Dunfermline Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Dunfermline Burghs
Dunfermline Burghs
Former Burgh constituency ; for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Inverkeithing, and Lochgelly
1950–1974
Seats	One
Replaced by	Dunfermline
1918–1950
Seats	One
Type of constituency	District of Burghs constituency
Created from	West Fife

Last updated February 17, 2024

Dunfermline Burghs was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1974. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries

As defined in 1918 the constituency covered the parliamentary burghs of Dunfermline, Cowdenbeath, Inverkeithing, and Lochgelly. Prior to the constituency's creation, the burghs of Dunfermline and Inverkeithing had been represented as components of Stirling Burghs, while Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly were within the county constituency of West Fife.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member^[1]	Party
	1918	John Wallace	Coalition Liberal
	1922	William Watson	Labour
	1931	John Wallace	Liberal National	Knighted January 1935^[2]
	1935	William Watson	Labour
	1950	James Clunie	Labour
	1959	Alan Thompson	Labour
	1964	Adam Hunter	Labour	Subsequently, MP for Dunfermline
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Dunfermline

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Liberal	John Wallace	6,886	44.6
	Independent Labour	William McLean Watson ^[3]	5,076	32.8
	Independent Democrat	Arthur Ponsonby ^[4]	3,491	22.6
Majority			1,810	11.8
Turnout			15,453	55.2
	Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William McLean Watson	11,652	50.4	+17.6
	National Liberal	John Wallace	11,451	49.6	+5.0
Majority			201	0.8	N/A
Turnout			23,102	77.5	+22.3
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+6.3

General election 1923: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William McLean Watson	12,606	53.6	+3.2
	Liberal	John Wallace	10,931	46.4	−3.2
Majority			1,675	7.2	+6.4
Turnout			23,537	77.7	+0.2
	Labour hold		Swing	3.2

General election 1924: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William McLean Watson	13,887	57.9	+4.3
	Liberal	Francis John Robertson	10,118	42.1	−4.3
Majority			3,769	15.8	+8.6
Turnout			24,005	78.7	+1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.3

General election 1929: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William McLean Watson	15,288	58.5	+0.6
	Unionist	Allan Beaton	9,146	35.0	New
	Communist	Jack Leckie	1,712	6.5	New
Majority			6,132	23.5	+7.7
Turnout			26,146	74.1	−4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Dunfermline Burghs^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	John Wallace	16,863	57.9	+22.9
	Labour	William McLean Watson	12,247	42.1	−16.4
Majority			4,616	15.8	N/A
Turnout			29,110	80.2	+6.1
	National Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1935: Dunfermline Burghs ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William McLean Watson	16,271	52.3	+10.2
	National Liberal	John Wallace	14,848	47.7	−10.2
Majority			1,423	4.6	N/A
Turnout			31,119	81.6	+1.4
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	10.2

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William McLean Watson	22,021	64.7	+12.4
	National Liberal	James Henderson	12,028	35.3	−12.4
Majority			9,993	29.4	+24.8
Turnout			34,049	73.0	−8.6
	Labour hold		Swing	12.4

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Clunie	23,641	61.2	-3.5
	National Liberal	James Stuart Kerr	14,967	38.8	+3.5
Majority			8,674	22.4	-7.0
Turnout			38,608	83.9	+10.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Clunie	24,547	61.1	-0.1
	National Liberal	James Stuart Kerr	15,657	38.9	+0.1
Majority			8,890	22.2	-0.2
Turnout			40,204	85.5	+1.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James Clunie	22,146	60.1	-1.0
	National Liberal	Charlotte R McNee	14,170	39.9	+1.0
Majority			8,674	21.2	-1.0
Turnout			36,316	83.9	-1.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1959: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alan Thompson	23,478	61.4	+1.3
	National Liberal	Archie Elliott	14,744	38.6	-1.3
Majority			8,734	22.8	+1.6
Turnout			38,222	82.9	-1.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Hunter	22,468	61.6	+0.2
	National Liberal	Ian Kirkwood	14,033	38.4	-0.2
Majority			8,435	23.2	+0.4
Turnout			36,501	77.2	-5.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1966: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Hunter	20,709	58.4	-3.2
	Conservative	Ian Kirkwood	9,446	26.6	-11.8
	SNP	James A Cook	5,304	15.0	New
Majority			11,263	31.8	+8.6
Turnout			35,459	76.3	-0.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Dunfermline Burghs
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam Hunter	21,532	57.1	-1.3
	Conservative	Ian Kirkwood	12,086	32.0	+5.4
	SNP	James A Cook	3,657	9.7	-5.3
	Communist	John Neilson	462	1.22	New
Majority			9,446	25.1	-6.7
Turnout			37,737	74.0	-2.3
	Labour hold		Swing

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References

↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
↑ "London Gazette Issue 34119 published on the 28 December 1934". p. 2. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
↑ Watson was the nominee of the Fife, Kinross and Clackmannan Miners' Association (Craig, op cit, p. 579)
↑ Ponsonby had previously been the Liberal MP for Stirling Burghs)
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.

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