1896 Edinburgh Corporation election

Elections for Edinburgh Corporation were held on Tuesday 3 November 1896, alongside municipal elections across Scotland, and the wider British local elections. The election was relatively quiet, with no particularly important issues being raised, and contests took place in only 2 of the cities 13 wards, with candidates in the remaining 11 being returned unopposed.

The election followed the annexation of Portobello to Edinburgh, and the three new Portobello wards had to elect their initial representation. Contests took place in two of the three Portobello wards, with Portobello West and Portobello East seeing contests. Portobello would in total contribute 5 Unionist and 4 Liberal councillors. This gave the new council a slight Unionist majority.

Ward Results

Canongate

Canongate
Spoiled papers: 4

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Miller Dunlop (former councillor for ward)	862	60.11
	Labour	Thomas Blankie	572	39.89
Majority			290	20.22
Turnout			1,434
	Liberal hold		Swing

Portobello West

Portobello West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Councillor Alfred Nichol (incumbent)	383
		Councillor George Balfour (incumbent)	371
	Unionist	Mr William Gray	320
		Mr John Shepherd	170
Majority
Turnout
	Councillor Nichol hold		Swing
	Councillor Balfour hold		Swing
	Gray gain from Retiring councillor

Portobello East

Portobello East (16th)
Spoiled papers: 8

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
		Bailie David Grieve (incumbent)	302
		Bailie R. Kellock (incumbent)	230
	Unionist	Mr James Watson	147
		Councillor Alexander Clark (incumbent)	137
Majority
Turnout
	Bailie Grieve hold		Swing
	Bailie Kellock hold		Swing
	Watson gain from Councillor Clark

St. Bernards

St. Bernards
Spoiled papers: 11

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lang Todd (incumbent)	1,216	58.10
	Unionist	Forbes Dallas S.S.C.	877	41.90
Majority			339	16.20
Turnout			2,093
	Liberal hold		Swing