January 1908 Irish representative peer election

January 1908 Irish representative peer election

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134 ballots issued
Nominee Lord Curzon Lord Ashtown Lord Farnham  vote Winner 2 votes behind 4 votes behind
Irish representative peer before election Lord Kilmaine (deceased) Elected Irish representative peer Lord Curzon

The January 1908 Irish representative peer election was held to fill a vacancy among the 28 Irish representative peers at that time elected to the British House of Lords. Conducted by post, with ballots sent to the 134 holders of Irish peerages eligible to vote, the election was necessitated by the death of Francis Browne, 4th Baron Kilmaine, and resulted in the election of Lord Curzon, the former viceroy of India. Curzon narrowly defeated Frederick Trench, 3rd Baron Ashtown, and Arthur Maxwell, 11th Baron Farnham. Curzon's eligibility for election was questioned, but the House of Lords seated him.

Curzon was an Englishman who had been granted an Irish peerage to give him a title before beginning his position as viceroy; he had never been to Ireland and owned no property there. He contested the election as a means of returning to parliament after being denied a United Kingdom peerage by the prime minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman. The fact that Curzon was not Irish sparked opposition, and his late entry into the race worked against him. As he had never asked the House of Lords to affirm his right to vote in Irish representative peer elections, something required to vote in them, some argued that this made him ineligible to be elected.

Curzon headed the poll with two votes more than Ashtown, who had two votes more than Farnham, but the official return noted that Curzon was not among those eligible to vote and that Ashtown had gained the most votes among those eligible to vote. When the House of Lords convened, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Loreburn, ruled that the requirement did not apply to candidates and declared Curzon the winner.

Ashtown and Farnham tied in the next election, in November 1908. Ashtown won the election when his name was drawn from a glass before the House of Lords, the procedure mandated by the Acts of Union 1800, but Farnham was chosen to fill the next vacancy, also in 1908.