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 •
Gavin Brown Clark,
Caithness •
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 •
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. •
John Macdonald Cameron,
Wick Burghs (allied with the Crofters Party) Also standing in 1885 was Walter McLaren, a Land League-endorsed Independent Liberal who was beaten by Liberal candidate
Robert Finlay in the
Inverness Burghs. A year later Parliament passed the Crofters Act, formally the
Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 (
49 & 50 Vict. c. 29), which applied to croft tenure in an area which is now recognisable as a definition of the
Highlands and Islands The Act granted real security of tenure of existing crofts and established the first
Crofters Commission which had rent-fixing powers. Rents were generally reduced and 50% or more of outstanding arrears were cancelled. The Act failed however to address the issue of severely limited access to land, and crofters renewed their protest actions. At the same time there was a shift in the political climate:
William Gladstone's Liberal government fell from power; the new
Conservative government was much less sympathetic to the plight of crofters and much more willing to use troops to quell protests. The Liberal Party appeared to adopt and champion Land League objectives and, as a distinct parliamentary force, the Land League fragmented during the 1890s. == Electoral results ==