Donald Crawford

Who was Donald Crawford?

Donald Crawford was a United Kingdom Liberal MP. He sat for the constituency of Lanarkshire North-East from 1885 to 1895.

In 1884 the Liberal President of the Local Government Board, Sir Charles Dilke, appointed Crawford to the Scottish Boundary Commission, which was responsible for the redrafting of constituency boundaries in the wake of the Third Reform Act. Crawford, at the time, was the political secretary to Sir John Balfour, then the Lord Advocate. Crawford, in addition, was the distant relative of Dilke's. The Conservative Leader in the House of Commons, Sir Stafford Northcote, objected to Crawford's appointment on these grounds, noting that Crawford was "a keen Liberal with a thorough knowledge of Scotland."

Crawford entered parliament the next year as a member for Lanarkshire North-East. This was a new constituency, created by the Boundary Commission's division of Lanarkshire North into two new constituencies.

Crawford was married to Virginia Crawford, although the marriage was brief and unhappy. In 1886 Crawford achieved much social and public notoriety when he sued her for divorce, and named Dilke as the correspondent.