Benjamin St John Ackers was a British Conservative Party

Conservative Party (UK)

The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

 politician. He sat in the House of Commons in 1885.

At the 1880 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1880

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

 he stood unsuccessfully in the borough of Gloucester

Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency)

Gloucester is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was established in 1295 to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons but in 1885 representation was reduced to one member under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885...

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A petition

Election petition

An election petition refers to the procedure for challenging the result of a Parliamentary election or local government election in the United Kingdom and in Hong Kong.- Outcomes :...

 was lodged against the election of the two Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 candidates, which led to one of the two returns being voided. However, the writ

Writ of election

A writ of election is a writ issued by the government ordering the holding of a special election for a political office.In the United Kingdom and in Canada, this is the only way of holding an election for the House of Commons...

 was suspended, and no by-election was held.

In 1885, a vacancy arose in the Western division of Gloucestershire, when the Liberal MP Robert Kingscote

Robert Kingscote

Colonel Sir Robert Nigel Fitzhardinge Kingscote GCVO, KCB, JP , was a British soldier, Liberal politician, courtier and agriculturalist.-Biography:...

 was appointed as Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues. Ackers was selected as the Conservative candidate for the resulting by-election, which was held on on 12 March 1885. He won the seat with a majority of 411 votes (4.4% of the total) over his Liberal opponent.

Constituencies were radically revised by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

, and at the general election in November 1885

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

 Ackers contested the new Thornbury division

Thornbury (UK Parliament constituency)

Thornbury was a county constituency centred on the town of Thornbury in Gloucestershire. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.-History:...

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He was defeated by a margin of 145 votes by the Liberal Stafford Howard

Stafford Howard

Sir Edward Stafford Howard KCB, DL, JP , was a British Liberal politician and magistrate.-Background and education:...

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