Argyllshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Argyllshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Argyllshire
1708–1983
Seats	One
Replaced by	Argyll and Bute and Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber

Argyllshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1983. The constituency was named Argyll from 1950. The constituency was replaced in 1983 with Argyll and Bute.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

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 Argyllshire . ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

Local government areas

Until Scottish counties were abolished, for most purposes, in 1975, the constituency represented the county of Argyll, except that constituency boundaries may not have coincided at all times with county boundaries, and any parliamentary burgh within the county would have been outside the constituency.

In 1975 most of the county plus the Isle of Bute became the Argyll district of the Strathclyde region. A northern area of the county became part of the Highland region. Until 1975 the Isle of Bute had been part of the county of Bute.

In 1996, 13 years after the abolition of the Argyll constituency and creation of the Argyll and Bute constituency, the Argyll district, plus a portion of the Dumbarton district of Strathclyde, became the Argyll and Bute unitary council area.

Members of Parliament

Argyllshire

Election		Member [6]	Party
	1708	Sir James Campbell, 2nd Baronet
	1736 by-election	Charles Campbell
	1742 by-election	James Stuart-Mackenzie
	1747	Sir Duncan Campbell of Lochnell
	1754	Dugald Campbell
	1764 by-election	Lord William Campbell
	1766 by-election	Robert Campbell
	1772 by-election	Adam Livingston
	1780	Lord Frederick Campbell
	1799 by-election	Lord John Campbell	Whig
	1822 by-election	Walter Frederick Campbell	Whig [7]
	1832	James Henry Callander	Whig [7]
	1835	Walter Frederick Campbell	Whig [7]
	1841	Alexander Campbell	Conservative [7]
	1843 by-election	Duncan McNeill	Conservative
	1851 by-election	Sir Archibald Campbell, 3rd Baronet	Conservative
	1857	Alexander Struthers Finlay	Whig [8]
	1859		Liberal
	1868	Marquess of Lorne	Liberal
	1878 by-election	Lord Colin Campbell	Liberal
	1885	Donald Horne Macfarlane	Crofters' Party
	1886	John Malcolm	Unionist
	1892	Sir Donald Horne Macfarlane	Liberal
	1895	Donald Nicol	Unionist Party
	1903 by-election	John Ainsworth	Liberal
	1918	Sir William Sutherland	Coalition Liberal
	1922		National Liberal
	1918		Liberal
	1924	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	Unionist
	1940 by-election	Sir Duncan McCallum	Unionist
1950		constituency renamed

Argyll

Election		Member [6]	Party
	1950	Sir Duncan McCallum	Unionist
	1958 (b)	Michael Noble	Unionist
	Feb 1974	Iain MacCormick	Scottish National Party
	1979	John Mackay	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished

Election results

Argyll election results

Decades:

1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Argyllshire ^{[7] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Walter Frederick Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			114
	Whig hold

General election 1831: Argyllshire ^{[7] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Walter Frederick Campbell	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1832: Argyllshire ^{[7] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Henry Callander	Unopposed
Registered electors			995
	Whig hold

General election 1835: Argyllshire ^{[7] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Walter Frederick Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,084
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Argyllshire ^{[7] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Walter Frederick Campbell	712	60.6
	Conservative	Alexander Campbell	462	39.4
Majority			250	21.2
Turnout			1,174	70.5
Registered electors			1,666
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,600
	Conservative gain from Whig

Campbell resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 8 September 1843: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Duncan McNeill	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Duncan McNeill	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,889
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1850s

McNeill resigned after being appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, becoming Lord Colonsay and causing a by-election.

By-election, 6 June 1851: Argyllshire ^[10]

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

General election 1852: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Archibald Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,156
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Alexander Struthers Finlay	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,256
	Whig gain from Conservative

General election 1859: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Struthers Finlay	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,294
	Liberal hold

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Struthers Finlay	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,914
	Liberal hold

Finlay resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 3 Mar 1868: Argyllshire ^[10]

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

General election 1868: Argyllshire ^{[11] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,870
	Liberal hold

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			3,018
	Liberal hold

Campbell resigned after being appointed Governor General of Canada.

Lord Colin Campbell

By-election, 31 Aug 1878: Argyllshire ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Colin Campbell	1,462	56.9	N/A
	Conservative	John Malcolm	1,107	43.1	New
Majority			355	13.8	N/A
Turnout			2,569	82.0	N/A
Registered electors			3,133
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Argyllshire ^{[12] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Colin Campbell	1,457	55.0	N/A
	Conservative	John Malcolm	1,191	45.0	N/A
Majority			266	10.0	N/A
Turnout			2,648	80.3	N/A
Registered electors			3,299
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1885: Argyllshire ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal (Crofters)	Donald Horne McFarlane	3,340	48.6	New
	Independent Liberal	William Mackinnon [15]	2,856	41.6	New
	Liberal	John Stuart McCaig	670	9.8	−45.2
Majority			484	7.0	N/A
Turnout			6,866	68.6	−11.7
Registered electors			10,011
	Independent Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1886: Argyllshire ^{[13] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Malcolm	3,658	54.6	New
	Liberal (Crofters)	Donald Horne McFarlane	3,045	45.4	−3.2
Majority			613	9.2	N/A
Turnout			6,703	67.0	−1.6
Registered electors			10,011
	Conservative gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	N/A

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Argyllshire ^{[16] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal (Crofters)	Donald Horne Macfarlane	3,666	50.6	+5.2
	Conservative	John Malcolm	3,586	49.4	−5.2
Majority			80	1.2	N/A
Turnout			7,252	73.4	+6.4
Registered electors			9,874
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.2

General election 1895: Argyllshire ^{[17] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Nicol	3,970	50.9	+1.5
	Liberal	Donald Horne Macfarlane	3,835	49.1	−1.5
Majority			135	1.8	N/A
Turnout			7,805	74.5	+1.1
Registered electors			10,471
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.5

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Argyllshire ^{[17] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Donald Nicol	3,834	54.2	+3.3
	Liberal	John Ainsworth	3,234	45.8	−3.3
Majority			600	8.4	+6.6
Turnout			7,068	67.9	−6.6
Registered electors			10,405
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.3

John Ainsworth

1903 Argyllshire by-election ^{[18] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ainsworth	4,326	61.2	+15.4
	Conservative	C. Stewart	2,740	38.8	−15.4
Majority			1,586	22.4	N/A
Turnout			7,066	66.4	−1.5
Registered electors			10,643
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+15.4

General election 1906: Argyllshire ^{[19] [14]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ainsworth	4,507	59.9	+14.1
	Conservative	George Hutchison	3,012	40.1	−14.1
Majority			1,495	19.8	N/A
Turnout			7,519	67.0	−0.9
Registered electors			11,216
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+14.1

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Argyllshire ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ainsworth	4,443	55.1	−4.8
	Conservative	George Hutchison	3,617	44.9	+4.8
Majority			826	10.2	−9.6
Turnout			8,060	73.1	+6.1
Registered electors			11,025
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.8

General election December 1910: Argyllshire ^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Ainsworth	4,280	51.5	−3.6
	Conservative	George Hutchison	4,023	48.5	+3.6
Majority			257	3.0	−7.2
Turnout			8,303	71.8	−1.3
Registered electors			11,572
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.6

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: George Hutchison ^[21]

General election 1918: Argyllshire ^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	William Sutherland	11,970	81.4	+29.9
	Highland Land League	Lauchlin MacNeill Weir	2,733	18.6	New
Majority			9,237	62.8	+59.8
Turnout			14,703	52.0	−29.8
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1920s

Sir W. Sutherland

1920 Argyll by-election ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	William Sutherland	10,187	64.9	-16.5
	Labour	Malcolm MacCallum	5,498	35.1	New
Majority			4,689	29.8	-33.0
Turnout			15,685	50.2	-1.8
	Liberal hold		Swing
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election 1922: Argyllshire ^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	William Sutherland	9,848	58.8	N/A
	Liberal	Henry Anderson Watt	6,897	41.2	-40.2
Majority			2,591	15.6	−12.2
Turnout			16,745	51.8	+1.6
	National Liberal hold		Swing	−6.1

General election 1923: Argyllshire ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Sutherland	9,020	52.7	−6.1
	Unionist	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	8,100	47.3	New
Majority			920	5.4	N/A
Turnout			17,120	53.3	+1.5
	Liberal gain from National Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: Argyllshire ^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	9,240	46.2	−1.1
	Liberal	William Sutherland	6,211	31.1	−21.6
	Labour	I.H. MacIver	4,532	22.7	New
Majority			3,029	15.1	+9.7
Turnout			19,983	62.7	+9.4
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1929: Argyllshire ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	11,108	44.1	−2.1
	Liberal	Basil Murray	8,089	32.1	+1.0
	Labour	John L. Kinloch	6,001	23.8	+1.1
Majority			3,019	12.0	-3.1
Turnout			25,198	62.7	0.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	−1.6

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Argyllshire ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1935: Argyllshire ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	13,260	53.6	N/A
	Liberal	Basil Murray	11,486	46.4	New
Majority			1,774	7.2	N/A
Turnout			24,746	56.6	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1940s

1940 Argyllshire by-election ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Duncan McCallum	12,317	62.8	+9.2
	SNP	William Power	7,308	37.2	New
Majority			5,009	25.5	+17.3
Turnout			19,625	47.9	-8.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1945: Argyllshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Duncan McCallum	15,791	56.6	+3.0
	Labour	A. MacNeill Weir	8,889	31.9	New
	Liberal	John Bannerman	3,228	11.6	−34.8
Majority			6,902	24.7	+17.5
Turnout			27,908	63.9	+7.3
	Unionist hold		Swing

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Duncan McCallum	19,259	66.5	+9.9
	Labour	I. Nicholson	9,215	31.8	−0.1
	Scottish Home Rule	M S McP Holt	490	1.7	New
Majority			10,044	34.7	+10.0
Turnout			28,964	75.1	+11.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1951: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Duncan McCallum	21,191	68.1	+1.6
	Labour	Robert M. Young	9,925	31.9	+0.1
Majority			11,266	36.2	+1.5
Turnout			28,210	67.1	−8.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1955: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Duncan McCallum	19,119	67.8	−0.3
	Labour	Robert M. Young	9,091	32.2	+0.3
Majority			10,028	35.6	-0.6
Turnout			28,210	66.9	−0.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	−0.3

1958 Argyll by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Michael Noble	12,541	46.8	−21.0
	Liberal	William D. McKean	7,375	27.5	New
	Labour	Robert M. Young	6,884	25.7	−6.5
Majority			5,166	19.3	-16.3
Turnout			26,800
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1959: Argyll ^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Michael Noble	16,599	58.4	−9.4
	Labour	D. Nisbet	7,356	25.9	−6.3
	Liberal	Gerard Noel	4,469	15.7	New
Majority			9,243	32.5	-3.1
Turnout			28,424	71.0	+4.1
	Unionist hold		Swing

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Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Michael Noble	13,277	47.2	−11.2
	Labour	Duncan L. MacMillan	8,120	28.9	+3.0
	Liberal	John MacKay	6,707	23.9	+8.2
Majority			5,157	18.4	-14.1
Turnout			28,104	70.3	−0.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1966: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Noble	12,178	43.2	−4.0
	Labour	John McFadden	8,486	30.1	+1.2
	Liberal	John MacKay	7,512	26.7	+2.8
Majority			3,692	13.1	-5.3
Turnout			28,176	72.3	+2.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Noble	13,521	44.8	+1.6
	SNP	Iain MacCormick	9,039	29.9	New
	Labour	John McFadden	7,633	25.3	−4.8
Majority			4,482	14.9	+1.8
Turnout			30,193	73.9	+1.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Iain MacCormick	15,646	48.9	+19.0
	Conservative	Peter Craft Hutchison	12,358	38.6	−6.2
	Labour	M.J.N. MacGregor	4,027	12.6	−12.7
Majority			3,288	10.3	N/A
Turnout			32,031	77.3	+3.4
	SNP gain from Conservative		Swing	+12.6

General election October 1974: Argyll ^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Iain MacCormick	14,967	49.7	+0.8
	Conservative	John MacKay	11,036	36.7	−1.9
	Labour	M.J.N. MacGregor	4,103	13.6	+1.0
Majority			3,931	13.0	+1.7
Turnout			30,106	72.0	−5.3
	SNP hold		Swing	+1.4

General election 1979: Argyll

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John MacKay	12,191	36.8	+0.1
	SNP	Iain MacCormick	10,545	31.8	−17.9
	Labour	M.J.N. MacGregor	5,283	16.0	+2.4
	Liberal	Ray Michie	5,113	15.4	New
Majority			1,646	5.0	N/A
Turnout			33,132	76.1	+4.1
	Conservative gain from SNP		Swing	+9.0

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See also

• 1920 Argyll by-election

References

1. "Argyllshire". History of Parliament Online (1690–1715). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
2. "Argyllshire". History of Parliament Online (1715–1754). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
3. "Argyllshire". History of Parliament Online (1754–1790). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
4. "Argyllshire". History of Parliament Online (1790–1820). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
5. "Argyllshire". History of Parliament Online (1820–1832). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
6. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 2)
7. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 196.
8. "Argyllshire" . Caledonian Mercury. p. 4. Retrieved 5 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Fisher, David R. "Argyllshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
10. Craig, F. W. S., ed. (1977). British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885 (e-book) (1st ed.). London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   978-1-349-02349-3.
11. Debrett's House of Commons, 1870
12. The Times,29 April 1880
13. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
14. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885–1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
15. "The General Election". Glasgow Herald . 9 October 1885. pp. 9–10.
16. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
17. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
18. The Times, 29 August 1903
19. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
20. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
21. Edinburgh Evening News 19 Sep 1914
22. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
23. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
24. The Times, 11 December 1923
25. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
26. The Times, 3 June 1929
27. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
28. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
29. Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
30. Whitaker's Almanack 1963
31. Whitaker's Almanack 1977