London School Board election, 1900

The eleventh and final election to the School Board for London was held on Thursday, 29 November 1900.

Members of the school board were elected for a three-year term. However, under the terms of the Education Act 1902, all school boards in England and Wales were abolished, with their powers, duties and property passing to education committees of local authorities. In the case of London, education became a function of the London County Council. The 1902 Act provided that the term of office of the final school board should be extended by four months, with its abolition taking place on 26 March 1904.

The electorate included all ratepayers, including women, who were entitled to vote in vestry elections, and women could also be members.

The County of London was divided into eleven divisions for the election of school board members: each division returned between four and seven members depending on population. The total size of the board was 55 members.

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.

Politics
By the time of the eleventh election, the majority party were the Progressive Party, allied to the parliamentary Liberal Party and also supported by some Labour activists. The party's candidates were supporters of free, compulsory and non-sectarian education, manual and physical training, the provision of secondary schools, swimming pools and gymnasiums, free school meals and the direct employment of labour.

The opposition Moderate Party had overcome a three-way split it had suffered at the tome of the 1897 election. The Moderates were supported by Conservative and Unionist political organisations. Moderate policies favoured "economy" or low rates, bible teaching in schools and the toleration of voluntary schools provided by various Christian denominations.

The "Moderate" and "Progressive" party labels were also adopted by the two parties on the London County Council, following the first election to the body in January 1889.

There were also some independent candidates and others promoted by the Social Democratic Federation. A number of Roman Catholic candidates also stood.

Results
The results saw the Progressives retain control of the board, but with a reduced majority. The Moderates gained 4 seats and lost 1. The Progressives retained a majority of one over all other parties with the support of a lone Labour member. However, they could count on the support of the two Roman Catholic members on all matters except those effecting Catholic schools, giving them an effective majority of 5 seats on most matters.

A summary of the gains and losses was as follows:


 * M = Moderate
 * P = Progressive
 * Lab = Labour
 * Ind = Independent
 * RC = Roman Catholic

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** see breakdown of Moderate Party faction votes:

Successful candidates are shown in bold type. Members of the outgoing board have an asterisk next to their name.

Chelsea (5 members)
See recount below

Co-options and recounts to 1900
The school board elected in 1894 had a three-year term of office. Under the terms of Section 44 of the Elementary Education Act 1876 casual vacancies occurring in the membership of school boards due to death or resignation were filled by co-option. Where a vacancy occurred the sitting members nominated a candidate or candidates. Where there was only one nomination, they were automatically co-opted. Where there was more than one candidate, the vacancy was filled by a vote of the entire board.

There were twelve co-options during the term of the tenth school board.

Chelsea (12 February 1898)
Recount following petition

Following a recount for the fifth seat in the Chelsea Division where William Whitaker Thompson had been declared elected with a majority of 3 votes over the highest losing candidate, Leslie Martin Johnson. In a judgement delivered by Mr Justice Hawkins and Mr Justice Channell on 12 February 1898 following a recount of the ballot papers, Johnson was declared elected with a majority of 5 votes of Thompson.

Marylebone (10 March 1898)
Death of Moberly 26 January 1898

Finsbury (23 June 1898)
Death of Rose 24 April 1898

Marylebone (2 March 1899)
Resignation of Cecil 28 February 1899

Finsbury (23 March 1899)
Resignation of Beauchamp on appointment as governor of New South Wales 18 March 1899

Westminster (22 June 1899)
Resignation of Patey 18 May 1899

Chelsea (12 October 1899)
Resignation of Johnson September 1899