Dundee (UK Parliament constituency)

Dundee was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1950, when it was split into Dundee East and Dundee West.

Dundee
Former burgh constituency for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Dundee
1832–1950
Seats	1832–1868: One 1868–1950: Two
Created from	Forfarshire[1]
Replaced by	Dundee East Dundee West

From 1832 to 1868 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system, and from 1868 until its abolition for the 1950 general election it elected two MPs using the bloc vote system.

Politics and history of the constituency

Winston Churchill became Member of Parliament for Dundee in a by-election of 1908 soon after losing his Manchester North West seat and retained the seat until 1922.

In 1906, the explorer Ernest Shackleton unsuccessfully ran as a candidate for the Liberal Unionist Party.^[2]

From its creation in 1832 the seat did not return a Conservative member until 1931 when Florence Horsbrugh was elected.^[3] Originally a Liberal stronghold, the seat was one of the first in Scotland to return a Labour candidate, Alexander Wilkie, who was elected in 1906.^[4]

At the 1918 general election both Churchill, still then a Liberal, and Wilkie were supported by the local Unionists, as well as their own party organisations.^[5] From 1923 onwards the Conservatives/Unionists and Liberals each ran only one candidate in the constituency. This was part of an unofficial agreement between the two parties at a local level, with the understanding being that their supporters would give their other vote to the other party's candidate.^[6]

Boundaries

The boundaries of the constituency, as set out in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, were-

"From the Point, on the East of the Town, at which the Shore of the Firth of Tay would be cut by a straight Line to be drawn from the Tower (in Fife) of Mr. Dalgleish of Scotscraig to the Point at which the Stobsmuir Road is joined by the old Road by Stobsmuir and Clepington and the old Craigie Road, in a straight Line to the said Point at which the Stobsmuir Road is joined by the old Road by Stobsmuir and Clepington and the old Craigie Road; thence, Westward, along the old Road by Stobsmuir and Clepington to the Point called Kings Cross, at which the several Boundaries of the Parishes of Dundee, Strathmartin, and Liff meet; thence in a straight Line to a Point on the Liff Road which is distant Twelve hundred Yards (measured along the Liff Road) to the West of the Point at which the Newtyle Road leaves the same; thence in a straight Line drawn due South to the Shore of the Firth of Tay; thence along the Shore of the Firth of Tay to the Point first described."^[7]

Members of Parliament

Election	Party		Member	Party		Member
1832		Whig[8]	George Kinloch	1 seat until 1868
1833 by-election		Whig[8][9]	Sir Henry Parnell
1841		Whig[8][10]	George Duncan
1857		Whig[11][12]	Sir John Ogilvy
1859		Liberal
1868					Liberal	George Armitstead
1873 by-election					Liberal	James Yeaman
1874		Liberal	Edward Jenkins
1880		Liberal	George Armitstead		Liberal	Frank Henderson
1885		Liberal	Charles Lacaita		Liberal	Edmund Robertson
1888 by-election		Liberal	Joseph Bottomley Firth
1889 by-election		Liberal	John Leng
1906		Labour	Alexander Wilkie
1908 by-election					Liberal	Winston Churchill
1922		Labour	E. D. Morel		Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour
1924 by-election		Labour	Thomas Johnston
1929		Labour	Michael Marcus
1931		Unionist	Florence Horsbrugh		Liberal	Dingle Foot
1945		Labour	John Strachey		Labour	Thomas Cook
1950	Constituency divided. See Dundee East and Dundee West

Election results, 1832–1868

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Dundee^[13][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	George Kinloch	852	59.0
	Whig	David Charles Guthrie	593	41.0
Majority			259	18.0
Turnout			1,445	89.1
Registered electors			1,622
	Whig win (new seat)

Kinloch's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 17 April 1833: Dundee^[13][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Henry Parnell	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Dundee^[13][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Henry Parnell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,751
	Whig hold

Parnell was appointed as Paymaster-General of the Land Forces and Treasurer of the Navy, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 6 May 1835: Dundee^[13][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Henry Parnell	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Dundee^[13][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Henry Parnell	633	62.4
	Conservative	John Gladstone	381	37.6
Majority			252	24.8
Turnout			1,014	45.8
Registered electors			2,214
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Dundee^[13][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Duncan	577	56.5	−5.9
	Radical	John Benjamin Smith[14]	445	43.5	N/A
Majority			132	13.0	−11.8
Turnout			1,022	37.3	−8.5
Registered electors			2,739
	Whig hold		Swing	−5.9

General election 1847: Dundee^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Duncan	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,635
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Dundee^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	George Duncan	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,190
	Whig hold

General election 1857: Dundee^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Ogilvy	1,092	56.3	N/A
	Radical	George Armitstead[15]	847	43.7	N/A
Majority			245	12.6	N/A
Turnout			1,939	82.8	N/A
Registered electors			2,343
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1859: Dundee^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ogilvy	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,317
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Dundee^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ogilvy	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,039
	Liberal hold

Seat increased to two members

General election 1868: Dundee (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Armitstead	7,738	36.8	N/A
	Liberal	John Ogilvy	7,661	36.4	N/A
	Liberal	James Alexander Guthrie[16]	3,548	16.9	N/A
	Liberal	Harry Warren Scott[17]	2,085	9.9	N/A
Majority			4,113	19.5	N/A
Turnout			10,516 (est)	71.1 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			14,798
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal win (new seat)

Election results, 1873–1918

Elections in the 1870s

Armitstead resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 7 Aug 1873: Dundee^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Yeaman	5,297	51.0	N/A
	Liberal	Edward Jenkins	4,010	38.6	N/A
	Liberal	James Fitzjames Stephen	1,086	10.4	N/A
Majority			1,287	12.4	−7.1
Turnout			10,393	62.4	−8.7
Registered electors			16,652
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1874: Dundee (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Yeaman	6,595	33.2	−3.6
	Liberal	Edward Jenkins	6,048	30.5	N/A
	Liberal	John Ogilvy	4,401	22.2	−14.2
	Liberal	John Meiklejohn	2,231	11.2	N/A
	Conservative	John Austin Lake Gloag[18]	573	2.9	New
Majority			1,647	8.3	−11.2
Turnout			10,211 (est)	57.3 (est)	−13.8
Registered electors			17,814
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Dundee (2 seats)^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Armitstead	9,168	43.8	N/A
	Liberal	Frank Henderson	6,750	32.3	N/A
	Conservative	James Yeaman	4,993	23.9	+21.0
Majority			1,757	8.4	+0.1
Turnout			14,161 (est)	97.2 (est)	+39.9
Registered electors			14,566
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1885: Dundee (2 seats)^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Lacaita	8,261	30.7	−13.1
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	7,187	26.7	−5.6
	Independent Liberal	Alexander Hay Moncur	6,279	23.4	New
	Conservative	Edward Jenkins	5,149	19.2	−4.7
Majority			908	3.3	−5.1
Turnout			14,623	83.9	−13.3 (est)
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.5

General election 1886: Dundee (2 seats)^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	8,236	35.3	+8.6
	Liberal	Charles Lacaita	8,216	35.2	+4.5
	Liberal Unionist	Brinsley de Courcy Nixon	3,545	15.2	−4.0
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Daly	3,346	14.3	N/A
Majority			4,671	20.0	+16.7
Turnout			11,893	68.3	−15.6
Registered electors			17,420
	Liberal hold		Swing	+6.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.3

Lacita's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 16 Feb 1888: Dundee^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Joseph Bottomley Firth	7,856	65.1	−5.4
	Liberal Unionist	Henry Daly	4,217	34.9	+5.4
Majority			3,639	30.2	+10.2
Turnout			12,073	72.7	+4.4
Registered electors			16,613
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.4

Firth's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 25 Sep 1889: Dundee ^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Leng	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1890s

Leng

General election 1892: Dundee (2 seats) ^[19][21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Leng	8,484	30.5	−4.7
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	8,191	29.5	−5.8
	Conservative	William Dalgleish	5,659	20.4	+5.2
	Liberal Unionist	William Charles Smith (politician)	5,066	18.3	+4.0
	Scottish Labour	James MacDonald	354	1.3	New
Majority			2,532	9.1	−10.9
Turnout			14,025 (est)	77.0	+8.7
Registered electors			18,214
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.5

Robertson is appointed Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 1892: Dundee (1 seat)^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Robertson

General election 1895: Dundee (2 seats) ^[19][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	7,602	29.0	−0.5
	Liberal	John Leng	7,592	28.9	−1.6
	Liberal Unionist	William Charles Smith (politician)	5,390	20.6	+2.3
	Conservative	Edward Jenkins	4,318	16.5	−3.9
	Ind. Labour Party	James MacDonald	1,313	5.0	+3.7
Majority			2,202	8.3	−0.8
Turnout			13,490 (est)	74.9	−2.1
Registered electors			18,011
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+1.2

Elections in the 1900s

Robertson

General election 1900: Dundee (2 seats) ^[19][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	7,777	30.2	+1.2
	Liberal	John Leng	7,650	29.7	+0.8
	Conservative	Alexander Duncan Smith	5,181	20.1	+3.6
	Liberal Unionist	J.E. Graham	5,152	20.0	−0.6
Majority			2,469	9.6	+1.3
Turnout			25,760	69.5	−5.4
Registered electors			18,655
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.4

Wilkie

Shackleton

General election 1906: Dundee (2 seats)^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Edmund Robertson	9,276	31.7	+1.5
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	Alexander Wilkie	6,833	23.3	New
	Liberal	Sir Henry Robson	6,122	20.9	−8.8
	Liberal Unionist	Ernest Shackleton	3,865	13.2	−6.8
	Conservative	Alexander Duncan Smith	3,183	10.9	−9.2
Turnout			29,279	81.9	+12.4
Registered electors			19,492
Majority			5,411	18.5	+8.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.2
Majority			711	2.4	N/A
	Labour Repr. Cmte. gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Stuart

1908 Dundee by-election^[19][23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Winston Churchill	7,079	43.9	−8.7
	Liberal Unionist	George Washington Baxter, 1st Baronet	4,370	27.1	−3.0
	Labour	G. H. Stuart-Bunning	4,014	24.9	+1.6
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	655	4.1	New
Majority			2,709	16.8	−1.7
Turnout			16,138	84.6	+2.7
Registered electors			19,041
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.9

Elections in the 1910s

Churchill

General election January 1910: Dundee (2 seats) ^{[24][25][n 1]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Winston Churchill	10,747	34.1	−8.5
	Labour	Alexander Wilkie	10,365	32.9	+9.6
	Conservative	John Hall Seymour Lloyd	4,552	14.4	+3.5
	Liberal Unionist	James Glass	4,339	13.8	+0.6
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	1,512	4.8	N/A
Turnout			31,515	86.1	+4.2
Registered electors			19,374
Majority			6,195	19.7	+1.2
	Liberal hold
Majority			5,813	18.5	+16.1
	Labour hold

1. Compared to combined Liberal vote at 1906 election

General election December 1910: Dundee (2 seats) ^[24][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Winston Churchill	9,240	30.1	−4.0
	Labour	Alexander Wilkie	8,957	29.3	−3.6
	Liberal Unionist	George Washington Baxter, 1st Baronet	5,685	18.6	+4.8
	Conservative	John Hall Seymour Lloyd	4,914	16.0	+1.6
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	1,825	6.0	+1.2
Turnout			30,621	84.1	−2.0
Registered electors			19,118
Majority			3,555	11.5	−8.2
	Liberal hold
Majority			3,272	10.7	−7.8
	Labour hold

1917 Dundee by-election^[26][25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Winston Churchill	7,302	78.2	+58.1
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	2,036	21.8	+15.8
Majority			5,266	56.4	+44.9
Turnout			9,338	42.5	−41.6
Registered electors			21,953
	Liberal hold		Swing	+21.2

General election 1918: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Winston Churchill	25,788	37.5	+7.4
	Labour	Alexander Wilkie	24,822	36.1	+6.8
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	10,423	15.1	+9.1
	Labour	James Sunney Brown	7,769	11.3	N/A
Turnout			68,802	46.6	−37.5
Majority			15,365	22.4	+10.9
	Liberal hold
Majority			14,399	21.0	+10.3
	Labour hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

In 1918 Wilkie and Churchill were officially supported by the Dundee Unionist Party Association in addition to their own party organisations.^[27]

Election results, 1922–1945

Elections in the 1920s

Pilkington

General election 1922: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	32,578	27.6	+12.5
	Labour	E. D. Morel	30,292	25.6	−10.5
	National Liberal	David Johnstone MacDonald	22,244	18.8	N/A
	National Liberal	Winston Churchill	20,466	17.3	−20.2
	Liberal	Robert Pilkington	6,681	5.7	N/A
	Communist	Willie Gallacher	5,906	5.0	New
Majority			12,132	10.3	N/A
Majority			8,048	6.8	−14.2
Turnout			118,167	80.5	+33.9
	Scottish Prohibition gain from National Liberal		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Gallacher

General election 1923: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	25,753	25.1	−2.5
	Labour	E. D. Morel	23,345	22.7	−2.9
	Liberal	John Pratt	23,031	22.4	+16.7
	Unionist	Frederick William Wallace	20,253	19.7	New
	Communist	Willie Gallacher	10,380	10.1	+5.1
Majority			2,722	2.7	−7.6
Majority			314	0.3	−6.5
Turnout			102,762	72.5	−8.0
	Scottish Prohibition hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Morel

General election 1924: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. D. Morel	32,846	26.5	+3.8
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	29,193	23.5	−1.6
	Unionist	Frederick William Wallace	28,118	22.7	+3.0
	Liberal	Andrew Rae Duncan	25,566	20.6	−1.8
	Communist	Bob Stewart	8,340	6.7	−3.4
Majority			4,728	3.8	+3.5
Majority			1,075	0.8	−1.9
Turnout			124,063	83.8	+11.3
	Labour hold		Swing
	Scottish Prohibition hold		Swing

1924 Dundee by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Johnston	22,973	69.2	+42.7
	Liberal	Ernest Simon	10,234	30.8	+10.2
Majority			12,739	38.4	+34.6
Turnout			33,207	42.4	−41.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Henderson-Stewart

General election 1929: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	50,073	29.2	+5.7
	Labour	Michael Marcus	47,602	27.7	+1.2
	Liberal	James Henderson-Stewart	33,890	19.8	−0.8
	Unionist	Frederick William Wallace	33,868	19.7	−3.0
	Communist	Bob Stewart	6,160	3.6	−3.1
Majority			16,183	9.4	+8.6
Majority			13,712	7.9	+4.1
Turnout			171,593	82.5	−1.3
	Scottish Prohibition hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dingle Foot	52,048	29.6	+9.8
	Unionist	Florence Horsbrugh	48,556	27.7	+10.0
	Labour	Michael Marcus	32,573	18.6	−9.1
	Scottish Prohibition	Edwin Scrymgeour	32,229	18.3	−10.9
	Communist	Bob Stewart	10,264	5.8	+2.2
Majority			19,475	11.0	N/A
Majority			16,327	9.4	N/A
Turnout			175,670	84.8	+2.3
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing
	Unionist gain from Scottish Prohibition		Swing

General election 1935: Dundee (2 seats) ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Florence Horsbrugh	50,542	26.8	−0.9
	Liberal	Dingle Foot	49,632	26.4	−3.2
	Labour	Michael Marcus	44,457	23.6	+5.0
	Labour	Robert Gibson	43,747	23.2	N/A
Majority			6,085	3.2	−6.2
Majority			5,175	2.8	−8.2
Turnout			188,378	84.7	−0.1
	Unionist hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

Strachey

General election 1945: Dundee (2 seats)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Cook	48,804	28.6	+5.0
	Labour	John Strachey	48,393	28.4	+5.2
	Liberal	Dingle Foot	33,230	19.5	−6.9
	Unionist	Florence Horsbrugh	32,309	18.9	−7.9
	SNP	Arthur Donaldson	7,775	4.56	New
Majority			15,163	8.9	N/A
Majority			16,084	9.5	N/A
Turnout			170,511	79.2	−5.5
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Sources

• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1832 – 1885
• F. W. S. Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 – 1949
• Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1889
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)