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The City of London by-election, 1904 was a parliamentary by-election held in England on 9 February 1904 for the House of Commons constituency of City of London. The by-election was triggered by the disqualification of the sitting Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP), Hon. Alban Gibbs. The 57-year-old Gibbs was re-elected unopposed. == Vacancy == Gibbs had been an MP for the City of London since the 1892 general election, when he was elected to succeed his father Hucks Gibbs. Alban Gibbs and his bother Vicary (MP for St Albans were partners in the family business Antony Gibbs & Sons. This firm had organised the sale to the Admiralty of the two ''Swiftsure''-class battleships, and ''Swiftsure'', which had been constructed in England for the Chilean Navy. Financial difficulties prevented Chile from completing the purchase, and they were bought for the Royal Navy to prevent them from being purchased by Russia, which had made a cash offer for them. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents that if the ships had passed into the hands of a rival nation, the balance of power would have been significantly altered, and that Britain would have fallen behind in naval power relative to its rivals.〔 〕 However, in organising the sale, the two brothers had disqualified themselves from sitting in the House of Commons, under the terms of the House of Commons (Disqualification) Act 1782 (22 Geo. III, c. 45)〔 〕 which debarred MPs from accepting contracts from the Crown. Vicary Gibbs told his constituents on 18 January that he would resign from the Commons by taking the Chiltern Hundreds, and then present himself for re-election.〔 On 26 January Alban Gibbs told the City of London Conservative Association that his seat would become vacant on the first day of the new session of Parliament, but he was unsure whether this would happen through taking the Chiltern Hundreds, or by some other means.〔 〕 The Association's chairman, Sir John Puleston, moved a vote of thanks to Gibbs for rendering such a "patriotic service" to the country.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「City of London by-election, 1904」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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