For this election, the Liberal Party entered the contest with few illusions, given a national tide against them.
Rev. Page Hopps, the Liberal candidate, came from Leicester and said at a public meeting at the opening of the campaign that he had no hope of beating Lord Randolph Churchill but had decided to fight because of abusive language used in Churchill's election address and in order to show him that he could not have South Paddington all to himself.
Churchill was not daunted; his election address was the origin of the much-quoted description of Gladstone as "an old man in a hurry".
The result was regarded as a strong rebuff to the local Liberals, and when Churchill had to submit to re-election following his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he ran unopposed.

Later in 1886, Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, requiring a by-election in which he was re-elected unopposed.
For this election, the Liberal Party entered the contest with few illusions, given a national tide against them. Rev. Page Hopps, the Liberal candidate, came from Leicester and said at a public meeting at the opening of the campaign that he had no hope of beating Lord Randolph Churchill but had decided to fight because of abusive language used in Churchill's election address and in order to show him that he could not have South Paddington all to himself. Churchill was not daunted; his election address was the origin of the much-quoted description of Gladstone as "an old man in a hurry". The result was regarded as a strong rebuff to the local Liberals, and when Churchill had to submit to re-election following his appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer, he ran unopposed.
Later in 1886, Churchill was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, requiring a by-election in which he was re-elected unopposed.
Paddington South (UK Parliament constituency)