Western Perthshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of ScotlandPerthshire
1885–1918
SeatsOne
Created fromPerthshire
Replaced byKinross & West Perthshire

West (or Western) Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries

The constituency was defined by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, by dividing the Perthshire constituency to form two new constituencies which were first used in the 1885 general election. The other new constituency was East Perthshire. Together with the burgh constituency of Perth, which was unaltered, these constituencies covered the county of Perth, except that five detached parishes had been merged into the Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire constituency by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832.[1]

As defined in the 1885 Act, the constituency consisted of the "Parishes of Aberfoyle, Ardoch, Auchterarder, Blair-Athole, Balquhidder, Blackford, Crieff, Comrie, Callander, Dunkeld and Dowally (except so much as is comprised in Division No. 1 as herein described), Dunblane, Dull, Fortingall, Fowlis Wester, Glendevon, Kenmore, Killin, Kilmadock, Kincardine, Kippen (except the detached part locally situate in Stirlingshire), Kirkmichael, Little Dunkeld, Logierait, Lecropt, Moulin, Madderty, Monzie, Monzievaird and Strowan, Muthill, Port of Menteith, Trinity Gask, and Weem."[2]

1885 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1886, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1906, January 1910 and December 1910.

By 1918, throughout most of Scotland, county boundaries had been altered, and detached parishes were generally historic. The Representation of the People Act 1918 took account of new local government boundaries and grouped the county of Perth with the county of Kinross for parliamentary representation purposes. Therefore, for the 1918 general election, the two counties were covered by the Perth constituency, which was now a county constituency, entirely within the county of Perth, and the Kinross and West Perthshire constituency, which covered the county of Kinross and part of the county of Perth.[1]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [3]Party
1885 Sir Donald Currie, previously MP for Perthshire Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist
1900 John Stroyan Liberal Unionist
1906 David Charles Erskine Liberal
January 1910 John Stewart-Murray, Marquess of Tullibardine Conservative
1917 by-election Archibald Stirling Unionist
1918 constituency abolished

Election results

Decades:

Elections in the 1880s

1885 general election: West Perthshire [4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Donald Currie 3,786 53.5
Conservative Henry Home-Drummond-Moray 3,290 46.5
Majority 496 7.0
Turnout 7,076 85.4
Registered electors 8,284
Liberal win (new seat)
1886 general election: West Perthshire [4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Donald Currie 3,269 58.4 +11.9
Liberal George William Thompson Omond 2,329 41.6 −11.9
Majority 940 16.8 N/A
Turnout 5,598 67.6 -17.8
Registered electors 8,284
Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal Swing +11.9

Elections in the 1890s

Ure
1892 general election: West Perthshire [6][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Donald Currie 3,422 52.8 -5.6
Liberal Alexander Ure 3,053 47.2 +5.6
Majority 369 5.6 -11.2
Turnout 6,475 81.3 +13.7
Registered electors 7,966
Liberal Unionist hold Swing -5.6
Hope
1895 general election: West Perthshire [7][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist Donald Currie 3,379 52.3 -0.5
Liberal John Hope 3,087 47.7 +0.5
Majority 292 4.6 -1.0
Turnout 6,466 81.0 -0.3
Registered electors 7,984
Liberal Unionist hold Swing -0.5

Elections in the 1900s

1900 general election: West Perthshire [7][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Unionist John Stroyan 3,598 55.3 +3.0
Liberal Charles Stuart Parker 2,913 44.7 -3.0
Majority 685 10.6 +6.0
Turnout 6,511 80.6 -0.4
Registered electors 8,078
Liberal Unionist hold Swing +3.0
1906 general election: West Perthshire [8][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal David Charles Erskine 3,890 55.8 +11.1
Liberal Unionist John Stroyan 3,087 44.2 -11.1
Majority 803 11.6 N/A
Turnout 6,977 83.0 +2.4
Registered electors 8,401
Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist Swing +11.1

Elections in the 1910s

Morison
January 1910 general election: West Perthshire [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Stewart-Murray 3,864 52.0 +7.8
Liberal Thomas Morison 3,566 48.0 -7.8
Majority 298 4.0 15.6
Turnout 7,430 86.9 +3.9
Registered electors 8,547
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +7.8
December 1910 general election: West Perthshire [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Stewart-Murray 4,027 52.5 +0.5
Liberal George Freeland Barbour 3,637 47.5 -0.5
Majority 390 5.0 +1.0
Turnout 7,664 87.9 +1.0
Registered electors 8,715
Conservative hold Swing +0.5

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

  • Liberal: Kenneth Mclver[10]
By-election, 1917: West Perthshire[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Archibald Stirling Unopposed
Unionist hold

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig 1972
  2. ↑ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule
  3. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 1)
  4. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  6. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
  7. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  8. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  9. 1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  10. ↑ Dundee Courier 9 Feb
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