At the 1885 general election, the seat was expected to be a reasonably fair bet for the Conservatives and therefore Conservative MP Lord Randolph Churchill chose it as a bolthole after his existing constituency of Woodstock was abolished in boundary changes.
Churchill had originally declared his intention to fight in the Birmingham Central division, but decided to go for this constituency where he had his London home.
Churchill was not a very great fan of the constituency, regarding it as inferior in social status to a rural Conservative stronghold.

There was a dispute within the local Liberal Association when it came to ballot on the selection of a candidate on 30 October 1885 between Alderman William Lawrence and Hilary Skinner.
Lawrence, who was the incumbent Liberal MP for City of London, later complained that he had been induced to stand, and then found that a large number of previously unknown people who were not on the electoral register had been added to the committee only 48 hours before the ballot, and that that was the reason Skinner won on the night by seven votes.
Lawrence therefore decided to fight the seat as an unofficial Liberal candidate.
Skinner invited Lawrence to arbitration as to who should get the nomination, but Lawrence refused.

The end results proved that the expectations for the constituency had been accurate.
Liberal voters remained loyal to their official candidate.
At the 1885 general election, the seat was expected to be a reasonably fair bet for the Conservatives and therefore Conservative MP Lord Randolph Churchill chose it as a bolthole after his existing constituency of Woodstock was abolished in boundary changes. Churchill had originally declared his intention to fight in the Birmingham Central division, but decided to go for this constituency where he had his London home. Churchill was not a very great fan of the constituency, regarding it as inferior in social status to a rural Conservative stronghold.
There was a dispute within the local Liberal Association when it came to ballot on the selection of a candidate on 30 October 1885 between Alderman William Lawrence and Hilary Skinner. Lawrence, who was the incumbent Liberal MP for City of London, later complained that he had been induced to stand, and then found that a large number of previously unknown people who were not on the electoral register had been added to the committee only 48 hours before the ballot, and that that was the reason Skinner won on the night by seven votes. Lawrence therefore decided to fight the seat as an unofficial Liberal candidate. Skinner invited Lawrence to arbitration as to who should get the nomination, but Lawrence refused.
The end results proved that the expectations for the constituency had been accurate. Liberal voters remained loyal to their official candidate.
Paddington South (UK Parliament constituency)