The three - cornered contest in North - East Lanarkshire,
where a vacancy had been created by the death of Mr. Colville, resulted, according to anticipation, in the capture of the seat by the Unionist candidate. Polling took place on Thursday, and the result was declared late on that night as follows : —Sir William Rattigan (U.), 5,673; Mr. Cecil Harmsworth (Imperialist Liberal), 4,769; Mr. Smillie (Labour), 2,900. The simplest explanation of the result is to be found in a com- parison of these figures with those of the election in 1900 :— J. Colville (L.), 7,120; Sir W. Rattigan (U.), 5,567. Mr. Harmsworth had the support of the regular Liberal organi- sation, but Mr. Smillie, a strong candidate, backed by the Miners' Associations, the Irish Nationalists, and the Pro-Boer Liberals, detached nearly 3,000 votes, with the result noted above. At no election that we can recall have the warring sntions of the Liberal party so conspicuously advertised their dissensions. Sir William Rattigan, the elected member, is an Irishman with a distinguished Indian record, having been Judge of the Chief Court of the Punjab on four occasions, and member of the Punjab Legislative Council in 1898-99.
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