John Bruce

John Bruce (1 January 1861 - 29 January 1921) was a Scottish barrister and farmer who was briefly member of the UK Parliament for Greenock, before being unseated by an electoral petition. Biography John Bruce was a Scottish barrister and farmer, son of James Bruce of Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire. He was a student at Aberdeen University in the 1880s, where he was reputed one of the leading liberals amongst his cohort, and a member of the debating society. Bruce was elected as a Liberal Party candidate in the 1892 general election ballot for Greenock. On the first count he was found to have a majority of 44. However a petition under the terms of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1868 by Sir Thomas Sutherland was heard at the start of August 1892, and judgement was made by Lord Rutherfurd-Clark and Lord Adam that an error had been made; that Sutherland had won a majority of 55, and that he should therefore be seated as MP. The judgement was read to the House of Commons on 9 August 1892 and accepted by the speaker. Bruce was described as a Gladstonian-Liberal; Sutherland as a Liberal-Unionist. Bruce was again adopted as the Liberal candidate in the next general election, held in 1895, but resigned his candidacy owing to ill health; he took no active part in politics thereafter, though an obituaty noted that "his political views changed considerably".