British Election Addresses

The collection consists of:

• 88 archive boxes of General Election addresses, 1935-present. Also 32 bound volumes of General Election addresses from 1892-1931.
• 18 archive boxes of other election addresses, including London County Council elections, 1889-1913, By-Elections, 1905-1920 (with sporadic collection post-1920), European Parliament Elections, 1979-1999, Scottish Parliament Elections, 1999, and Welsh Assembly Elections, 1999.
• 6 archive boxes of manifestoes, from 1900-present, detailing most political parties, as well as European manifestoes.
• Lists of candidates, 1906-1992, including European Parliament candidates.

This collection consists of election addresses from 1889 to date covering the London County Council elections, By-Elections, General Elections, European Parliament Elections, Scottish Parliament Elections and Welsh Assembly Elections. Candidates are invited to send copies of their addresses, but are not obliged to do so. Thus our collection of election addresses is composed only of those which we receive from candidates. We do not have the resources to collect addresses which are not sent to us at the time of the election. We are also unable to systematically collect by-election addresses. Despite this, it is a considerable resource which is found to be very useful.

Accessible to all bona fide readers.

Typescript catalogue available in University of Bristol Special Collections.

There is a small collection of printed volumes in Special Collections published by The Guardian and Rough Guide relating to elections from 1987 onwards.

Permission must be sought from University of Bristol Special Collections.

The papers were collected until 1979 by the National Liberal Club, after which point they were collected directly by University of Bristol Special Collections.

Accruals sought from all candidates during each General, European or local Election.

See DM 668 - Papers of the National Liberal Club

Throughout Special Collections there are a number of associated election addresses for different dates and localities:

• County Durham election, 1820: Broad sheets and election material - DM 1836.
• 1945 General election newspaper coverage - DM 1712.
• 1992 General election newspaper coverage - DM 1715.
• 1997 General election newspaper coverage - DM 1795.
• Election posters for Marlborough, Wiltshire, 1832-1841 - DM 1937.
• Election material concerning John Stuart Mill's candidacy for Westminster, 1865-1868 - DM 1786.
• Election material relating to the Referendum Party, 1997 - DM 1735.
• Election material regarding Scottish and Welsh Parliamentary elections. Also, manifestos, newspapers and election addresses concerning the Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly elections, 1999 - DM 1857.
• Souvenir containing biographical details and pictures of Welsh MPs, 1906 - DM 1701.
• Election addresses of George H. Young, 1909-1934, Croydon and Exeter - DM 1788.
• Election papers for Stroud, 1832-1874, and related material concerning the Stanton family.