Garrat Elections

The Garrat Elections were a carnival of mock elections in Surrey, England in the 18th century. The events were organized around May 20, and would see crowds of tens of thousands travelling five miles (8.0 km) from London to take part. The elections were held for at least fifty years before declining after the death of Mayor "Sir" Harry Dimsdale in 1796.

Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally published in 1785 by Francis Grose, described the Garrat Election as:

A ludicrous ceremony, practiced every new parliament: it consists of a mock election of two members to represent the borough of Garret [sic] (a few straggling cottages, near Wandsworth, in Surrey). The qualification of a voter is, having enjoyed a woman, in the open air, within that district: the candidates are commonly fellows of low humor, who dress themselves up in a ridiculous manner. As this brings a prodigious concourse of people to Wandsworth, the publicans of that place jointly contribute to the expense, which is sometimes considerable.

In the 17th century, Garrat was a small hamlet in the parish of Wandsworth. Its residents had met in a conclave and elected a "commons" president to exert authority over a small common. They felt that the president should hold the office of "mayor" during the parliamentary period between general elections and should be re-elected with the new one. The minor political spectacle aroused some amusement and locals ended up parodying the affair in their mock election.

The Garrat "elections" were chaired at Garratt Lane, and were popular events, with up to 80,000 attendees and sponsorship from local innkeepers and pub keepers who profited from the occasion. People put forth unusual candidates to parody the features of the real election, with the successful candidate being "the most deformed and stupid". Candidates would deliver speeches with promises and appeals to sentiment, making pledges such as "that they will lower the prices of gin, bread, beer, &c.; make old women bishops; and that they will not accept any place in the House".

The fame of the Garratt elections was spread by Samuel Foote's 1763 farce,The Mayor of Garret, and from 1768 candidates often came from London and its surroundings rather than just the Wandsworth area.

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