Leith (UK Parliament constituency)

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Leith
Former burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland City of Edinburgh (from 1920)
Major settlements Leith
1918–1950
SeatsOne
Created from Leith Burghs
Replaced by Edinburgh Leith

Leith was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1950. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

There was also an earlier Leith Burghs constituency, 1832 to 1918, and a later Edinburgh Leith constituency, 1950 to 1997.

Boundaries

The Leith constituency was created under the Representation of the People Act 1918, and first used in the 1918 general election, to cover the burgh of Leith, in the county of Midlothian. [1] The burgh was previously within the Leith Burghs constituency.

1918 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1922, 1923, 1924, 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1945.

The burgh was merged into the City of Edinburgh in 1920, and for the 1950 general election, under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, the Edinburgh Leith constituency was created as one of seven constituencies covering the city and the Midlothian burgh of Musselburgh. [1]

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember [2] Party
1918 William Wedgwood Benn Liberal
1927 by-election Ernest Brown Liberal
1931 National Liberal
1945 James Hutchison Hoy, subsequently MP for Edinburgh Leith Labour

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

George Currie George Currie.jpg
George Currie
General election 1918: Leith [3] Electorate
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 10,338 46.6
C Unionist George Welsh Currie 7,61334.3
Labour Stanley Burgess 4,25119.1
Majority 2,72512.3
Turnout 22,20252.2
Registered electors 42,507
Liberal win (new seat)
Cindicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Wedgwood Benn Captain Wedgwood Benn.png
Wedgwood Benn
General election 1922: Leith [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 13,971 50.1 +3.5
Unionist Alexander Munro MacRobert 7,37226.4−7.9
Labour Robert Freeman Wilson6,56723.5+4.4
Majority 6,59923.7+11.4
Turnout 27,91071.5+19.3
Registered electors 39,048
Liberal hold Swing +5.7
General election 1923: Leith [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 15,004 64.5 +14.4
Labour Robert Freeman Wilson8,26735.5+12.0
Majority 6,73729.0+5.3
Turnout 23,27159.1−12.4
Registered electors 39,385
Liberal hold Swing +1.2
General election 1924: Leith [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal William Wedgwood Benn 16,569 59.6 −4.9
Labour Robert Freeman Wilson11,25040.4+4.9
Majority 5,31919.2−9.8
Turnout 27,81970.5+11.4
Liberal hold Swing −4.9
1927 Leith by-election [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Ernest Brown 12,461 42.3 −17.3
Labour Robert Freeman Wilson12,35042.0+1.6
Unionist Allan Beaton4,60715.7New
Majority 1110.3−18.9
Turnout 29,41873.9+3.4
Registered electors 39,795
Liberal hold Swing −9.5
General election, 30 May 1929: Leith
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Ernest Brown 20,613 56.7 −2.9
Labour Alan H Paton15,71543.3+2.9
Majority 4,89813.4−5.8
Turnout 36,32871.5+1.0
Registered electors 50,801
Liberal hold Swing −2.9

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Leith [8] Electorate 50,979
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Liberal Ernest Brown 24,847 65.0 +8.3
Labour Arthur Woodburn 13,40035.0−8.3
Majority 11,44730.0N/A
Turnout 38,24775.0+3.5
National Liberal gain from Liberal Swing
General election 1935: Leith [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
National Liberal Ernest Brown 18,888 57.7 −7.3
Labour David Cleghorn Thomson 13,81842.2+7.2
Majority 5,07015.5−14.5
Turnout 32,70665.5−9.5
National Liberal hold Swing -7.3

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;

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Leith
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour James Hoy 19,571 60.8 +18.6
National Liberal Ernest Brown 10,11631.4−26.3
Protestant ActionJohn Cormack2,4937.8New
Majority 9,45529.4N/A
Turnout 32,18069.3+3.8
Labour gain from National Liberal Swing +22.4

See also

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 As per Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 ( ISBN   0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, 1972
  2. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
  3. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  4. ↑ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig
  5. ↑ The Times, 8 December 1923
  6. ↑ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1924
  7. ↑ The Times, 25 March 1927
  8. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  9. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
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