William Arthur Wilkinson (1795 – 13 April 1865) was a British Liberal Party

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1852 to 1857..

He unsuccessfully contested Sunderland

Sunderland (UK Parliament constituency)

Sunderland was a borough constituency of the House of Commons, created by the Reform Act 1832 for the 1832 general election. It elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election until it was split into single-member seats of Sunderland North and Sunderland South for the 1950...

 at the 1847 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1847

-Seats summary:-References:* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

 and at a by-election in December that year. He was elected at the 1852 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1852

The July 1852 United Kingdom general election was a watershed election in the formation of the modern political parties of Britain. Following 1852, the Tory/Conservative party became, more completely, the party of the rural aristocracy, while the Whig/Liberal party became the party of the rising...

 as a Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Lambeth

Lambeth (UK Parliament constituency)

Lambeth was a parliamentary constituency centred on the Lambeth district of South London. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.-History:...

, but was heavily defeated at the 1857 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1857

-Seats summary:-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* British Electoral Facts 1832-1999, compiled and edited by Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher *...

 by William Roupell

William Roupell

William Roupell was Liberal Party Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom for Lambeth from 1857 until his resignation on 4 February 1862...

.

He then contested Reigate

Reigate (UK Parliament constituency)

Reigate is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...

 at the 1859 general election

United Kingdom general election, 1859

In the 1859 United Kingdom general election, the Whigs, led by Lord Palmerston, held their majority in the House of Commons over the Earl of Derby's Conservatives...

, before standing again in Lambeth at a by-election in May 1862 following the resignation of Roupell, who defeated him in 1857 and had fled to Spain amidst allegations of forgery. However, he came a poor third, with less than 10% of the votes.

He stood for a final time at a by-election in Reigate in February 1863, but was again unsuccessful.

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