Midlothian (UK Parliament constituency, 1708–1918)

Edinburghshire
Edinburghshire
Former County constituency; for the House of Commons
1708–1918
Seats	One
Created from	Edinburghshire
Replaced by	Midlothian & Peebles Northern; Peebles & Southern Midlothian

Edinburghshire (also known as Midlothian) was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain (at Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 to 1918.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

The seat is most famous as the location of William Ewart Gladstone's upset victory in the Midlothian Campaign of 1880, regarded as the birth of the modern political campaign in the United Kingdom. After Gladstone's victory it became the first non-English constituency to be represented by a serving prime minister.

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Edinburghshire.

Boundaries

As first used, in the 1708 general election of the Parliament of Great Britain, the constituency covered the county of Edinburgh, except the burgh of Edinburgh, which was covered by the Edinburgh burgh constituency. 1708 boundaries were used also for all subsequent elections of that parliament.

In 1801 the Parliament of Ireland was merged with the Parliament of Great Britain to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom . The first general election of the new parliament was the general election of 1802. There was no change to the boundaries of any pre-existing Westminster constituency, and 1802 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1806, 1807, 1812, 1818, 1820, 1826, 1830 and 1831.

For the 1832 general election, as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1832, the constituency was redefined. The boundaries of counties and burghs for parliamentary purposes ceased to be necessarily those for other purposes, but nominally the Edinburghshire constituency consisted of the county of Edinburgh minus the burghs of Edinburgh, Leith, Portobello, and Musselburgh. Edinburgh was again covered by the Edinburgh constituency, and Leith, Portobello and Musselburgh were covered by the Leith Burghs constituency.

1832 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1835, 1837, 1841, 1847, 1852, 1857, 1859, 1865, 1874, 1880, 1886, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1906, January 1910 and December 1910.

For the 1918 general election, as a result of the Representation of the People Act 1918, the area of the Edinburghshire constituency was mostly divided between the Midlothian and Peebles Northern and Peebles and Southern Midlothian constituencies. By this date, the county of Edinburgh had been renamed as the county of Midlothian.

The Midlothian and Peebles Northern constituency consisted of the Calder and Suburban districts and part of the Lasswade district of the county of Midlothian, and the Peebles and Southern constituency consisted of the county of Peebles, the Gala Water district and part of the Lasswade district of county of Midlothian, and the burghs of Bonnyrigg, Lasswade, and Penicuik in county of Midlothian.^[1]

The rest of the county of Midlothian was covered by the Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh North, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh West and Leith constituencies.^[1]

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system. There were 56 voters in 1708, 68 in 1710,^[2] about 80 between 1715 and 1754,^[3] 84 in 1764, 104 in 1774, 93 in 1788,^[4] 95 in 1790 rising to 123 in 1811,^[5] 174 in 1820, 168 in 1826 and 165 in 1830.^[6] The seat was redefined for the 1832 general election and replaced for the 1918 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1708	George Lockhart	Tory
	1715	John Baird
	1722	Robert Dundas
	1737	Sir Charles Gilmour
	1751	Robert Balfour-Ramsay
	1754	Robert Dundas	Whig
	1761	Sir Alexander Gilmour
	1774	Henry Dundas	Tory
	1790	Robert Dundas	Tory
	1801	Robert Saunders-Dundas	Tory
	1811	Sir George Clerk, Bt	Tory^[7]
	1832	Sir John Dalrymple, Bt	Whig^[7]
	1835	Sir George Clerk, Bt	Conservative^[7]
	1837	William Gibson-Craig	Whig^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]
	1841	William Ramsay	Conservative^[7]
	1845	Sir John Hope, 11th Baronet	Conservative
	1853	The Earl of Dalkeith	Conservative
	1868	Sir Alexander Ramsay-Gibson-Maitland	Liberal
	1874	The Earl of Dalkeith	Conservative
	1880	William Ewart Gladstone	Liberal
	1895	Sir Thomas Gibson-Carmichael	Liberal
	1900	The Master of Elibank	Liberal
	1906	Lord Dalmeny	Liberal
	1910	The Master of Elibank	Liberal
	1912	John Hope	Unionist
1918		constituency abolished

Election results

1830s

General election 1830: Midlothian^[7]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	George Clerk	Unopposed
Registered electors			165
	Tory hold

General election 1831: Midlothian^[7]^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	George Clerk	Unopposed
Registered electors			165
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Midlothian^[7]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Dalrymple	601	52.9
	Tory	George Clerk	536	47.1
Majority			65	5.8
Turnout			1,137	87.6
Registered electors			1,298
	Whig gain from Tory

General election 1835: Midlothian^[7]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Clerk	565	51.4	+4.3
	Whig	William Gibson-Craig	534	48.6	−4.3
Majority			31	2.8	N/A
Turnout			1,099	79.9	−7.7
Registered electors			1,376
	Conservative gain from Whig		Swing	+4.3

General election 1837: Midlothian^[7]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Gibson-Craig	703	51.5	+2.9
	Conservative	George Clerk	661	48.5	−2.9
Majority			42	3.0	N/A
Turnout			1,364	81.1	+1.2
Registered electors			1,682
	Whig gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.9

1840s

General election 1841: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Ramsay	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,315
	Conservative gain from Whig

Ramsay resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.

By-election, 25 June 1845: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Hope	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1847: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Hope	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,185
	Conservative hold

1850s

General election 1852: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	John Hope	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,017
	Conservative hold

Hope's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 25 June 1853: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1857: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,960
	Conservative hold

General election 1859: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,974
	Conservative hold

1860s

General election 1865: Midlothian^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,656
	Conservative hold

General election 1868: Midlothian ^[14]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Ramsay-Gibson-Maitland	1,146	55.9	*New*
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	905	44.1	N/A
Majority			241	11.8	N/A
Turnout			2,051	82.4	N/A
Registered electors			2,489
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

1870s

General election 1874: Midlothian ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	1,194	53.0	+8.9
	Liberal	William Hay	1,059	47.0	-8.9
Majority			135	6.0	N/A
Turnout			2,253	84.3	+1.9
Registered electors			2,672
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

1880s

General election 1880: Midlothian ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	1,579	53.6	+6.6
	Conservative	William Montagu Douglas Scott	1,368	46.4	−6.6
Majority			211	7.2	N/A
Turnout			2,947	90.4	+6.1
Registered electors			3,260
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+6.6

Gladstone's appointment as Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer required a by-election.

By-election, 10 May 1880: Midlothian ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1885: Midlothian ^[15]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	7,879	70.8	+17.2
	Conservative	Charles Dalrymple	3,248	29.2	−17.2
Majority			4,631	41.6	+34.4
Turnout			11,127	86.1	−4.3
Registered electors			12,924
	Liberal hold		Swing	+17.2

Gladstone's appointment as Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer required a by-election.

By-election, 10 Feb 1886: Midlothian ^[16]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: Midlothian ^[16]^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

1890s

General election 1892: Midlothian ^[17]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	5,845	53.1	*N/A*
	Conservative	Andrew Wauchope	5,155	46.9	New
Majority			690	6.2	N/A
Turnout			11,000	83.1	N/A
Registered electors			13,234
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Gladstone's appointment as Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Lord Privy Seal required a by-election.

By-election, 24 Aug 1892: Midlothian^[16]^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1895: Midlothian ^[18]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Gibson-Carmichael	6,090	52.0	−1.1
	Liberal Unionist	North de Coigny Dalrymple-Hamilton	5,631	48.0	+1.1
Majority			459	4.0	−2.2
Turnout			11,721	85.2	+2.1
Registered electors			13,750
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.1

1900s

General election 1900: Midlothian ^[18]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Murray	5,804	51.4	−0.6
	Liberal Unionist	North de Coigny Dalrymple-Hamilton	5,490	48.6	+0.6
Majority			314	2.8	−1.2
Turnout			11,294	80.7	−4.5
Registered electors			13,991
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.6

General election 1906: Midlothian ^[19]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Harry Primrose	8,348	61.9	+10.5
	Conservative	Frank J. Usher	5,131	38.1	−10.5
Majority			3,217	23.8	+21.0
Turnout			13,479	85.8	+5.1
Registered electors			15,711
	Liberal hold		Swing	+10.5

1910s

General election January 1910: Midlothian ^[20]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Murray	9,062	62.5	+0.6
	Conservative	Mountstuart Elphinstone	5,427	37.5	−0.6
Majority			3,635	25.0	+1.2
Turnout			14,489	84.5	−1.3
Registered electors			17,141
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.6

General election December 1910: Midlothian ^[20]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Murray	8,837	60.9	−1.6
	Conservative	John Hope	5,680	39.1	+1.6
Majority			3,157	21.8	−3.2
Turnout			14,517	82.3	−2.2
Registered electors			17,639
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.6

1912 Midlothian by-election^[20]^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Hope	6,021	41.8	+2.7
	Liberal	Alexander Shaw	5,989	41.5	−19.4
	Labour	Robert Brown	2,413	16.7	New
Majority			32	0.3	N/A
Turnout			14,423	80.8	−1.5
Registered electors			17,847
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+11.1

Notes and references

Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "M" (part 2)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Vacant since 1876 Title last held by Buckinghamshire	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1880–1885	Vacant until 1902 Title next held by Manchester East
	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1 February – 20 July 1886
	Constituency represented by the prime minister 1892–1895

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