Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–1983
West Aberdeenshire Former County constituencyfor the House of Commons Subdivisions of Scotland Aberdeenshire 1950 –1983 Seats One Created from West Aberdeenshire & Kincardineshire Central Aberdeenshire & Kincardineshire Replaced by Gordon, Kincardine & Deeside and Aberdeen North[1] 1868 –1918 Seats One Type of constituency County constituency Created from Aberdeenshire Aberdeen Replaced by West Aberdeenshire & Kincardineshire Central Aberdeenshire & Kincardineshire
West (or Western ) Aberdeenshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1868 to 1918 and from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
During the period 1918 to 1950, the area of the constituency was divided between West Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire and Central Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire.
In 1983, the West Aberdeenshire constituency was replaced by Kincardine and Deeside.
Boundaries Western Aberdeenshire, 1885 to 1918 1868 to 1885 When created by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868, and first used in the 1868 general election , the Western Aberdeenshire constituency was nominally one of three covering the county of Aberdeen. The other two were the county constituency of Eastern Aberdeenshire and the burgh constituency of Aberdeen. The county had been covered previously by the Aberdeenshire constituency and the Aberdeen constituency.
Western Aberdeenshire was defined by the 1868 legislation as consisting of the parishes of Aboyne and Glentanner, Alford, Auchindoir and Kearn, Auchterless, Birse , Chapel of Garioch , Clatt , Cluny, Coull, Crathie and Braemar , Culsalmond , Drumblade , Dyce , Echt, Forgue , Glenbucket, Glenmuick, Tullich and Glengairn, Huntly , Insch , Inverurie , Keig , Kemnay , Kildrummy , Kincardine O'Neil , Kinnellar, Kennethmont , Kintore , Leochel-Cushnie , Leslie, Logie-Coldstone, Lumphanan , Midmar , Monymusk , Newhills, Oyne , Peterculter , Premnay , Rayne, Rhynie , Skene , Strathdon , Tarland and Migvie, Tough , Towie , Tullynesle and Forbes, together with the part of the parish of Old Machar lying west of the River Don , and the parts of the parishes of Banchory-Devenick , Cabrach , Cairnie , Drumoak and Glass within the County of Aberdeen, and the parish of Gartly in Banffshire.
1868 boundaries were also used in the 1874 general election and the 1880 general election .
1885 to 1918 For the 1885 general election the burgh constituencies of Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South were created. Both of these new constituencies included areas beyond the boundaries of the burgh of Aberdeen .
1885 boundaries were also used in the 1886 general election , the 1892 general election , the 1895 general election , the 1900 general election , the 1906 general election , the January 1910 general election and the December 1910 general election .
County boundaries were redefined under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, and the county of city of Aberdeen was created in 1900, but these developments did not affect constituency boundaries.
In 1918, the Representation of the People Act 1918 created new constituency boundaries, taking account of new local government boundaries, and grouped the county of Aberdeen, the county of city of Aberdeen and the county of Kincardine in the creation of new constituencies for the 1918 general election . Thus the Western Aberdeenshire area was divided between West Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire and Central Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire.
West Aberdeenshire, 1950 to 1983 1950 to 1955 The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 created new boundaries for the 1950 general election , and West Aberdeenshire was created as one of four constituencies covering the county of Aberdeen and the county of city of Aberdeen. West Aberdeenshire and East Aberdeenshire were entirely within the county of Aberdeen, and Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South were entirely within the county of city of Aberdeen. West Aberdeenshire consisted of the burghs of Ballater , Inverurie , Kintore , and Oldmeldrum , and the districts of Aberdeen, Alford, Deeside, and Garioch.[2]
The same boundaries were used for the 1951 general election .
1955 to 1983 For the 1955 general election , West Aberdeenshire was enlarged to include the burgh of Huntly and the district of Huntly, which were previously within East Aberdeenshire.[2]
West Aberdeenshire retained the same boundaries for the 1959 general election , the 1964 general election , the 1966 general election , the 1970 general election , the February 1974 general election and the October 1974 general election .
In 1975, throughout Scotland, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, counties and burghs were abolished as local government areas, and West Aberdeenshire became a constituency within the Grampian region .
The 1979 general election was held before a review of constituency boundaries took account of new local government boundaries.
For the 1983 general election , the West Aberdeenshire constituency was replaced by Kincardine and Deeside.
Members of Parliament Western Aberdeenshire, 1868 to 1918 West Aberdeenshire, 1950 to 1983 Election results 1868-1918 Elections in the 1860s Elections in the 1870s McCombie resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1880s 1885 general election : Aberdeenshire Western[9] [10] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Robert Farquharson 4,248 54.6 −15.0 Conservative Francis Hugh Irvine, jun. 2,010 25.8 −4.6 Scottish Farmers' Alliance Quintin Kerr 1,530 19.6 New Majority 2,238 28.8 −10.4 Turnout 7,788 76.8 −5.8 Registered electors 10,144 Liberal hold Swing −5.3
1886 general election : Aberdeenshire Western[9] [10] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Robert Farquharson 3,854 69.9 +15.3 Conservative Francis Hugh Irvine, jun. 1,657 30.1 +4.3 Majority 2,197 39.8 +11.0 Turnout 5,511 54.3 -22.5 Registered electors 10,144 Liberal hold Swing +5.5
Elections in the 1890s 1895 general election : Aberdeenshire Western[12] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Robert Farquharson 4,187 51.3 +0.8 Conservative Arthur Henry Grant 3,967 48.7 -0.8 Majority 220 2.6 +1.6 Turnout 8,154 79.9 +6.5 Registered electors 10,208 Liberal hold Swing +0.8
Elections in the 1900s Henderson Elections in the 1910s Election results 1950-79 Elections in the 1950s 1959 general election : West Aberdeenshire Party Candidate Votes % ±% Unionist Forbes Hendry 22,937 68.5 +9.4 Labour William Kemp 10,542 31.5 +4.4 Majority 12,395 37.0 +5.1 Turnout 33,479 72.1 -0.5 Unionist hold Swing
Elections in the 1960s 1964 general election : West Aberdeenshire Party Candidate Votes % ±% Unionist Forbes Hendry 16,429 46.4 -21.9 Liberal James Davidson 11,754 33.2 New Labour Kenneth A Munro 7,203 20.4 -11.1 Majority 4,675 13.2 -23.8 Turnout 35,386 Unionist hold Swing
1966 general election : West Aberdeenshire Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal James Davidson 15,151 43.2 +10.0 Conservative Forbes Hendry 13,956 39.7 -6.7 Labour John Henderson 6,008 17.1 -3.3 Majority 1,195 3.5 N/A Turnout 35,115 76.3 Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +1.7
Elections in the 1970s 1970 general election : West Aberdeenshire Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Colin Mitchell 18,396 46.6 +6.9 Liberal Laura Grimond 12,847 32.5 −10.7 Labour Walter William Hay 6,141 15.5 −1.6 SNP John Gerard McKinlay 2,112 5.3 New Majority 5,549 14.1 N/A Turnout 39,496 75.0 -1.3 Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +4.5
February 1974 general election : Aberdeenshire West[15] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Russell Fairgrieve 17,256 38.9 −7.7 Liberal David C.P. Gracie 15,616 35.2 +2.7 SNP Nicol Suttar 6,827 15.4 +10.1 Labour C. William Ellis 4,661 10.5 −5.0 Majority 1,640 3.7 -10.4 Turnout 51,573 81.1 +6.1 Conservative hold Swing
October 1974 general election : Aberdeenshire West[15] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative Russell Fairgrieve 15,111 35.7 −3.2 Liberal David C.P. Gracie 12,643 29.9 −5.3 SNP Nicol Suttar 9,409 22.2 +6.8 Labour C. William Ellis 5,185 12.2 +1.7 Majority 2,468 5.8 +2.1 Turnout 51,573 76.5 -4.6 Conservative hold Swing
See also References ^ " 'Aberdeenshire West', Feb 1974 – May 1983". ElectionWeb Project . Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 15 March 2016 . ^ a b Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig 1972 ^ a b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1) ^ Debrett's House of Commons, 1870 ^ a b c d Craig, F. W. S. , ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 978-1-349-02349-3 . ^ a b The Times, 11 May 1876 ^ "West Aberdeenshire Election Result" . Royal Cornwall Gazette . 13 May 1876. p. 5. Retrieved 27 December 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive . ^ The Times, 29 April 1880 ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889 ^ a b c d e f g Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918 . London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984 . ^ a b Whitaker's Almanack, 1893 ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901 ^ a b Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916 ^ "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources . Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. ^ a b Whitaker's Almanack, 1977 Current constituencies (2024)
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