February 1906 City of London by-election February 1906 City of London by-election The City of London by-election, February 1906 was a parliamentary by-election held on 27 February 1906 for the British House of Commons constituency of City of London, which covered the "Square Mile" which was the United Kingdom's traditional financial district. The seat had become vacant on the resignation of Alban Gibbs, one of the constituency's two Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs). Gibbs had resigned in order to provide a safe seat for Arthur Balfour. He would go on to succeed his father, Hucks Gibbs, as Baron Aldenham the following year. Balfour had been out
Royal Commission on the Amalgamation of the City and County of London for certain London-wide matters and a number of smaller local authorities below it. They differed, however, on the distribution of powers, wishing the lower tier to consist of "strong and authoritative district councils or corporations", with no duties to de done by the central body that could not be done at the local level. On receipt of the report it was angrily rejected by the City of London. They attacked what they described as proposals for a "puppet lord mayor" and the "spoilation of the City". The commission was accused of simply adopting the county council's scheme. The reputations of