Peebles and Southern Midlothian was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) from 1918 to 1950. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
| Peebles and Southern Midlothian | |
|---|---|
| Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
| 1918–1950 | |
| Seats | One |
| Created from | Peebles & Selkirk Midlothian |
| Replaced by | Midlothian & Peeblesshire |
Boundaries edit
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The Peebles and Southern Midlothian constituency was described in the Representation of the People Act 1918 as comprising:
- The county of Peebles with all the burghs situated therein, and the Gala Water and Lasswade County Districts of Midlothian (except that part of the latter district which is included in the Northern Division) with all burghs situated therein except the burghs of Leith and Musselburgh.
Until 1918 the area of the constituency was, at least nominally, partly within the Peebles and Selkirk constituency and partly within the Midlothian constituency.
When the constituency was abolished in 1950 the Midlothian and Peeblesshire constituency was created.
Members of Parliament edit
| Election | Member [1] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1918 | Sir Donald Maclean Previously MP for Peebles and Selkirk |
Liberal | |
| 1922 | Joseph Westwood | Labour | |
| 1923 | |||
| 1924 | |||
| 1929 | |||
| 1931 | Archibald Maule Ramsay Interned under Defence Regulation 18B in 1940 on suspicion of being a Nazi sympathiser |
Unionist | |
| 1935 | |||
| 1945 | David Pryde Subsequently member for Midlothian and Peebles |
Labour | |
| 1950 | constituency abolished | ||
Election results edit
Elections in the 1910s edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Donald Maclean | 7,429 | 60.6 | ||
| Labour | James Gold | 4,830 | 39.4 | ||
| Majority | 2,599 | 21.2 | |||
| Turnout | 12,259 | 52.6 | |||
| Liberal win | |||||
Elections in the 1920s edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Joseph Westwood | 6,394 | 36.0 | -3.4 | |
| Unionist | Archibald Crawford | 5,992 | 33.7 | New | |
| Liberal | Donald Maclean | 5,377 | 30.3 | -30.3 | |
| Majority | 402 | 2.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 17,723 | 75.7 | +23.1 | ||
| Labour gain from Liberal | Swing | n/a | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Joseph Westwood | 7,882 | 43.0 | +7.0 | |
| Unionist | Archibald Crawford | 6,203 | 33.8 | +0.1 | |
| Liberal | William Mitchell | 4,245 | 23.2 | -7.1 | |
| Majority | 1,679 | 9.2 | +6.9 | ||
| Turnout | 18,330 | 76.9 | +1.2 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +3.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Joseph Westwood | 7,797 | 40.8 | -2.2 | |
| Unionist | Charles Baillie-Hamilton | 6,723 | 35.3 | +1.5 | |
| Liberal | William Mitchell | 4,550 | 23.9 | +0.7 | |
| Majority | 1,074 | 5.5 | -3.7 | ||
| Turnout | 19,070 | 78.8 | +1.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -1.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Joseph Westwood | 11,161 | 45.5 | +4.7 | |
| Unionist | Hylton Murray-Philipson | 7,736 | 31.5 | -3.8 | |
| Liberal | James McGowan | 5,648 | 23.0 | -0.9 | |
| Majority | 3,425 | 14.0 | +8.5 | ||
| Turnout | 24,545 | 75.7 | -3.1 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +4.2 | |||
Elections in the 1930s edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Archibald Maule Ramsay | 17,435 | 65.5 | +34.0 | |
| Labour | Joseph Westwood | 9,185 | 34.5 | -11.0 | |
| Majority | 8,250 | 31.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 26,620 | 79.7 | +4.0 | ||
| Unionist gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Archibald Maule Ramsay | 13,671 | 52.8 | -12.7 | |
| Labour | David Pryde | 12,209 | 47.2 | +12.7 | |
| Majority | 1,462 | 5.6 | -25.4 | ||
| Turnout | 25,880 | 74.9 | -4.8 | ||
| Unionist hold | Swing | ||||
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;
- Unionist:
- Labour: David Pryde[9]
Elections in the 1940s edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | David Pryde | 15,546 | 55.7 | +8.5 | |
| Unionist | James Latham McDiarmid Clyde | 9,050 | 32.4 | -20.4 | |
| Liberal | Leonard Gellatly | 3,299 | 11.8 | New | |
| Majority | 6,496 | 23.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 27,895 | 73.7 | -1.2 | ||
| Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | ||||
References edit
- ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 1)
- ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
- ^ The Times, 17 November 1922
- ^ The Times, 8 December 1923
- ^ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
- ^ The Times, 1 June 1929
- ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
- ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
- ^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
- ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig