HC Deb 20 November 1884 vol 294 cc53-5
DR. FARQUHARSON

asked the Lord Advocate, Whether, considering the answer given by Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reference to the candidature of Sir William Brampton Gur- don, he is aware that Mr. Macdonald, Sheriff of Perthshire, is a candidate for the Universities of Edinburgh and Saint Andrews; whether a Sheriff, being a Judge of the Crown, does not hold a place of profit as a salaried officer, in the terms of 6 Anne, c. 7, s. 35; and, whether it does not come within the enactment of 21 Geo. II., c. 19, s. 11, that a Sheriff cannot be elected to sit in Parliament; and, whether, under the circumstances, the Government will make to Mr. Macdonald an official communication of a similar character to that made to Sir William Gurdon, to the effect that a salaried Judge cannot be a candidate while he remains in office?

THE LORD ADVOCATE (Mr. J. B. BALFOUR)

I understand that Mr. Macdonald, who is Sheriff of Perthshire, has accepted a requisition to contest the representation in Parliament of the Universities of Edinburgh and Saint Andrews on the first opportunity, and that an address which he delivered on the occasion of his acceptance has been printed and circulated to all the electors, accompanied by a printed form, which they are invited to sign, requesting their names to be added to the list of his supporters. If this was done with Mr. Macdonald's knowledge and consent, it is a method of soliciting the suffrages of the electors; and, in my opinion, it constitutes him a candidate for the seat. A Sheriff in Scotland is not, in my judgment, a member of the permanent Civil Service under the control of the Treasury; and it appears to me that the Treasury Minute recently laid upon the Table of the House is not applicable to Sheriffs or other Judges. Further, it may be doubted whether the Act of Anne, which refers to new offices of profit under the Crown, extends to the office of Sheriff as now constituted in Scotland. It is, however, provided by the Act of 21 Geo. II., c. 19, s. 2, that no Sheriff shall be capable of being elected or of sitting or of voting as a Member of the House of Commons. This prohibition is expressed in the same terms as that contained in an earlier Statute of the same reign—7 Geo. II., c. 16, s. 4—with reference to the Judges of the Supreme Courts in Scotland, and it is to precisely the same effect as the provisions of more modern statutes with respect to the Judges of the High Court of Justice and of the County Courts in England. It being thus clear that Mr. Macdonald is incapable of being elected, or of sitting or voting as a Member of the House of Commons while he holds his Sheriffship, the only remaining question is, whether a Judge so disqualified from being elected or sitting is disabled from pursuing a declared candidature for election while he continues to hold his office. I am not aware of any decision upon this question; but, having regard to the considerations of policy upon which the disability is founded, I think it would be held to extend to the preliminary steps towards election generally known as pursuing a candidature, especially in a case like the present, where, as I understand, many of the electors are resident within the jurisdiction of the Judge on whose behalf their suffrages are solicited.

SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Whether Sir William Gurdon had yet arrived at any decision as to whether he would pursue his candidature for Norfolk, or resign his position in the Civil Service?

MR. ONSLOW

also asked the right hon. Gentleman, Whether Sir Richard Wyatt, an official in the Private Bill Office of the House of Commons, was not candidate for a certain county; and, whether, if so, he did not come under the category of a permanent Civil Servant?

THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. CHILDERS)

I know nothing about the gentleman referred to, and cannot answer the Question. As to the Question of the hon. Member for Portsmouth (Sir H. Drummond Wolff), I have not received any conclusive statement from Sir William Gurdon. Perhaps the hon. Member will ask the Question again in a day or two.

SIR H. DRUMMOND WOLFF

said, he would do so on Monday.