vote in vestry elections, and women could also be members.

The "Metropolis" or area of the Metropolitan Board of Works was divided into ten divisions for the election of school board members: each division returned between four and seven members depending on population.

The board had 49 seats, for which there were 133 candidates. Although there were no formal parties or political groupings many candidates were endorsed by local Liberal or Unionist organisations. In addition there was a strong religious element to the election, with a large number of prominent Church of England clergy and laymen standing, as well as Roman Catholics and Non-Conformists. Other candidates were described as "non-sectarian".

Each voter had a number of votes equal to the number of seats in the division. The voter was free to allocate the votes between the candidates in any way they wished. Where an elector gave all of his votes to a single candidate this was known as "plumping", and was seen as a way of ensuring representation of minority religious denominations. Voting was by secret ballot, with the exception of the City of London, where open voting was used.