1885 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

A general election was held in the United Kingdom between 24 November and 18 December 1885 and members were returned for all 72 seats in Scotland. Scotland was allocated 70 territorial seats, comprising 32 burgh constituencies and 37 county constituencies,^[c] and two university constituencies, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities. As voters in university constituencies voted in addition to their territorial vote, the results are compiled separately. Scotland had gained 12 seats since the previous election as a result of the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and the electorate had increased from 293,581 to 560,580 (out of 3,735,573 people registered as living in Scotland in the 1881 census)^[1] as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1884 .

Of particular note was the splintering of the Liberal representation in Scotland. Some 7 MPs were returned as Independent Liberals, with Edinburgh in particular seeing 3 of its 4 constituencies return Independent Liberals.

In the western Highlands the Crofters Party emerged as the dominant force, taking four constituencies. The Independent Liberal MP elected for the Wick Burghs also aligned with the group. The emergence of the group was owed to the Representation of the People Act 1884, which had reduced the property qualifications for voters. As a result many crofters were able to vote for the first time in 1885. The Crofting Party worked in close collaboration with the Highland Land League, and opposed the lack of secure and tenure and the severely reduced access to land for crofters.^[2]

• History of Scotland § 19th century