Dumfriesshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Dumfriesshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
1708 (1708)–2005 (2005)
Number of members	one
Replaced by	Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Dumfries & Galloway

Dumfriesshire was a county constituency represented in the of the House of Commons of Great Britain (at Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 until 2005. It was known as Dumfries from 1950. It was redistributed to Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and Dumfries and Galloway as part of a major reorganisation of Scottish constituencies.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Contents 1 Boundaries 2 Members of Parliament 2.1 MPs 1708–1832 2.2 MPs 1832–2005 3 Election results 3.1 Elections in the 2000s 3.2 Elections in the 1970s 3.3 Elections in the 1960s 3.4 Elections in the 1950s 3.5 Elections in the 1930s 3.6 Elections in the 1920s 3.7 Elections in the 1910s 3.8 Elections in the 1900s 3.9 Elections in the 1890s 3.10 Elections in the 1880s 4 References

Boundaries

Members of Parliament

MPs 1708–1832

Year		Member	Party
	1708	Lord Johnston
	1709	William Grierson
	1711	James Murray
	1713	Sir William Johnstone
	1722	Charles Erskine
	1741	Sir John Douglas
	1747	Lord Charles Douglas
	1755	James Veitch
	1761	Lt Gen Archibald Douglas of Kirkton
	1774	Sir Robert Laurie
	1804	Sir William Johnstone Hope
	1830	John James Hope Johnstone (1)
1832		Reform Act 1832: franchise expanded

MPs 1832–2005

Election		Member	Party
	1832	John James Hope Johnstone (1)	Conservative
	1847	Viscount Drumlanrig	Conservative
	Feb 1857	John James Hope Johnstone (1)	Conservative
	1865	George Gustavus Walker	Conservative
	1868	Sydney Waterlow	Liberal
	Mar. 1869	George Gustavus Walker	Conservative
	1874	John James Hope Johnstone (2)	Conservative
	1880	Sir Robert Jardine	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	William Jardine Herries Maxwell	Conservative
	1895	Robinson Souttar	Liberal
	1900	William Jardine Herries Maxwell	Conservative
	1906	Percy Molteno	Liberal
	1918	William Murray	Conservative
	1922	William Allan Chapple	Liberal
	1924	John Charteris	Conservative
	1929	Dr Joseph Hunter 1	Liberal
	1931		National Liberal
	1935 by-election	Sir Henry Fildes	National Liberal
	1945	Niall Macpherson	National Liberal
	1963 by-election	David Colville Anderson	Conservative
	1964	Sir Hector Monro	Conservative
	1997	Russell Brown	Labour
2005		constituency abolished

¹ Dr Hunter was elected in 1929 as a Liberal candidate, but in the split after the 1931 general election, he joined the National Liberals.

Election results

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Dumfries
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Russell Brown	20,830	48.9	+1.4
	Conservative	John Charteris	11,996	28.2	+0.1
	Liberal Democrat	John Ross Scott	4,955	11.6	+0.6
	SNP	Gerry Fisher	4,103	9.6	-2.4
	Scottish Socialist	John Dennis	702	1.6	N/A
Majority			8,834	20.7
Turnout			42,586	67.0	-11.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election Oct 1974: Dumfriesshire [1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	18,386
	Labour	John Wheatley	12,558
	SNP	L.A.B. Whitley	12,542
	Liberal	A. Sinclair	3,961
Majority			5,828
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

By-election 1963: Dumfriesshire [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Colville Anderson QC	16,762
	Labour	Ian Jordan	15,791
	Liberal	Charles Abernethy	4,491
	SNP	John Gair	4,001
Majority			971
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Dumfriesshire [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Niall Macpherson	25,867
	Labour	G.C. Moodie	18,437
Majority			7,430
	Liberal National hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election November 1935: Dumfriesshire [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Sir Henry Fildes	22,053	65.4	+5.1
	Labour	J. Downie	11,685	34.6	−5.1
Majority			10,368	30.8	+10.2
Turnout			33,738	73.6	+14.9
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+5.1

Dumfriesshire by-election, September 1935
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Sir Henry Fildes	16,271	60.3	−17.4
	Labour Co-op	J. Downie	10,697	39.7	+17.4
Majority			5,574	20.6	−34.8
Turnout			26,968	58.7	−18.9
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−17.4

General Election 1931: Dumfriesshire[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Joseph Hunter	26,873	77.7	+32.6
	Labour	J. S. Paterson	7,693	22.3	+3.6
Majority			19,180	55.4	46.5
Turnout			34,566	77.6	−3.8
	Liberal National hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Dumfriesshire [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr Joseph Hunter	16,174
	Conservative	Brig-Gen John Charteris	12,984
	Labour	W.H. Marwick	6,687

General Election 1924: Dumfriesshire [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Brig-Gen John Charteris	12,718
	Liberal	William Allan Chapple	8,472
	Labour	Mrs A. Dollan	6,342

General Election 1923: Dumfriesshire [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Allan Chapple	13,107
	Conservative	Brig-Gen John Charteris	11,380

General Election 1922: Dumfriesshire [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Allan Chapple	13,296
	Conservative	Major H. Keswick	11,055

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Dumfriesshire [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Coalition Conservative	Maj William Murray	13,345
	Liberal	Rt Hon John Gulland	7,562

General Election Dec 1910: Dumfriesshire [11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Molteno	4,708
	Conservative	William Murray	4,146

General Election Jan 1910: Dumfriesshire [12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Molteno	4,666
	Conservative	William Murray	4,091

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906: Dumfriesshire [13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Molteno	4,814
	Conservative	J.H. Balfour-Browne	3,431

General Election 1900: Dumfriesshire [14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Jardine Herries Maxwell	4,124
	Liberal	Robinson Souttar	3,675

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1895: Dumfriesshire [15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robinson Souttar	3,989
	Liberal Unionist	William Jardine Herries Maxwell	3,976

General Election 1892: Dumfriesshire [16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Jardine Herries Maxwell	4,123
	Liberal	Thomas McKie	3,849

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Dumfriesshire [17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Sir Robert Jardine	4,106
	Liberal	Thomas McKie	3,252

General Election 1885: Dumfriesshire [18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Robert Jardine	4,857
	Conservative	Walter Henry Scott, Earl of Dalkeith	3,566

References

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd edition ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X. 
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)

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