London School Board - School Board Members

School Board Members

The entire board was elected every three years, with the first elections held in November 1870. The LSB originally consisted of forty-nine members elected from ten divisions, based around London's constituencies or the Districts formed under the Metropolis Management Act 1855. Four divisions, representing the City, Southwark, Chelsea and Greenwich returned four members. The divisions of Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Westminster returned five members each. Finally, Finsbury and Marylebone returned six and seven members respectively. The membership increased over time: to 50 in 1876 when Lambeth was given an extra member, to 51 in 1882 when the representation of Chelsea increased to five members and to 55 in 1885 when Lambeth was sub-divided into two smaller divisions: Lambeth East and Lambeth West with four and six members respectively.

The electoral system of the LSB contained several innovations. Firstly, the board's election of 1870 was polled by secret ballot, being the first large-scale election to use this approach in Britain. Secondly, the cumulative voting system gave electors a number of votes equal to the number of seats in the division in which they were voting. The elector could use up as many of their votes on a single candidate as they wished, which meant that minority interests often found representation.

The LSB, at the time of its creation had one of the broadest mandates of any elected body in Britain. Unusually, women were permitted to vote on the same terms as men for the school boards and also to stand for election. A number of women were elected to the board, including Elizabeth Garrett, who topped the poll at the first board election in 1870.

One measure of the LSB's importance can be seen in the number of notable figures who stood for election to the board. The board attracted a number of the leading figures of the day, including the scientist Thomas Huxley, Helen Taylor, stepdaughter of John Stuart Mill, and Lord Lawrence, who served as the LSB's first chairman. The board was also responsible for launching a number of political careers, including those of Charles Reed, Benjamin Waugh, and the Conservative cabinet minister, William Henry Smith.