Crofters' Party

The Crofters' Party was the parliamentary arm of the Highland Land League. It managed to elect five MPs in the 1885 general election and a sixth the following year. The Highland Land League had started on the isle of Skye and in 1884 protest action was much more widespread with many thousands of crofters became members of the Highland Land League. A number of candidates stood with the Highland Land League's backing in the 1885 general election and in subsequent elections in the rest of the 19th century. MPs The MPs elected with the backing of the Highland Land League formed themselves into the Crofters' Party, although they were also known as Independent Liberals. The MPs were: Donald Horne Macfarlane, Argyllshire Charles Fraser-Mackintosh, Inverness-shire, who joined the Liberal Unionist Party before the 1892 election, so Galloway Weir was endorsed the Land League in his stead. Roderick Macdonald, Ross and Cromarty Gavin Brown Clark, Caithness John Macdonald Cameron, Wick Burghs (allied with the Crofters Party) Angus Sutherland was defeated in Sutherland, but won in 1886, when the incumbent Marquess of Sutherland did not stand. In 1894, Angus Sutherland was appointed Chairman of the Fishery Board for Scotland, causing a by-election in which John MacLeod was elected unopposed; MacLeod defeated the Liberal Unionist candidate the following year.