West Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)

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Not to be confused with West Renfrewshire (Scottish Parliament constituency).
West Renfrewshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland Renfrewshire
1997–2005
Number of members One
Replaced by Inverclyde
Paisley & Renfrewshire North
Paisley & Renfrewshire South
1885–1983
Number of members One
Replaced by Renfrew West & Inverclyde
Paisley North
Paisley South

West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005. In 2005 the constituency was abolished and the area is now represented by Inverclyde, Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South.

Boundaries

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the Western division should consist of "the parishes of Inverkip, Greenock, Port Glasgow, Kilmalcolm, Erskine, Inchinnan, Houston, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch, Renfrew, Abbey, Neilston, Beith, and Dunlop".[1]

From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The Lower county District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burgh of Greenock, together with the burgh of Johnstone."

From 1997 to 2005 the constituency consisted of the Renfrew District electoral divisions of Bargarran and Gryffe, and the Inverclyde District electoral division of Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm.

In 1999 with the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament, a Scottish Parliamentary constituency of West Renfrewshire was created with the same name and boundaries as the UK Parliament constituency.

Abolition

Under the Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1983 (SI 1983/422), made under the authority of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, West Renfrewshire was abolished in 1983. The area of the constituency was divided between Renfrew West and Inverclyde, Paisley North and Paisley South.

In 2005, the constituency was again abolished and remains so to the present day. The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 2005 (SI 2005/250) made under the authority of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 divided the former West Renfrewshire constituency amongst the new Inverclyde, Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituencies.

Member of Parliament

MPs 1885–1983

Election Member[2] Party
1885 Sir Archibald Campbell, Bt Unionist
1892 Charles Renshaw Unionist
1906 Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats, Bt Liberal
January 1910 James William Greig Liberal
1922 Robert Murray Labour
1924 Archibald Douglas MacInnes Shaw Unionist
1929 Robert Forgan Labour
1931 Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, later Earl of Dundee Unionist
1945 Thomas Scollan Labour
1950 John Maclay later Viscount Muirshiel National Liberal and Conservative[3][4]
1964 Norman Buchan Labour
1983 constituency abolished

Constituency divided amongst:

MPs 1997–2005

Election Member[2] Party
1997 Tommy Graham Labour then Independent
2001 Jim Sheridan Labour
2005 constituency abolished

Constituency divided amongst:

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Renfrewshire West [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Archibald Campbell 3,618 n/a
Liberal Harry Smith 2,980 n/a
Majority 638 n/a
Turnout n/a
Conservative win
General Election 1886: Renfrewshire West [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Sir Archibald Campbell 3,431
Liberal William Dunn 2,881
Majority 553
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1890s

File:Robert Wallace, Perth.jpg
Robert Wallace
General Election 1892: Renfrewshire West [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Bine Renshaw 3,773
Liberal Robert Wallace 3,322
Majority 451
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1895: Renfrewshire West [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Bine Renshaw 3,909
Liberal Duncan Vernon Pirie 3,397
Majority
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Renfrewshire West [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Charles Bine Renshaw 4,323
Liberal Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats 4,053
Majority 270
Turnout
Conservative hold Swing
General Election 1906: Renfrewshire West [8] 12,079
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats 5,858 56.6
Conservative John Charles Cuninghame 4,490 43.4
Majority 1,368
Turnout
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election Jan 1910: Renfrewshire West [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James William Greig 6,480
Conservative John Charles Cuninghame 5,631
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing
General Election Dec 1910: Renfrewshire West [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James William Greig 6,366
Conservative Henry Mechan 6,082
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

James Greig
General Election 1918: Renfrewshire West [11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal 11,524
Labour Robert Murray 7,126 n/a
Majority
Turnout
Liberal hold Swing n/a
  • endorsed by Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Renfrewshire West [12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Murray 11,787 54.0
National Liberal Sir James William Greig 10,051 46.0
Majority 1,736 8.0
Turnout 21,838
Labour gain from National Liberal Swing
General Election 1923: Renfrewshire West [13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Murray 10,904
Unionist Alexander Thomson Taylor 7,602 n/a
Liberal James Scott 4,149 n/a
Majority
Turnout
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1924: Renfrewshire West [14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Archibald Douglas MacInnes Shaw 13,267
Labour Robert Murray 11,252
Majority
Turnout
Unionist gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1929: Renfrewshire West [15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Forgan 14,419 46.5
Unionist Alexander Thomson Taylor 12,183 39.4
Liberal Francis Sheed Anderson 2,682 8.7 n/a
National (Scotland) Roland Eugene Muirhead 1,667 5.4 n/a
Majority 2,236
Turnout 81.6
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Renfrewshire West[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn 17,318 53.5
Labour Jean Mann 10,203 31.5
National (Scotland) Roland Eugene Muirhead 3,547 11.0
New Party Robert Forgan 1,304 4.0 n/a
Majority 7,115 22.0
Turnout 32,372 83.2
Unionist gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1935: Renfrewshire West [17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn 15,906 49.7
Labour Jean Mann 12,407 38.8
SNP Roland Eugene Muirhead 3,697 11.5
Majority 3,499 10.9
Turnout 32,010 81.2
Unionist hold Swing

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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;

General Election 1945: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Scollan 15,050 48.86
Unionist Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn 13,836 44.86
SNP RB Wilkie 1,995 6.34
Majority 1,214 3.94
Turnout 30,841 70.05
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal John Scott Maclay 20,810 54.03
Labour Thomas Scollan 17,708 45.97
Majority 3,102 8.05
Turnout 38,518 77.42
National Liberal gain from Labour Swing
General Election 1951: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal John Scott Maclay 21,456 53.71
Labour Bruce Millan 18,493 46.29
Majority 2,963 7.42
Turnout 39,949 84.66
National Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1955: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Rt Hon. John Scott Maclay 21,283 55.24
Labour Jesse Dickson Mabon 17,243 44.76
Majority 4,040 10.49
Turnout 38,526 83.02
National Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1959: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Rt Hon. John Scott Maclay 20,959 53.51
Labour Charles Minihan 18,206 46.49
Majority 2,753 7.03
Turnout 39,165 82.64
National Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Findlay Buchan 19,518 46.17
Unionist Roy Pickering Paton 18,507 43.77
Liberal Gavin E McFadyean 4,253 10.06
Majority 1,011 2.39
Turnout 42,278 82.87
Labour gain from National Liberal Swing
General Election 1966: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Findlay Buchan 23,849 54.31
Conservative Roy Pickering Paton 20,060 45.69
Majority 3,789 8.63
Turnout 43,909 81.62
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Findlay Buchan 22,999 48.02
Conservative Alexander MacPherson Fletcher 20,699 43.22
SNP Alan Macartney 4,195 8.76
Majority 2,300 4.80
Turnout 47,893 79.41
Labour hold Swing
General Election February 1974: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Findlay Buchan 22,178 40.25
Conservative J Ross-Harper 19,510 35.41
SNP C Cameron 8,394 15.23
Liberal D Young 5,022 9.11
Majority 2,668 4.84
Turnout 55,104 82.92
Labour hold Swing
General Election October 1974: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Findlay Buchan 20,674 38.49
SNP C Cameron 15,374 28.62
Conservative J Ross-Harper 14,399 26.80
Liberal D Brown 3,271 6.09
Majority 5,300 9.87
Turnout 53,718 80.08
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1979: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Norman Findlay Buchan 28,236 44.47
Conservative W Boyle 19,664 30.97
SNP C Cameron 8,333 13.13
Liberal D Brown 7,256 11.43
Majority 8,572 13.50
Turnout 63,489 81.17
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Graham 19,525 46.6 N/A
SNP Colin McIver Campbell 10,546 26.5 N/A
Conservative Charles J.S. Cormack 7,387 18.6 N/A
Liberal Democrat Bruce J.S. Macpherson 3,045 7.7 N/A
Referendum Shaw T. Lindsay 283 0.7 N/A
Majority 7,979 20.1 N/A
Turnout 39,786 76.0 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Renfrewshire West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Sheridan 15,720 46.9 +0.4
SNP Ms. Carol Puthucheary 7,145 21.3 −5.2
Conservative David John Sharpe 5,522 16.5 −2.1
Liberal Democrat Miss Clare Alison Hamblen 4,185 12.5 +4.8
Scottish Socialist Ms. Arlene Nunnery 925 2.8 N/A
Majority 8,575 25.6
Turnout 33,497 63.3 −12.7
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule, Part II
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)[self-published source][better source needed]
  3. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-viscount-muirshiel-1541565.html
  4. ↑ http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/history/whisp/whisp-00/wh49-03.htm
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
  6. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  8. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  10. ↑ Daily Record 26 Dec 1914
  11. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  12. ↑ The Times, 17 November 1922
  13. ↑ The Times, 8 December 1923
  14. ↑ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
  15. ↑ The Times, 1 June 1929
  16. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  17. ↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  18. ↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
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