OF LOCAL POLITICAL INTEREST

OF LOCAL POLITICAL INTEREST, a Victorian Doulton Lambeth saltglaze stoneware jug by Harriet E. Hibbert of rounded tapering cylindrical form, moulded and applied with a head and shoulders portrait of The Rt. Hon. W.E. Gladstone flanked by the Leeds crest and a rose, incised "Leeds Election 1880 ... 246,22 votes", impressed mark, 9 1/4" high, together with a pair of similar baluster beakers with "John Barran, 236,74 votes" and "Herbert J. Gladstone, Returned Unopposed", both Leeds Election 1880, impressed mark and incised "L" and "R", (Gladstone by Annie Gentle), 6 1/2" high (3) (Est. plus 21% premium inc. VAT) The City of Leeds had swayed between the parties since 1832, often electing one Liberal and one Conservative MP. Following the 1867 Reform Act, Leeds gained a third seat in Parliament with the borough then always split two to one. The General Election in April 1880 was no exception with Gladstone top of the poll, fellow Liberal Sir John Barran second and Conservative William Jackson third. In the event, Gladstone elected to sit for Edinburgh, where he had also been elected (accepting nomination in two places was quite common at this period). His son Herbert John was elected unopposed at the ensuing by-election. The quotation is from Gladstone's 1879 'Inaugural Address to the Students of the University of Glasgow'.