List of constituencies in the Parliament of Scotland at the time of the Union is a list of the constituencies of the Parliament of Scotland (the Estates of Scotland) during the period shortly before the Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England. The unicameral Estates of Scotland existed from medieval times until 1707.
The Commissioners for the burghs (the "Third Estate") and shires and stewartries (sometimes called the "Fourth Estate", or classified as a subgroup within the "Second Estate") were elected, but on a very restrictive franchise. Commissioner was the title for ordinary, representative members of the parliament (junior peers were called Lords of Parliament; and senior peers, representatives of the monarch, and certain members of the clergy also sat in parliament).
The Scottish ministers (the Privy Council of Scotland), were not answerable to the Estates of Scotland but to the Scots monarch (which, after the Union of Crowns in 1603, usually meant de facto to the Privy Council of England, which had the opportunity to advise a king or queen resident in London). The Parliament of Scotland was abolished when it merged with the Parliament of England to create the new Parliament of Great Britain, in 1707 under the Acts of Union.
The representation of the burghs and those of the shires and stewartries, by the time of the Union, consisted of 154 Commissioners elected from 99 constituencies.
An election was not held immediately after the Union because the establishment feared a possible landslide victory for the anti-Union Commissioners. Instead 45 Commissioners were hand-picked to represent the whole country (see Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain) as the first MPs from Scotland. 43 of these hand-picked representatives were pro-Union.
From 1708, there were 45 single member constituencies of the Parliament of Great Britain. These constituencies remained unchanged until 1832. All the burghs were grouped into 4- or 5-member districts, apart from Edinburgh. Three pairs of shires were represented in alternate Parliaments.
The names given in the 'Shire or Stewartry' column in the list below were those for the shires and stewartries used in the Parliamentary returns for the Estates of Scotland which met on 6 May 1703, as reported in 1878 (this reporting date is important to note, as the names used are the anglicised ones introduced by the Victorians, and not the names given to the subdivisions of Scotland extant in 1703). In some cases the form of the name is unusual and not consistent with the version commonly accepted. In others the name changed after the Union.
The names used for UK constituencies are those used in The History of Parliament 1754–1790. These may not be exactly the same as those applied in the first half of the 18th century.
Key to categories in the following tables: BC - Burgh constituencies, SC - Shire and Stewartry constituencies, Total C - Total constituencies, BMP - Burgh Members of Parliament, SMP - Shire and Stewartry Members of Parliament.
Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type of constituency
Year | BC | SC | Total C | BMP | SMP | Total MPs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1703 | 66 | 33 | 99 | 67 | 87 | 154 |
1708 | 15 | 30 | 45 | 15 | 30 | 45 |
Table 1: Constituencies and MPs, by type and number of seats
Year | BCx1 | BCx2 | SCx1 | SCx2 | SCx3 | SCx4 | Total C | Total MPs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1703 | 65 | 1 | 3 | 16 | 4 | 10 | 99 | 154 |
1708 | 15 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 45 |
Edinburghshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918.
The Parliament of Scotland was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council of bishops and earls, with the first identifiable parliament being held in 1235 during the reign of Alexander II, when it already possessed a political and judicial role.
Peeblesshire was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) from 1708 until 1868. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
Inverness Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP).
Inverness-shire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1918.
Dysart Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP).
The Scottish representatives to the first Parliament of Great Britain, serving from 1 May 1707 to 26 May 1708, were not elected like their colleagues from England and Wales, but rather hand-picked.
The first Parliament of the Kingdom of Great Britain was established in 1707 after the merger of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. It was in fact the 4th and last session of the 2nd Parliament of Queen Anne suitably renamed: no fresh elections were held in England or in Wales, and the existing members of the House of Commons of England sat as members of the new House of Commons of Great Britain. In Scotland, prior to the union coming into effect, the Scottish Parliament appointed sixteen peers and 45 Members of Parliaments to join their English counterparts at Westminster.
Tain Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832, sometimes known as Northern Burghs. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP).
Kincardineshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP).
Kirkcudbright Stewartry, later known as Kirkcudbright or Kirkcudbrightshire, was a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was represented by one Member of Parliament (MP).
Wigtownshire, was a Scottish constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It was represented by one Member of Parliament.
Perth Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1832, representing a seat for one Member of Parliament (MP)
A commissioner was a legislator appointed or elected to represent a royal burgh or shire in the pre-Union Scottish Parliament and the associated Convention of the Estates. Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy are equivalent terms in other countries.
Kintore in Aberdeenshire was a royal burgh that returned one commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland and to the Convention of Estates.
Nairnshire was a constituency of the Parliament of Scotland before the Union with England in 1707. The barons of the shire or sheriffdom of Nairn elected two commissioners to represent them in the Parliament and in the Convention of Estates.
Before the Act of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Cromarty elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of Estates. After 1708, Cromartyshire and Nairnshire alternated in returning one member to the House of Commons of Great Britain and later to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
Before the Acts of Union 1707, the barons of the shire of Kinross elected commissioners to represent them in the unicameral Parliament of Scotland and in the Convention of the Estates.
Mungo Graham or Graeme (1670–1754), of Gorthy, Perthshire, was a Scottish politician who sat in the Parliament of Scotland from 1702 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons between 1707 and 1711. He was Rector of the University of Glasgow from 1718 to 1720.
James Oswald was a member of the Parliament of Scotland, 1703-1707, representing Kirkcaldy and, later, the member for Dysart Burghs in the House of Commons of Great Britain.