Berwick and Haddington (UK Parliament constituency)

Berwick and Haddington was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918, when it replaced the separate Berwickshire and Haddingtonshire constituencies, until it was renamed Berwick and East Lothian for the 1950 general election. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Berwick and Haddington
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of ScotlandBerwickshire, East Lothian
19181950
SeatsOne
Created fromBerwickshire and Haddingtonshire
Replaced byBerwick and East Lothian

The constituency covered the counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian.

Members of Parliament edit

Election Member Party
1918 John Hope Coalition Liberal
1922 Walter Waring National Liberal
1923 Robert Spence Labour
1924 Chichester Crookshank Unionist
1929 George Sinkinson Labour
1931 John McEwen Unionist
1945 John Robertson Labour
1950 constituency abolished

Election results edit

 
Berwickshire constituencies electoral history

Elections in the 1910s edit

 
Tennant
General election 1918: Berwick and Haddington [1][2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C National Liberal John Hope 8,584 53.9
Labour Robert W. Foulis 4,783 30.0
Liberal Harold Tennant 2,557 16.1
Majority 3,801 23.9
Turnout 15,924 48.6
Registered electors 32,763
National Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s edit

 
Walter Waring
 
J.D. Hope
General election 1922: Berwick and Haddington [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Walter Waring 6,342 31.9 -22.0
Labour Robert Spence 5,842 29.3 −0.7
Liberal William Henderson Pringle 4,422 22.2 +6.1
Independent Liberal John Hope 3,300 16.6 N/A
Majority 500 2.6 N/A
Turnout 19,906 60.1 +11.5
Registered electors 33,119
National Liberal gain from Independent Liberal Swing N/A
General election 1923: Berwick and Haddington [5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Robert Spence 8,576 37.0 +7.7
Unionist Chichester Crookshank 8,508 36.7 New
Liberal Walter Waring 6,084 26.3 +4.1
Majority 68 0.3 N/A
Turnout 23,168 69.4 +9.3
Registered electors 33,381
Labour gain from National Liberal Swing +1.8
General election 1924: Berwick and Haddington [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Chichester Crookshank 11,745 45.8 +9.1
Labour Robert Spence 8,882 34.7 −2.3
Liberal William Henderson Pringle 4,986 19.5 −6.8
Majority 2,863 11.1 N/A
Turnout 25,613 75.3 +5.9
Registered electors 34,017
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +5.7
 
Sir James Greig
General election 1929: Berwick and Haddington[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Sinkinson 11,761 37.5 +2.8
Unionist John McEwen 11,435 36.5 -9.3
Liberal James Greig 8,132 26.0 +6.5
Majority 326 1.0 N/A
Turnout 31,328 69.6 −5.7
Registered electors 45,043
Labour gain from Unionist Swing +6.1

Elections in the 1930s edit

General election 1931: Berwick and Haddington[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John McEwen 25,169 73.5 +36.0
Labour George Sinkinson 9,089 26.5 -10.0
Majority 16,080 47.0 N/A
Turnout 34,258 74.8 +5.2
Unionist gain from Labour Swing
General election 1935: Berwick and Haddington [9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John McEwen 19,839 58.1 -15.4
Labour John Robertson 14,299 41.9 +15.4
Majority 5,540 16.2 -30.8
Turnout 34,138 71.9 -2.9
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;

Elections in the 1940s edit

General election 1945: Berwick and Haddington[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Robertson 19,037 54.52
Unionist John McEwen 15,880 45.48
Majority 3,157 9.04
Turnout 34,917 70.51
Labour gain from Unionist Swing

References edit

  1. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  2. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1922
  3. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918–1949, FWS Craig (1983). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
  4. ^ The Times, 17 November 1922
  5. ^ The Times, 8 December 1923
  6. ^ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
  7. ^ The Times, 1 June 1929
  8. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  9. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  10. ^ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
  11. ^ The Liberal Magazine, 1939
  12. ^ Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.