Charles Reed (British Politician) - Hackney's First MP

Hackney's First MP

Two parliamentary seats were allotted to Hackney by the Representation of the People Act, 1867 and Charles Reed became, in 1868, the first MP to be elected to represent Hackney, along with John Holms. As a member of Britain's first Liberal government, he faced a vigorous opponent at the next election in April 1874, when Gladstone was defeated. Lieutenant William Gill stood against him for the Conservatives with support from the Independent newspaper, which dubbed the constituency notorious hitherto as a hotbed of Radicalism. The vigorous Conservative campaign increased its poll share from 10 per cent to 31 per cent, but Gill still came bottom of the poll. However, the ballot was called into question on procedural grounds, with the result that a new election had to be called three months later. Charles Reed's place was taken by Professor Fawcett for the Liberals. He chose Holms again as his running mate in the two-seat constituency and this time Gill lost by only a small margin. However, Liberals were always returned until the constituencies of North, Central, and South Hackney were created in 1885.