Dumfriesshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Dumfriesshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of Great Britain (at Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and in 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.

Dumfriesshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Dumfriesshire in Scotland for the 2001 general election
1708–2005
Seats	one
Created from	Dumfriesshire
Replaced by	Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Dumfries & Galloway

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Dumfries & Annandale.

History

The constituency was virtually unchanged until it was redistributed in 2005. It was redistributed to Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and Dumfries and Galloway as part of a major reorganisation of Scottish constituencies. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Boundaries

From 1885 to 1918 it comprised the shire districts of the county.^[6] From 1918 all the burghs were added.^[7]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1708–1832

Year		Member	Party
	1708	James Johnstone
	1709	William Grierson
	1711	James Murray	Tory[8]
	1713	Sir William Johnstone
	1722	Charles Erskine
	1741	Sir John Douglas
	1747	Lord Charles Douglas
	1755	James Veitch
	1761	Lt Gen Archibald Douglas
	1774	Sir Robert Laurie
	1804	Sir William Johnstone Hope	Tory[9]
	1830	John Hope-Johnstone	Tory[10]
1832		Reform Act 1832: franchise expanded

MPs 1832–2005

Election		Member	Party
	1832	John Hope-Johnstone (1)	Conservative
	1847	Archibald Douglas	Conservative
	Feb 1857	John Hope-Johnstone (1)	Conservative
	1865	George Gustavus Walker	Conservative
	1868	Sydney Waterlow	Liberal
	Mar. 1869	George Gustavus Walker	Conservative
	1874	John Hope-Johnstone (2)	Conservative
	1880	Sir Robert Jardine	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	William Herries Maxwell	Liberal Unionist
	1895	Robinson Souttar	Liberal
	1900	William Herries Maxwell	Liberal Unionist
	1906	Percy Molteno	Liberal
	1918	William Murray	Unionist
	1922	William Chapple	Liberal
	1924	John Charteris	Unionist
	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 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

Dumfriesshire election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Dumfriesshire^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			84
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Dumfriesshire^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			84
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Dumfriesshire^[10][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,123
	Tory hold

General election 1835: Dumfriesshire^[10][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,374
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Dumfriesshire^[10][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,461
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,912
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Archibald Douglas	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,485
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Archibald Douglas	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,520
	Conservative hold

Douglas was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 12 January 1853: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Archibald Douglas	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Douglas succeeded to the peerage, becoming 8th Marquess of Queensberry and causing a by-election.

By-election, 12 February 1857: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,702
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,192
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Gustavus Walker	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,097
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sydney Waterlow	1,100	51.0	New
	Conservative	George Gustavus Walker	1,056	49.0	N/A
Majority			44	2.0	N/A
Turnout			2,156	72.1	N/A
Registered electors			2,989
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

Waterlow was disqualified, owing to holding a government contract at the time of the election, causing a by-election.

By-election, 31 March 1869: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Gustavus Walker	1,117	50.8	+1.8
	Liberal	Sydney Waterlow	1,081	49.2	−1.8
Majority			36	1.6	N/A
Turnout			2,198	73.5	+1.4
Registered electors			2,989
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hope-Johnstone	1,453	52.5	+3.5
	Liberal	Robert Jardine	1,315	47.5	−3.5
Majority			138	5.0	N/A
Turnout			2,768	88.4	+16.3
Registered electors			3,130
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.5

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Dumfriesshire^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Jardine	1,577	51.2	+3.7
	Conservative	George Gustavus Walker	1,505	48.8	−3.7
Majority			72	2.4	N/A
Turnout			3,082	91.2	+2.8
Registered electors			3,379
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.7

General election 1885: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Jardine	4,857	57.7	+6.5
	Conservative	Walter Montagu Douglas Scott	3,566	42.3	−6.5
Majority			1,291	15.4	+13.0
Turnout			8,423	88.8	−2.4
Registered electors			9,489
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.5

General election 1886: Dumfriesshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Jardine	4,106	55.8	+13.5
	Liberal	Thomas McKie	3,252	44.2	−13.5
Majority			854	11.6	N/A
Turnout			7,358	77.5	−11.3
Registered electors			9,489
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+13.5

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Herries Maxwell	4,123	51.7	−4.1
	Liberal	Thomas McKie	3,849	48.3	+4.1
Majority			274	3.4	−8.2
Turnout			7,972	86.4	+8.9
Registered electors			9,229
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-4.1

Souttar

General election 1895: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robinson Souttar	3,965	51.1	+1.8
	Liberal Unionist	William Herries Maxwell	3,952	49.9	−1.8
Majority			13	0.2	N/A
Turnout			7,917	86.7	+0.3
Registered electors			9,134
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+1.8

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	William Herries Maxwell	4,124	52.9	+3.0
	Liberal	Robinson Souttar	3,675	47.1	−3.0
Majority			449	5.8	N/A
Turnout			7,799	85.0	−1.7
Registered electors			9,178
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+3.0

Molteno

General election 1906: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Molteno	4,814	58.4	+11.3
	Conservative	J.H. Balfour-Browne	3,431	41.6	−11.3
Majority			1,383	16.8	N/A
Turnout			8,245	87.8	+2.8
Registered electors			9,394
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+11.3

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Molteno	4,666	53.3	−5.1
	Conservative	William Murray	4,091	46.7	+5.1
Majority			575	6.6	−10.2
Turnout			8,757	90.7	+2.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	-5.1

General election December 1910: Dumfriesshire^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Percy Molteno	4,708	53.2	−0.1
	Conservative	William Murray	4,146	46.8	+0.1
Majority			562	6.4	−0.2
Turnout			8,854	90.7	0.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	0.0

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:
• Unionist: William T. Shaw^[15]

General election 1918: Dumfriesshire^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	William Murray	13,345	63.8	+17.0
	Liberal	John Gulland	7,562	36.2	−17.0
Majority			5,783	27.6	+21.2
Turnout			20,907	57.4	−33.3
Registered electors			36,394
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+17.0
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Keswick

General election 1922: Dumfriesshire^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Chapple	13,296	54.6	+18.4
	Unionist	Henry Keswick	11,055	45.4	−18.4
Majority			2,241	9.2	N/A
Turnout			24,351	73.5	+16.1
Registered electors			33,113
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+18.4

Chapple

General election 1923: Dumfriesshire^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Chapple	13,107	53.5	−1.1
	Unionist	John Charteris	11,380	46.5	+1.1
Majority			1,727	7.0	−2.2
Turnout			24,487	72.6	−0.9
Registered electors			33,728
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.1

General election 1924: Dumfriesshire^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Charteris	12,718	46.2	−0.3
	Liberal	William Chapple	8,472	30.8	−22.7
	Labour	Agnes Dollan	6,342	23.0	New
Majority			4,246	15.4	N/A
Turnout			27,532	80.8	+8.2
Registered electors			34,079
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.2

General election 1929: Dumfriesshire ^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Hunter	16,174	45.1	+14.3
	Unionist	John Charteris	12,984	36.2	−10.0
	Labour	W. H. Marwick	6,687	18.7	−4.3
Majority			3,190	8.9	N/A
Turnout			35,845	81.4	+0.6
Registered electors			44,050
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+12.2

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Dumfriesshire^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	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 hold		Swing

1935 Dumfriesshire by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Henry Fildes	16,271	60.3	−17.4
	Labour Co-op	John Downie	10,697	39.7	+17.4
Majority			5,574	20.6	−34.8
Turnout			26,968	58.7	−18.9
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	−17.4

General election 1935: Dumfriesshire ^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Henry Fildes	22,053	65.4	+5.1
	Labour Co-op	John Downie	11,685	34.6	−5.1
Majority			10,368	30.8	+10.2
Turnout			33,738	73.6	+14.9
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	+5.1

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Dumfriesshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Niall Macpherson	16,465	47.4	−18.0
	Labour Co-op	David Dunwoodie	12,388	35.7	+1.1
	Liberal	Ian McColl	5,850	16.9	N/A
Majority			4,077	11.7	−16.9
Turnout			34,703	72.3	−1.3
	National Liberal hold		Swing	-8.4

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Niall Macpherson	26,268	59.31
	Labour	Harry S Wilson	18,025	40.69
Majority			8,243	18.62
Turnout			44,293	78.60
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1951: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Niall Macpherson	26,386	61.28
	Labour	George BA Douglas	16,669	38.72
Majority			9,717	22.56
Turnout			43,085	80.17
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1955: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Niall Macpherson	24,550	61.34
	Labour	Harry S Wilson	15,427	38.66
Majority			9,078	22.68
Turnout			39,977	73.73
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1959: Dumfries^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Niall Macpherson	25,867	58.39
	Labour	Graeme Moodie	18,437	41.61
Majority			7,430	16.78
Turnout			44,304	77.44
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

By-election 1963: Dumfries ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	David Anderson	16,762	40.84	−17.55
	Labour	Iain Jordan	15,791	38.47	−3.14
	Liberal	Charles Abernethy	4,491	10.94	N/A
	SNP	John HD Gair	4,001	9.75	New
Majority			971	2.37	−14.41
Turnout			41,045
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1964: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	22,816	48.65
	Labour	Iain Jordan	18,360	39.15
	SNP	John HD Gair	5,726	12.21	N/A
Majority			4,456	9.50
Turnout			46,902	81.57
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	20,779	45.63
	Labour	Christopher Boyd	16,358	35.92
	SNP	John HD Gair	5,727	12.57
	Liberal	Roy Semple	2,679	5.88	New
Majority			4,421	9.71
Turnout			45,543	80.19
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	24,661	53.12
	Labour	Raymond David Donnelly	15,555	33.50
	SNP	John HD Gair	6,211	13.38
Majority			9,106	19.62
Turnout			46,427	76.13
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	21,707	44.05
	Labour	John Wheatley	12,739	25.85
	SNP	LAB Whitley	9,186	18.64
	Liberal	DH Reive	5,642	11.45	New
Majority			8,968	18.20
Turnout			49,274	80.38
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Dumfries^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	18,386	38.75
	Labour	John Wheatley	12,558	26.47
	SNP	LAB Whitley	12,542	26.43
	Liberal	A Sinclair	3,961	8.35
Majority			5,828	12.28
Turnout			47,447	76.71
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1979: Dumfries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	22,704	45.2	+6.5
	Labour	Alex Wood	13,700	27.3	+0.8
	Liberal	Jim Wallace	7,169	14.3	+6.0
	SNP	Ernest Gibson	6,647	13.2	−13.2
Majority			9,004	17.9	+5.6
Turnout			50,220	78.1	+1.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Dumfries^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	18,730	44.5	−0.7
	SDP	James McCall	10,036	23.9	+9.6
	Labour	Thomas McAughtrie	8,764	20.8	−6.5
	SNP	Ernest Gibson	4,527	10.8	−2.4
Majority			8,694	20.6	+2.7
Turnout			42,057	73.0	−5.1
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: Dumfries^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	18,785	41.9	−2.6
	Labour	Catherine Phillips	11,292	25.2	+4.4
	SDP	James McCall	8,064	18.0	−5.9
	SNP	Thomas McAlpine	6,391	14.2	+3.4
	Green	Paul Thomas	349	0.8	New
Majority			7,493	16.7	−3.9
Turnout			44,881	75.6	+2.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Dumfries^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hector Monro	21,089	43.1	+1.2
	Labour	Peter R. Rennie	14,674	30.0	+4.8
	SNP	Alasdair Morgan	6,971	14.3	+0.1
	Liberal Democrats	Neil C. Wallace	5,749	11.8	−6.2
	Independent	Graham McLeod	312	0.6	New
	Natural Law	Thomas Barlow	107	0.2	New
Majority			6,415	13.1	−3.6
Turnout			48,902	80.0	+3.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1997: Dumfries^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Russell Brown	23,528	47.5	+17.4
	Conservative	Struan Stevenson	13,885	28.0	−15.1
	SNP	Robert J. Higgins	5,977	12.1	−2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Neil C. Wallace	5,487	11.1	−0.7
	Referendum	David F. Parker	533	1.1	New
	Natural Law	Elizabeth Hunter	117	0.2	0.0
Majority			9,643	19.5	N/A
Turnout			49,527	78.2	−1.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	-16.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Dumfries^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Russell Brown	20,830	48.9	+1.4
	Conservative	John Charteris	11,996	28.2	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Scott	4,955	11.6	+0.5
	SNP	Gerard Fisher	4,103	9.6	−2.5
	Scottish Socialist	John Dennis	702	1.6	New
Majority			8,834	20.7	+1.2
Turnout			42,586	67.0	−11.2
	Labour hold		Swing