Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunbartonshire | |
---|---|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Subdivisions of Scotland | County of Dumbarton |
1708–1950 | |
Number of members | One |
Replaced by |
East Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire |
Dunbartonshire was a county constituency 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 Westminster) from 1801 to 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Boundaries
The constituency was created to cover the county of Dumbarton (later Dunbarton) minus any parliamentary burgh or part thereof within the county. From 1832 to 1918, however, under the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 and the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the boundaries of counties and burghs for purposes of parliamentary representation were not necessarily those for other purposes.
The Representation of the People Act 1918 brought constituency boundaries generally into alignment with local government boundaries established under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 and subsequent related legislation, but there were later changes to local government boundaries which were not reflected in new constituency boundaries until 1950, the same year that the Dunbartonshire constituency was abolished, under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949.
For the period 1832 to 1918 boundary details below are nominal, and for the period 1918 to 1950 they are those applicable in 1918.
For the 1708 (first) general election and every subsequent election of the Parliament of Great Britain the Dumbartonshire constituency consisted of the county of Dumbarton minus the burgh of Dumbarton, which was a component of the Clyde Burghs constituency.
In 1801 the Parliament of Great Britain was merged with the Parliament of Ireland to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Dumbartonshire constituency retained its boundaries as a constituency of the Parliament of Great Britain for the 1802 (first) general election of the new parliament and for the general elections of 1806, 1807, 1812, 1818, 1820, 1826, 1830 and 1831.
Nominally, the constituency had the same boundaries for the 1832 general election, but the burgh of Dumbarton was now a component of Kilmarnock Burghs. 1832 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1835, 1837, 1841, 1847, 1852, 1857, 1859, 1865, 1868, 1874, 1880, 1885, 1886, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1906, January 1910, and December 1910.
For the 1918 general election the constituency was defined as covering the county of Dunbarton minus the burghs of Dumbarton and Clydebank, which comprised Dumbarton Burghs. 1918 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1945.[1]
For the 1950 general election new constituency boundaries divided the county of Dunbarton between the East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire constituencies, both entirely within the county.[1]
Members of Parliament
MPs 1708–1832
Election | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1708 | John Campbell | ||
1710 | |||
1713 | |||
1715 | |||
1722 | Mungo Haldane | ||
1725 | John Campbell | ||
1727 | John Campbell, later Duke of Argyll | Whig | |
1734 | |||
1741 | |||
1747 | |||
1754 | |||
1761 | Archibald Edmonstone | Tory | |
1768 | |||
1774 | |||
1780 | Lord Frederick Campbell | ||
1781 | George Keith Elphinstone | ||
1784 | |||
1790 | Archibald Edmonstone | Tory | |
1796 | William Cunninghame Bontine | ||
1797 | Alexander Telfer Smollett | ||
1799 | Sir James Colquhoun, 3rd Bt | ||
1801 | |||
1802 | |||
1806 | Henry Glassford | ||
1806 | Charles Edmonstone | Tory | |
1807 | Henry Glassford | ||
1810 | Archibald Campbell-Colquhoun | ||
1812 | |||
1818 | |||
1820 | |||
1821 | John Buchanan | ||
1826 | John Campbell | Tory | |
1830 | Lord Montagu William Graham | Tory | |
1831 |
MPs 1832–1950
Election | Member | Party[2][3][4] | |
---|---|---|---|
1832 | John Campbell Colquhoun | Whig | |
1835 | Alexander Dennistoun | Whig | |
1837 | Sir James Colquhoun, 4th Bt | Whig | |
1841 | Alexander Smollett | Conservative | |
1847 | |||
1852 | |||
1857 | |||
1859 | Patrick Boyle Smollett | Conservative | |
1865 | |||
1868 | Archibald Orr-Ewing | Conservative | |
1874 | |||
1880 | |||
1885 | |||
1886 | |||
1892 | John Sinclair | Liberal | |
1895 | Alexander Wylie | Conservative | |
1900 | |||
1906 | James Dundas White | Liberal | |
1910 (January) | |||
1910 (December) | Arthur Acland Allen | Liberal | |
1918 | Sir William Hannay Raeburn | Coalition Conservative | |
1922 | Conservative | ||
1923 | William Henry Porteous Martin | Labour | |
1924 | David Pinkerton Fleming | Conservative | |
1926 by-election | John Gibb Thom | Conservative | |
1929 | Willie Brooke | Labour | |
1931 | John Gibb Thom | Conservative | |
1932 by-election | Archibald Cochrane | Conservative | |
1935 | |||
1936 by-election | Thomas Cassells | Labour | |
1941 by-election | Adam McKinlay | Labour | |
1945 | |||
1950 | constituency divided: see East Dunbartonshire and West Dunbartonshire |
Election results
At the General election 1868 Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing was returned unopposed.[5]
Elections in the 1880s
General election 1885: Dunbartonshire [6] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing | 4,514 | 50.9 | ||
Liberal | Robert Threshie Reid | 4,357 | 48.1 | ||
Majority | 157 | 1.8 | |||
Turnout | 88.2 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
General election 1886: Dunbartonshire [6] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Sir Archibald Orr-Ewing | 4,249 | 50.2 | -0.7 | |
Liberal | Ronald Craufurd Munro Ferguson | 4,217 | 49.8 | +0.7 | |
Majority | 32 | 0.4 | -1.4 | ||
Turnout | 84.1 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | -0.7 | |||
Elections in the 1890s
General election 1892: Dunbartonshire [7] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | John Sinclair | 5,249 | 51.4 | ||
Conservative | Alexander Wylie | 4,956 | 48.6 | ||
Majority | 293 | 2.8 | |||
Turnout | |||||
Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | ||||
General election 1895: Dunbartonshire [8] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Alexander Wylie | 5,375 | 50.2 | +1.6 | |
Liberal | John Sinclair | 5,342 | 49.8 | -1.6 | |
Majority | 33 | 0.4 | 3.2 | ||
Turnout | 87.2 | ||||
Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +1.6 | |||
Elections in the 1900s
General election 1900: Dunbartonshire [8] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Conservative | Alexander Wylie | 6,083 | 53.0 | ||
Liberal | P.R. Buchanan | 5,393 | 47.0 | ||
Majority | 690 | 6.0 | |||
Turnout | 83.6 | ||||
Conservative hold | Swing | ||||
General election 1906: Dunbartonshire [9] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | James Dundas White | 7,404 | 51.6 | +4.6 | |
Conservative | Henry Brock | 6,937 | 48.4 | -4.6 | |
Majority | 467 | 3.2 | 9.2 | ||
Turnout | 87.8 | +4.2 | |||
Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +4.6 | |||
Elections in the 1910s
General election January 1910: Dunbartonshire [10] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | James Dundas White | 8,640 | 53.2 | ||
Conservative | Henry Brock | 7,607 | 46.8 | ||
Majority | 1,033 | 6.4 | |||
Turnout | 88.3 | ||||
Liberal hold | Swing | ||||
General election December 1910: Dunbartonshire [10] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | Arthur Acland Allen | 8,579 | 54.1 | +0.9 | |
Conservative | William Thomas Shaw | 7,267 | 45.9 | -0.9 | |
Majority | 1,312 | 8.2 | +1.8 | ||
Turnout | 84.5 | -3.8 | |||
Liberal hold | Swing | +0.9 | |||
General election 1918: Dunbartonshire [11] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | 12,765 | 55.8 | |||
Labour | William Henry Porteous Martin | 7,072 | 30.9 | n/a | |
Liberal | Arthur Acland Allen | 3,048 | 13.3 | ||
Majority | 5,693 | 24.9 | |||
Turnout | 66.8 | ||||
Unionist gain from Liberal | Swing | ||||
- endorsed by the Coalition Government
Elections in the 1920s
General election 1922: Dunbartonshire [12] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | Sir William Hannay Raeburn | 13,407 | 50.4 | -5.4 | |
Labour | William Henry Porteous Martin | 13,216 | 49.6 | +18.7 | |
Majority | 191 | 0.8 | -24.1 | ||
Turnout | 69.0 | +2.2 | |||
Unionist hold | Swing | -12.0 | |||
General election 1923: Dunbartonshire [13] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Labour | William Henry Porteous Martin | 11,705 | 43.0 | ||
Unionist | David Pinkerton Fleming | 9,802 | 36.0 | ||
Liberal | Joseph Stanley Holmes | 5,726 | 21.0 | n/a | |
Majority | 1,903 | 7.0 | +6.2 | ||
Turnout | 70.7 | ||||
Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | +3.1 | |||
General election 1924: Dunbartonshire [14] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | David Pinkerton Fleming | 16,223 | 55.8 | ||
Labour | William Henry Porteous Martin | 12,872 | 44.2 | ||
Majority | 3,351 | 11.6 | |||
Turnout | 75.6 | ||||
Unionist gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Dunbartonshire by-election, 1926[14] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | John Gibb Thom | 12,680 | 48.0 | -7.8 | |
Labour | William Henry Porteous Martin | 11,610 | 43.9 | -0.3 | |
Liberal | William Reid | 2,146 | 8.1 | n/a | |
Majority | 1,070 | 4.1 | -15.0 | ||
Turnout | 75.0 | -0.6 | |||
Unionist hold | Swing | -7.5 | |||
General election 1929: Dunbartonshire [15] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Labour | Willie Brooke | 18,153 | 45.7 | ||
Unionist | John Gibb Thom | 16,576 | 41.6 | ||
Liberal | Thomas Maule Guthrie | 5,071 | 12.7 | ||
Majority | 1,577 | 4.1 | 8.2 | ||
Turnout | 81.0 | ||||
Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | +4.1 | |||
Elections in the 1930s
General election 1931: Dunbartonshire | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | John Gibb Thom | 28,762 | 63.6 | ||
Labour | Willie Brooke | 16,474 | 36.4 | ||
Majority | 12,288 | 27.2 | |||
Turnout | 45,236 | 82.8 | |||
Unionist gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Dunbartonshire by-election, 1932[16] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | Hon. Archibald Douglas Cochrane | 16,749 | |||
Labour | Rt Hon. Thomas Johnston | 13,704 | 35.6 | ||
National (Scotland) | Robert Gray | 5,178 | 13.4 | n/a | |
Communist | H. McIntyre | 2,870 | 7.5 | n/a | |
Majority | 3,045 | 7.9 | |||
Turnout | |||||
Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
General election 1935: Dunbartonshire [17] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Unionist | Hon. Archibald Douglas Cochrane | 24,776 | 50.3 | ||
Labour | Thomas Cassells | 20,679 | 41.9 | +6.3 | |
SNP | Robert Gray | 3,841 | 7.8 | ||
Majority | 4,097 | 8.4 | |||
Turnout | 80.5 | ||||
Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
Dunbartonshire by-election, 1936[18] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Labour | Thomas Cassells | 20,187 | 48.1 | ||
Unionist | Arthur Paterson Duffes | 19,203 | 45.7 | ||
SNP | Robert Gray | 2,599 | 6.2 | -1.6 | |
Majority | 984 | 2.4 | |||
Turnout | 68.6 | - | |||
Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | ||||
Elections in the 1940s
Dunbartonshire by-election, 1941[18] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Labour | Adam Storey McKinlay | 21,900 | 85.0 | ||
Communist | Malcolm MacEwen | 3,862 | 15.0 | ||
Majority | 18,038 | 70.0 | |||
Turnout | 38.7 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
General Election 1945: Dunbartonshire[19] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Labour | Adam Storey McKinlay | 28,383 | 50.7 | ||
Unionist | Robert Allan | 27,636 | 49.3 | ||
Majority | 747 | 1.3 | |||
Turnout | 71.7 | +33.0 | |||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, 1972
- ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 582. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
- ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 536. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
- ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 622. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
- ↑ Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
- ↑ The Times, 17 November 1922
- ↑ The Times, 8 December 1923
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
- ↑ The Times, 1 June 1929
- ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
- ↑ The Times, 16 November 1935
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
- ↑ Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.