Kilmarnock (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Kilmarnock
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland Ayrshire
Major settlements Kilmarnock
1918–1983
Number of membersOne
Replaced by Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Created from Kilmarnock Burghs, Ayrshire North and Ayrshire South

Kilmarnock was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

The constituency included the area of the former parliamentary burgh of Kilmarnock. The parliamentary burgh had been, previously, a component of the Kilmarnock Burghs constituency.

Prominent Members for this seat included long-serving Scottish Secretary Willie Ross, and senior judge Craigie Mason Aitchison.

Boundaries

1918 to 1950

The constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 as one of four constituencies covering the county of Ayr and the county of Bute. Of the other three constituencies, two were county constituencies: Bute and Northern Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. The third, Ayr Burghs, was a district of burghs constituency. All four constituencies were entirely within the boundaries of the two counties.

The Kilmarnock constituency consisted of "The county district of Kilmarnock, inclusive of all burghs situated therein except insofar as included in the Ayr District of Burghs."

The counties of Ayr and Bute had been covered, previously, by the five constituencies of Ayr Burghs, Buteshire, Kilmarnock Burghs, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire. Two of these, Ayr Burghs and Kilmarnock Burghs, had included areas (parliamentary burghs) outside the two counties.

1950 to 1974

Constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1950, creating five constituencies to cover the counties of Ayr and Bute. Ayr Burghs was abolished and two new county constituencies, Ayr and Central Ayrshire, were created. Part of the Kilmarnock constituency was transferred to the new Central Ayrshire constituency.

1974 to 1975

In 1974, the boundary between the Kilmarnock and Ayrshire Central constituencies was redrawn to enlarge Kilmarnock.

1975 to 1983

In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, local government counties were abolished and replaced by a system of regions and districts. The areas of the counties of Ayr and Bute were merged into the Strathclyde region and, thus, the Kilmarnock constituency became one of a number covering the region. Eight years were to elapse before new constituency boundaries took account of new local government boundaries.

In 1983 the Kilmarnock constituency was merged into the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [1] Party
1918 Alexander Shaw Coalition Liberal
1922 Liberal
1923 Robert Climie Labour
1924 Charles MacAndrew Scottish Unionist Party
1929 Robert Climie Labour
1929 by-election Craigie Aitchison Labour
1931 National Labour
1933 by-election Kenneth Lindsay National Labour
1945 Clarice Shaw Labour
1946 by-election Willie Ross Labour
1979 William McKelvey Labour
1983 constituency abolished: see Kilmarnock and Loudoun

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

Alexander Shaw Alexander Shaw.jpg
Alexander Shaw
General election 1918: Kilmarnock [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
C Liberal Alexander Shaw 13,56867.1
Co-operative Party Peter Malcolm6,65232.9
Majority6,91634.2
Turnout 20,22062.6
Registered electors 32,298
Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Kilmarnock [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Alexander Shaw 12,991 54.7 −12.4
Labour Robert Climie 10,75245.3New
Majority2,2399.4−24.8
Turnout 23,74371.5+8.9
Registered electors 33,210
Liberal hold Swing −12.4
Sir Donald Maclean Sir Donald Maclean.jpg
Sir Donald Maclean
General election 1923: Kilmarnock [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Robert Climie 10,992 43.2 −2.1
Liberal Donald Maclean 8,18532.1−22.6
Unionist Alexander Morrice Mackay6,29824.7New
Majority2,80711.1N/A
Turnout 25,47575.7+4.2
Registered electors 33,652
Labour gain from Liberal Swing +10.3
General election 1924: Kilmarnock [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Charles MacAndrew 14,237 52.2 +27.5
Labour Robert Climie 13,05447.8+4.6
Majority1,1834.4N/A
Turnout 27,29179.5+3.8
Registered electors 34,315
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +11.5
General election 1929: Kilmarnock
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Robert Climie 17,368 48.2 +0.4
Unionist Charles MacAndrew 10,93930.4−21.8
Liberal James Rutherford 7,70021.4New
Majority6,42917.8N/A
Turnout 36,00777.8−1.7
Registered electors 46,310
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +11.1
1929 Kilmarnock by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Craigie Aitchison 18,465 55.6 +7.4
Unionist Charles MacAndrew 13,27040.0+9.6
Communist Isabel Brown 1,4484.4New
Majority5,19515.6−2.2
Turnout 33,18371.7−6.1
Registered electors 46,310
Labour hold Swing −1.1

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Kilmarnock
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Labour Craigie Aitchison 21,803 59.6 New
Ind. Labour Party John Pollock 14,76740.4New
Majority7,03619.2+3.6
Turnout 36,58079.5+7.8
National Labour hold Swing N/A
1933 Kilmarnock by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Labour Kenneth Lindsay 12,577 34.8 −24.8
Labour James Barr 9,92427.4New
Ind. Labour Party John Pollock 7,57520.9−19.5
Scottish Party Alexander MacEwen 6,09816.9New
Majority2,6537.4−11.8
Turnout 36,17477.3−2.2
National Labour hold Swing N/A
General election 1935: Kilmarnock [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Labour Kenneth Lindsay 19,115 50.9 +16.1
Labour James Crawford 12,55833.4+6.0
Ind. Labour Party John Pollock 3,5829.5-11.4
SNP T. W. Campbell2,3466.2-10.7
Majority6,55717.5+10.1
Turnout 37,60178.8+1.5
National Labour hold Swing +5.0

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Kilmarnock
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Clarice Shaw 23,837 59.4 +26.0
Unionist George E.O. Walker16,30040.6New
Majority7,53718.8N/A
Turnout 40,13776.1−2.7
Labour gain from National Labour Swing N/A
1946 Kilmarnock by-election
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 22,456 59.7 +0.3
Unionist George E.O. Walker12,23932.5−8.1
SNP George Dott2,9327.8New
Majority10,21727.2+8.4
Turnout 37,62768.4−7.7
Labour hold Swing +4.2

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Kilmarnock [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 22,41256.58-2.80
Unionist McInnes Shaw 14,17935.80-4.80
Liberal John Gibson Thomson2,1575.45New
Communist Isabel Brown 8602.17New
Majority8,23320.79+2.0
Turnout 39,60886.15+10.1
Registered electors 45,974
Labour hold Swing +1.0
General election 1951: Kilmarnock [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 24,66460.72+4.14
Unionist Norman Macleod Glen15,95539.28+3.48
Majority8,70921.44+0.65
Turnout 40,61986.66+0.51
Registered electors 46,869
Labour hold Swing +0.33
General election 1955: Kilmarnock [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 23,32460.89+0.17
Unionist John Sutherland [10] 14,98339.11-0.17
Majority8,34121.78+0.34
Turnout 38,30781.07-5.59
Registered electors 47,254
Labour hold Swing +0.17
General election 1959: Kilmarnock [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 25,37962.72+1.83
Unionist R Ian McNaught15,08737.28-1.83
Majority10,29225.44+3.66
Turnout 40,46682.43+1.36
Registered electors 49,090
Labour hold Swing +1.83

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Kilmarnock [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 25,17362.29-0.43
Unionist Graham H Webster [13] 10,79626.71-10.57
Liberal Ian M Will4,44310.99New
Majority14,37735.58+10.16
Turnout 40,41282.77+0.34
Registered electors 48,824
Labour hold Swing +5.04
General election 1966: Kilmarnock [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 26,03668.54+6.25
Conservative Albert McQuarrie 11,94931.46+4.75
Majority14,08737.08+1.50
Turnout 37,98579.02-3.75
Registered electors 48,073
Labour hold Swing +0.75

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Kilmarnock [15]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 24,477 59.3 -9.2
Conservative G Law11,47627.8-3.6
SNP Alistair MacInnes2,8366.9New
Liberal Archibald James Wight2,4596.0New
Majority13,00131.52-5.6
Turnout 41,24879.10.0
Labour hold Swing
General election February 1974: Kilmarnock [16] [17]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 23,54447.20-12.14
Conservative Kenneth Alexander Ross13,81727.70-0.12
SNP Alistair MacInnes7,64415.32+7.44
Liberal Archibald James Wight4,8789.78+3.82
Majority9,72719.50-12.02
Turnout 49,88383.25+3.19
Labour hold Swing
General election October 1974: Kilmarnock [17] [18] [19]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Willie Ross 22,18445.69-1.51
SNP Alistair MacInnes14,65530.19+14.86
Conservative William Adams9,20318.96-8.74
Liberal Kevin Purcell2,5085.17-4.61
Majority7,52915.50-4.00
Turnout 48,55080.41-2.84
Labour hold Swing -8.18
General election 1979: Kilmarnock [17] [20]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour William McKelvey 25,71852.56+6.87
Conservative John Corbett 14,25129.12+10.17
SNP Alistair MacInnes8,96318.32-11.87
Majority11,46723.44+7.93
Turnout 48,93281.08+0.67
Labour hold Swing -1.65

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "K" (part 2)
  2. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  3. ↑ The Times, 17 November 1922
  4. ↑ The Times, 8 December 1923
  5. ↑ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
  6. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  7. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "Unionist Choice in Kilmarnock - Mr John Sutherland". The Herald. Vol. 171, no. 235. Glasgow. 2 October 1953. p. 6. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  11. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  13. ↑ "Unionist Choice for Kilmarnock - Mr Graham Webster". The Herald. Vol. 181, no. 260. Glasgow. 26 November 1963. p. 11. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  14. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  15. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  16. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 "'Kilmarnock', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  18. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1977
  19. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1979". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
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