Greenock (UK Parliament constituency)

Greenock
Former burgh constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1974 (1974)
Seats	One
Created from	Renfrewshire [1]
Replaced by	Greenock & Port Glasgow

Greenock was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 until 1974, when it was abolished and its area was merged into the new Greenock and Port Glasgow constituency.

Boundaries

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

"From the Point, on the West of the Town, at which the Shore of the Firth of Clyde is met by the March between the Parishes of Greenock and Innerkip, up the said March to that Point thereof which is nearest to the Southern Point of the Ridge of Bow Hill; thence in a straight Line to the said Point on Bow Hill; thence in a straight Line to the Southern End of the Upper East Reservoir for supplying Greenock with Water; thence in a straight Line, in the Direction of the highest projecting Point of Knocknair Hill, to the Point near Woodhead Quarry, at which such straight Line cuts the Easternmost of the Two Rivulets which form the Lady Burn; thence down such Rivulet and the Lady Burn to the Point at which the same joins the Firth of Clyde; thence along the Shore of the Firth of Clyde to the Point first described." ^[2]

1885–1918: The existing parliamentary borough, and so much of the municipal borough of Greenock as was not already included in the parliamentary borough. ^[3]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1832	Robert Wallace	Whig [4] [5]
	1845 by-election	Walter Baine	Whig [6] [7]
	1847	William Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound	Whig [8] [9]
	1852	Alexander Murray Dunlop	Whig [10] [11]
	1859		Liberal
	1868	James Grieve	Liberal
	1878 by-election	James Stewart	Liberal
	1884 by-election	Thomas Sutherland	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1892	John Bruce	Liberal
	1892	Sir Thomas Sutherland	Liberal Unionist
	1900	James Reid	Unionist
	1906	Halley Stewart	Liberal
	Jan 1910	Sir Godfrey Collins	Liberal
	1919		Coalition Liberal
	1922		Liberal
	1931		National Liberal
	1936 by-election	Robert Gibson	Labour
	1941 by-election	Hector McNeil	Labour
	1955 by-election	Dickson Mabon	Labour Co-operative
Feb 1974		constituency abolished: see Greenock & Port Glasgow

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1832: Greenock ^{[12] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Wallace	493	65.3
	Tory	John Fairrie	262	34.7
Majority			231	30.6
Turnout			755	76.6
Registered electors			985
	Whig win (new seat)

General election 1835: Greenock ^{[12] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Wallace	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,170
	Whig hold

General election 1837: Greenock ^{[12] [4]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Robert Wallace	401	66.5
	Conservative	James Smith	202	33.5
Majority			199	33.0
Turnout			603	56.6
Registered electors			1,065
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Robert Wallace	406	56.8	−9.7
	Conservative	Thomas John Cochrane	309	43.2	+9.7
Majority			97	13.6	−19.4
Turnout			715	64.2	+7.6
Registered electors			1,113
	Whig hold		Swing	−9.7

Wallace resigned, causing a by-election.

By-election, 18 April 1845: Greenock ^{[12] [6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Walter Baine	350	50.4	N/A
	Whig	Alexander Murray-Dunlop	344	49.6	N/A
Majority			6	0.8	−12.8
Turnout			694	59.6	−4.6
Registered electors			1,165
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1847: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound	456	59.1	N/A
	Whig	Alexander Murray-Dunlop	315	40.9	N/A
Majority			141	18.2	+4.6
Turnout			771	70.8	+6.6
Registered electors			1,089
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Alexander Murray-Dunlop	470	64.9	+24.0
	Conservative	James Dalrymple-Horn-Elphinstone	254	35.1	New
Majority			216	29.8	+11.6
Turnout			724	62.2	−8.6
Registered electors			1,164
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Alexander Murray-Dunlop	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,405
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Murray-Dunlop	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,524
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1865: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Murray-Dunlop	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,871
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Greenock ^{[13] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Grieve	2,962	58.6	N/A
	Independent Liberal	William Dougal Christie [14]	2,092	41.4	New
Majority			870	17.2	N/A
Turnout			5,054	81.2	N/A
Registered electors			6,223
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Grieve	Unopposed
Registered electors			6,330
	Liberal hold

Grieve resigned, causing a by-election.

1878 Greenock by-election ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Stewart	2,183	36.0	N/A
	Conservative	James Fergusson	2,124	35.0	New
	Liberal	Donald Currie [15]	1,648	27.2	N/A
	Independent Liberal	William Dundas Scott Moncrieff [16] [17]	108	1.8	New
Majority			59	1.0	N/A
Turnout			6,063	81.4	N/A
Registered electors			7,446
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Stewart	3,351	60.8	N/A
	Conservative	John Scott	2,162	39.2	N/A
Majority			1,189	21.6	N/A
Turnout			5,513	76.5	N/A
Registered electors			7,203
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Stewart's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 28 Nov 1884: Greenock ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Sutherland	3,548	59.5	−1.3
	Conservative	John Scott	2,417	40.5	+1.3
Majority			1,131	19.0	−2.6
Turnout			5,965	78.1	+1.6
Registered electors			7,203
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.3

General election 1885: Greenock ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Sutherland	3,057	50.3	−10.5
	Conservative	John Scott	2,954	48.6	+9.4
	Scottish Land Restoration	John Morrison Davidson	65	1.1	New
Majority			103	1.7	−19.9
Turnout			6,076	85.2	+8.7
Registered electors			7,131
	Liberal hold		Swing	−10.0

General election 1886: Greenock ^{[18] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Sutherland	2,905	56.8	+8.2
	Liberal	Harold Wright	2,208	43.2	−7.1
Majority			697	13.6	N/A
Turnout			5,113	71.7	−13.5
Registered electors			7,131
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.7

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Greenock ^{[20] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Sutherland	2,942	50.5	−6.3
	Liberal	John Bruce	2,887	49.5	+6.3
Majority			55	1.0	−12.6
Turnout			5,829	83.4	+11.7
Registered electors			6,992
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	-6.3

The original count gave a majority of 44 for Bruce; after an election petition and recount, this was revised to a majority of 55 for Sutherland. See the list of election petitions for details.

Fletcher

General election 1895: Greenock ^{[21] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Thomas Sutherland	3,571	56.5	+6.0
	Lib-Lab	Alfred Fletcher	2,753	43.5	−6.0
Majority			818	13.0	+12.0
Turnout			6,324	83.5	+0.1
Registered electors			7,570
	Liberal Unionist hold		Swing	+6.0

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Greenock ^{[21] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Reid	3,165	52.3	−4.2
	Liberal	John Maconie	2,886	47.7	+4.2
Majority			279	4.6	−8.4
Turnout			6,051	79.7	−3.8
Registered electors			7,590
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.2

Stewart

General election 1906: Greenock ^{[22] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Halley Stewart	3,596	52.5	+4.8
	Conservative	James Reid	3,254	47.5	−4.8
Majority			342	5.0	N/A
Turnout			6,850	87.6	+7.9
Registered electors			7,821
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.8

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Greenock ^{[23] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	4,233	61.7	+9.2
	Liberal Unionist	James Parker Smith	2,632	38.3	−9.2
Majority			1,601	23.4	+18.4
Turnout			6,855	87.4	−0.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	+9.2

General election December 1910: Greenock ^{[23] [19]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	4,338	59.8	−1.9
	Conservative	Samuel Chapman	2,913	40.2	+1.9
Majority			1,425	19.6	−2.8
Turnout			7,251	88.9	+1.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.9

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: Godfrey Collins
• Unionist: Samuel Chapman ^[24]

Godfrey Collins

General election 1918: Greenock ^{[25] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	10,933	48.0	−11.8
	Unionist	* Samuel Chapman	7,246	31.8	−8.4
	Labour	Fred Shaw	2,542	11.2	New
	Independent Labour	** Neal Haughey	2,050	9.0	New
Majority			3,687	16.2	−3.4
Turnout			22,771	66.6	−22.3
Registered electors			34,182
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.7

* Chapman was included on the final list of Coalition Coupon candidates, despite it having been agreed there would be no coupon in this constituency. Immediately after the list was published, a telegram was sent to Collins to make it clear there was no official Coalition candidate.
** Haughey was the nominee of the Greenock and District Dockers' Union.

Elections in the 1920s

Collins

General election 1922: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	10,520	36.6	−11.4
	Communist	* Alec Geddes	9,776	34.1	New
	Unionist	John Denholm	8,404	29.3	−2.5
Majority			744	2.5	−13.7
Turnout			28,700	84.8	+18.2
Registered electors			33,835
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.5

* Geddes sought the election as a Labour candidate, despite being an official Communist candidate and having no Labour endorsement.

General election 1923: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	16,337	61.3	+24.7
	Communist	* Alec Geddes	10,335	38.7	+4.6
Majority			6,002	22.6	+20.1
Turnout			26,672	78.4	−6.4
Registered electors			34,006
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.1

* Geddes sought the election as a Labour candidate, despite being an official Communist candidate and having no Labour endorsement.

General election 1924: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	12,752	48.6	−12.7
	Communist	Alec Geddes	7,590	29.0	−9.7
	Labour	S. Kelly	5,874	22.4	New
Majority			5,162	19.6	−3.0
Turnout			26,216	77.8	−0.6
Registered electors			33,693
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.5

General election 1929: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Godfrey Collins	11,190	32.5	−16.1
	Labour Co-op	William Leonard	9,697	28.2	+5.8
	Communist	Alec Geddes	7,005	20.4	−8.6
	Unionist	Andrew Dewar Gibb	6,517	18.9	New
Majority			1,493	4.3	−15.3
Turnout			34,409	78.7	+0.9
Registered electors			43,720
	Liberal hold		Swing	−11.0

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Godfrey Collins	18,013	51.1	+18.6
	Labour	Thomas Irwin	10,850	30.7	+2.5
	Communist	Aitken Ferguson	6,440	18.2	−2.2
Majority			7,163	20.4	+16.1
Turnout			35,303	80.3	+1.6
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General election 1935: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Godfrey Collins	20,299	52.7	+1.6
	Labour	Thomas Irwin	16,945	44.0	+13.3
	SNP	John L. Kinloch	1,286	3.3	New
Majority			3,354	8.7	−15.7
Turnout			38,530	84.4	+4.1
	National Liberal hold		Swing	−5.9

1936 Greenock by-election ^{[27] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Gibson	20,594	53.4	+9.4
	National Liberal	Vivian Emery Cornelius	17,990	46.6	−6.1
Majority			2,604	6.8	N/A
Turnout			38,584	83.3	−1.1
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing	+7.85

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Labour: Robert Gibson

1941 Greenock by-election ^{[28] [26]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hector McNeil	Unopposed	N/A	N/A

General election 1945: Greenock ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hector McNeil	16,186	47.1	+3.1
	Unionist	Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton	8,097	23.6	−27.1
	Communist	J. R. Campbell	5,900	17.2	New
	Liberal	George Gordon Honeyman	4,180	12.2	New
Majority			8,089	23.54	+14.8
Turnout			34,363	68.42	−16.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hector McNeil	20,548	50.6	+3.5
	Liberal	Ian McColl	11,638	28.7	+16.5
	Independent Labour	John S. Thomson	6,458	15.9	New
	Communist	J. R. Campbell	1,228	3.0	−14.2
	Anti-Partition	Oliver Brown	718	1.8	New
Majority			8,910	21.9	−1.6
Turnout			40,590	83.2	+14.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1951: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hector McNeil	23,452	57.1	+6.5
	Unionist	W Ross Maclean	17,615	42.9	New
Majority			5,837	14.2	−7.7
Turnout			41,067	83.0	−0.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1955: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hector McNeil	19,378	51.4	−5.7
	Unionist	Ian MacArthur	18,345	48.6	+5.7
Majority			1,033	2.8	−11.4
Turnout			37,723
	Labour hold		Swing

1955 Greenock by-election ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dickson Mabon	19,698	53.7	+2.3
	Unionist	Ian MacArthur	17,004	46.3	−2.3
Majority			2,694	7.4	+4.6
Turnout			36,702
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1959: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dickson Mabon	19,320	50.6	−3.1
	Liberal	William T C Riddell	10,238	26.8	New
	Unionist	Leonard Mackenzie Turpie	8,616	22.6	−23.7
Majority			9,082	23.8	+16.5
Turnout			38,174
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dickson Mabon	19,627	55.1	+4.5
	Liberal	Campbell M Barclay	9,055	25.4	−1.4
	Unionist	Duncan Robert Gordon Sillars	6,473	18.2	−4.4
	Independent Labour	John Stevenson Thomson	458	1.3	New
Majority			10,572	29.7	+5.9
Turnout			35,613
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1966: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dickson Mabon	18,988	57.1	+2.0
	Liberal	Iain M Will	7,727	23.2	−2.2
	Conservative	Ronald Edgar Dundas	5,835	17.5	−0.7
	Communist	William Dunn	702	2.1	New
Majority			11,261	33.9	+4.2
Turnout			33,252	73.6
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Greenock ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dickson Mabon	19,334	53.7	−3.4
	Liberal	William T C Riddell	16,100	44.7	+21.5
	Communist	Alex Murray	559	1.6	−0.5
Majority			3,234	9.0	−24.9
Turnout			35,993	75.0	+1.4
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

References

1. Jenkins, Terry. "Renfrewshire". The History of Parliament. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
2. Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, Schedule (M).
3. "Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
4. Smith, Henry Stooks (1842). The Register of Parliamentary Contested Elections (Second ed.). Simpkin, Marshall & Company. p. 203.
5. "The Elections" . Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser. 3 July 1841. p. 23. Retrieved 16 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "Greenock Election" . Globe. 17 April 1845. p. 2. Retrieved 16 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Clare Journal, and Ennis Advertiser" . 24 April 1845. p. 4. Retrieved 16 August 2019– via British Newspaper Archive.
8. Stooks Smith, Henry. (1973) [1844–1850]. Craig, F. W. S. (ed.). The Parliaments of England (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp.  164–166. ISBN   0-900178-13-2.
9. Churton, Edward (1838). The Assembled Commons or Parliamentary Biographer: 1838. p. 157.
10. "Greenock Election" . Globe. 17 April 1845. p. 2. Retrieved 2 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
11. "Greenock Election – Triumph of the Maynooth Grant Advocate" . Cork Examiner. 21 April 1845. p. 4. Retrieved 2 September 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
12. 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.
13. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1870
14. "The Permissive Bill Hypocrisy" . Carlisle Patriot. 20 November 1868. p. 5. Retrieved 15 February 2018– via British Newspaper Archive.
15. "Mr Donald Currie in Greenock" . Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette . 15 May 1878. p. 2. Retrieved 31 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
16. "Greenock" . North Devon Journal . 31 January 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 31 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
17. "Sir Scott Moncrieff and His Creditors" . Greenock Telegraph and Clyde Shipping Gazette . 9 July 1878. p. 3. Retrieved 31 December 2017– via British Newspaper Archive.
18. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
19. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885–1918, FWS Craig
20. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
21. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
22. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
23. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
24. Perthshire Advertiser 20 June 1914
25. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
26. British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig ISBN   0-900178-06-X
27. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
28. Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
29. British Parliamentary Election Results 1950–1973, FWS Craig

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN   0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)