Coatbridge (UK Parliament constituency)

Coatbridge
Former burgh constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Lanarkshire
1918–1950
Seats	One
Created from	North East Lanarkshire
Replaced by	Coatbridge & Airdrie

Coatbridge was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) from 1918 to 1950, elected by the first past the post voting system.

It was formed by the division of Lanarkshire. The name was changed in 1950 to Coatbridge and Airdrie. A later constituency, Coatbridge and Chryston, existed between 1997 and 2005, until it was redrawn as Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill.

Boundaries

The Representation of the People Act 1918 provided that the constituency was to consist of "the burghs of Coatbridge and Airdrie". ^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [2]	Party
	1918	Arthur Louis Hamilton Buchanan	Coalition Conservative
	1922	James C. Welsh	Labour
	1931	William Templeton	Conservative
	1935	James Barr	Labour
	1945	Jean Mann	Labour
1950		constituency abolished: see Coatbridge & Airdrie

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Coatbridge ^{[3] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Unionist	Arthur Buchanan	13,188	64.51
	Labour	Owen Coyle	7,254	35.49
Majority			5,934	29.02
Turnout			20,442	64.78
Registered electors			31,557
	Unionist win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Coatbridge ^{[5] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James C. Welsh	12,038	49.01	+13.52
	Unionist	Arthur Buchanan	9,724	39.59	−24.92
	Liberal	Daniel Blades	2,802	11.41	New
Majority			2,314	9.42	N/A
Turnout			24,564	80.14	+15.36
Registered electors			30,650
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+19.22

General election 1923: Coatbridge ^{[6] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James C. Welsh	12,292	55.48	+6.47
	Unionist	J.B. Young	9,865	44.52	+4.93
Majority			2,427	10.96	+1.54
Turnout			22,157	71.72	−8.42
Registered electors			30,892
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.77

General election 1924: Coatbridge ^{[7] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James C. Welsh	12,782	50.11	−5.37
	Unionist	Thomas Moore	12,725	49.89	+5.37
Majority			57	0.22	−10.74
Turnout			25,507	84.03	+12.31
Registered electors			30,356
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.37

General election 1929: Coatbridge ^{[8] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James C. Welsh	16,879	54.98	+4.87
	Unionist	Alec Douglas-Home	9,210	30.00	−19.89
	Liberal	Robert Irvine	4,610	15.02	New
Majority			7,669	24.98	+24.76
Turnout			30,699	82.31	−1.72
Registered electors			37,299
	Labour hold		Swing	+12.38

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Coatbridge ^{[9] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Templeton	16,223	51.31	+21.31
	Labour	James C. Welsh	14,722	46.56	−8.42
	New Party	William Weir Gilmour	674	2.13	New
Majority			1,501	4.75	N/A
Turnout			31,619	83.40	+1.09
Registered electors			37,911
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+14.87

General election 1935: Coatbridge ^{[10] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Barr	17,535	57.20	+10.64
	Unionist	T.D.K. Murray	13,121	42.80	−8.51
Majority			4,414	14.40	N/A
Turnout			30,656	78.55	−4.85
Registered electors			39,029
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+9.58

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Coatbridge ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jean Mann	18,619	61.12	+3.92
	Unionist	Ronald Russell	11,842	38.88	−3.92
Majority			6,777	22.24	+7.84
Turnout			30,461	75.96	−2.59
Registered electors			40,104
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.92

References

1. Representation of the People Act 1918, Schedule 9.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 5)
3. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
4. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p.  631. ISBN   0-900178-01-9.
5. The Times, 17 November 1922
6. The Times, 8 December 1923
7. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
8. The Times, 1 June 1929
9. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
10. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939