Banffshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Banffshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Banffshire
1708 (1708)–1983 (1983)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Moray Banff & Buchan

Banffshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

The constituency covered the county of Banffshire, Scotland, but until 1918 the county town of Banff and the burgh of Cullen were represented as part of Elgin Burghs.

In 1983 it was split and merged into Moray and Banff and Buchan.

1 Member of Parliament
2 Election results
3 References

Member of Parliament

	Member ^[2]	Party
1707	John Murray
1708	Alexander Abercromby
1727	William Duff, later 1st Earl Fife
1734	James Abercromby
1754	James Duff, later 2nd Earl Fife
1784	Sir James Duff
1789 by-election	James Ferguson
1790	Sir James Grant, Bt
1795 by-election	David McDowall-Grant
1796	Sir William Grant
1812	Robert Abercromby
1818	James Duff, later 4th Earl Fife
1827 by-election	John Morison	Whig
1832	George Ferguson	Tory
1834	George Ferguson	Conservative
1837	James Duff, later 5th Earl Fife	Liberal
1857 by-election	Lachlan Duff Gordon-Duff	Liberal
1861 by-election	Robert William Duff	Liberal
1893 by-election	Sir William Wedderburn	Liberal
1900	Alexander William Black	Liberal
1907 by-election	Walter Waring	Liberal
1918	Charles Coupar Barrie, later Baron Abertay	Liberal
1924	William Paterson Templeton	Conservative
1929	Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood	Liberal
1935	Sir John Edmund Ritchie Findlay	Conservative
1945	Sir William Duthie	Conservative
1964	Wilfred Baker	Conservative
Feb 1974	Hamish Watt	SNP
1979	David Myles	Conservative
1983	constituency abolished: see Banff and Buchan & Moray

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Banffshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Myles	10,580	44.6
	SNP	Hamish Watt	9,781	41.2
	Labour	RE Duncan	3,381	14.2
Majority			799	3.4
Turnout				72.4
	Conservative gain from SNP		Swing

General Election October 1974: Banffshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Hamish Watt	10,638	45.9
	Conservative	JS Gordon	8,797	37.9
	Liberal	C McLeod	2,059	8.9
	Labour	AWM Porteous	1,700	7.3
Majority			1,851	8.0
Turnout				72.5
	SNP hold		Swing

General Election 1974: Banffshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Hamish Watt	11,037	46.1
	Conservative	Wilfred Harold Kerton Baker	8,252	34.5
	Liberal	TRL Fraser	3,121
	Labour	R Dool	1,528	6.4
Majority			2,785	11.6
Turnout				75.7
	SNP gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1970: Banffshire ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	8,457	38.71
	SNP	Hamish Watt	5,006	22.91
	Liberal	T.R.L. Fraser	4,589	21.01
	Labour	A.F. Walls	3,795	17.37
Majority			3,451	15.80
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Banffshire ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	8,139	41.37
	Liberal	Basil Wishart	6,762	34.37
	Labour	R. Middleton	4,775	24.27
Majority			1,377	7.00
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Banffshire ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	9,995	47.77
	Labour	H. Dickson	5,574	26.64
	Liberal	T.A. Macnair	5,354	25.59
Majority			4,421	21.13
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Banffshire ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir William Smith Duthie OBE	14,359
	Labour	Robert W. Irvine	5,992
Majority			8,367
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Banffshire ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir William Smith Duthie OBE	14,643	69.80
	Labour	W. Paterson	6,337	30.20
Majority			8,306	39.59
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Banffshire ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir William Smith Duthie OBE	16,562	70.87
	Labour	A. Flett	6,806	29.13
Majority			9,756	41.75
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Banffshire ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir William Smith Duthie OBE	13,952	58.15
	Labour	J. Brown	6,303	26.27
	Liberal	G. Lethem	3,739	15.58
Majority			7,649	31.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Banffshire ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir William Smith Duthie OBE	10,689	49.45
	Liberal	Alistair Duncan Millar	6,401	29.62
	Labour	D. Macpherson	4,524	20.93
Majority			4,288	19.84
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Banffshire ^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Sir John Edmund Ritchie Findlay Bt	11,771
	Liberal	Maj Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood OBE	11,168

General Election 1931: Banffshire^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Maj Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood OBE	unopposed

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Banffshire ^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Major Murdoch McKenzie Wood	9,278
	Conservative	William Paterson Templeton	6,720
	Labour	A.A.D. MacGregor	4,982

General Election 1924: Banffshire ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Paterson Templeton	6829
	Liberal	Sir Charles Coupar Barrie	5426
	Labour	Rev W A Groundwater	3722

General Election 1923: Banffshire ^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Coupar Barrie	unopposed

General Election 1922: Banffshire ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	Charles Coupar Barrie	unopposed

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Banffshire ^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Liberal	Charles Coupar Barrie	unopposed

General Election Dec 1910: Banffshire ^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Major Walter Waring	unopposed

General Election Jan 1910: Banffshire ^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Capt Walter Waring	4,066
	Conservative	James Crabb Watt	2,053

Elections in the 1900s

By-election 1907: Banffshire ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Capt Walter Waring	3,901
	Conservative	William Whitelaw	1,892

General Election 1906: Banffshire ^[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander William Black	4,101
	Conservative	J.A. Grant	1,901

General Election 1900: Banffshire ^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander William Black	2,768
	Conservative	George Watt	2,470

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1895: Banffshire ^[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir William Wedderburn Bt	2,977
	Conservative	James Augustus Grant	2,467

By-election, March 1893: Banffshire ^[21]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir William Wedderburn Bt	3,166
	Conservative	James Augustus Grant	2,395

General Election 1892: Banffshire ^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rt Hon Robert William Duff	2,293
	Conservative	Maltman Barry	1,424

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Banffshire ^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert William Duff	2,583
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Charles Grant KCSI	1,394

Having accepted office as Civil Lord of the Admiralty, Robert Duff was returned unopposed at a by-election on 13 February 1886.

General Election 1885: Banffshire ^[23]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert William Duff	3,740
	Conservative	Moir Tod Stormonth-Darling	2,008

Elections in the 1860s

General Election 1868: Banffshire ^[24]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert William Duff	unopposed

Elections in the 1850s

By-election 1857: Banffshire ^[25]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Major Gordon	unopposed

References

^ Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, F. W. S.. ed. The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 622–623. ISBN 0-900178-13-2.
^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)
^ ^a ^b [1]
^ [2]
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1963
^ [3]
^ [4]
^ [5]
^ [6]
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
^ The Times, 1 June 1929
^ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
^ The Times, 8 December 1923
^ The Times, 17 November 1922
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
^ The Times, 19 Feb 1907
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
^ The Times, 17 March 1893
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
^ ^a ^b Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
^ Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
^ The Times, 1 July 1857

Westminster constituencies of Scotland

1708 to 1832 1832 to 1868 1868 to 1885 1885 to 1918 1918 to 1950 1950 to 1955 1955 to 1974 1974 to 1983 1983 to 1997 1997 to 2005

Current constituencies (2005 to present)

Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Airdrie & Shotts Angus Argyll & Bute Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Banff & Buchan Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross Central Ayrshire Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East Dumfries & Galloway Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Dundee East Dundee West Dunfermline & West Fife East Dunbartonshire East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh East Edinburgh North & Leith Edinburgh South Edinburgh South West Edinburgh West Falkirk Glasgow Central Glasgow East Glasgow North Glasgow North East Glasgow North West Glasgow South Glasgow South West Glenrothes Gordon Inverclyde Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey Kilmarnock & Loudoun Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Lanark & Hamilton East Linlithgow & East Falkirk Livingston Midlothian Moray Motherwell & Wishaw Na h-Eileanan an Iar North Ayrshire & Arran North East Fife Ochil & South Perthshire Orkney & Shetland Paisley & Renfrewshire North Paisley & Renfrewshire South Perth & North Perthshire Ross, Skye & Lochaber Rutherglen & Hamilton West Stirling West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine West Dunbartonshire