Edinburgh (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh
Edinburgh
	Former Burgh constituency; for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Edinburgh
1708–1885
Number of members	1708–1832: One; 1832–1885: Two
Replaced by	Edinburgh Central; Edinburgh South; Edinburgh East; Edinburgh West
Created from	Edinburgh

Edinburgh was a burgh 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 1885.

Creation

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

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until representation was increased to two members in 1832.[1][2][3][4][5] It was abolished in 1885, being split into Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh East and Edinburgh West.

Boundaries

The boundaries of the constituency, as set out in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832, were-

"From a Point on the Road from Leith to Queensferry which is distant Four hundred Yards (measured along such Road) to the West of the Point at which the same meets the Inverleith Road at the House called Golden Acre, in a straight Line to the North-western Corner of the Enclosure of John Watsons Institution; thence in a straight Line to the Second Stone Bridge, marked No. 2, on the Union Canal; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Western Wall of the Enclosure of the Lunatic Asylum at Morningside meets the Jordan or Pow Burn; thence down the Jordan or Pow Burn to a Point which is distant One hundred and fifty Yards (measured along such Burn) below the Arch over the same on the Carlisle Road; thence in a straight Line to the Summit of Arthur's Seat, thence in a straight Line to the Point at which the Feeder enters the Western Side of Lochend Loch; thence in a straight Line to the Point at which Pilrig Street joins Leith Walk; thence along Pilrig Street and the Bonnington Road to the Point at which the latter meets the Road from Leith to Queensferry; thence along the Road from Leith to Queensferry to the Point first described."[6]

Members of Parliament

MPs 1708–1832

	Member	Party
1708	Sir Samuel McClellan
1709 by-election	Sir Patrick Johnston
1713	Sir James Stewart	Whig
1715	Sir George Warrender
1721 by-election	John Campbell
1734	Paul Lindsay
1741	Archibald Stewart
1747	James Ker
1754	William Alexander
1761	George Lind
1762 by-election	James Coutts
1768	Sir Lawrence Dundas	Whig
1780	William Miller
1781	Sir Lawrence Dundas	Whig
1781 by-election	James Hunter Blair
1784 by-election	Sir Adam Fergusson
1790	Henry Dundas	Tory
1803 by-election	Charles Hope	Tory
1805 by-election	George Abercromby	Whig
1806	Sir Patrick Murray
1812 by-election	William Dundas	Tory[7]
1831	Robert Dundas	Tory[7]

MPs 1832–1885

Under the Representation of the People Act 1832, Edinburgh's representation was increased to two members.

Election	1st Member		1st Party		2nd Party
1832		Francis Jeffrey	Whig[7]	James Abercromby, later Baron Dunfermline	Whig[7]
1834 by-election		Sir John Campbell, later Baron Campbell	Whig[7]	James Abercromby, later Baron Dunfermline	Whig[7]
1839 by-election		Sir John Campbell, later Baron Campbell	Whig[7]	Thomas Babington Macaulay, later Baron Macaulay	Whig[7][8][9][10][11]
1841		Sir William Gibson-Craig	Whig[7][12][13][8][9]	Thomas Babington Macaulay, later Baron Macaulay	Whig[7][8][9][10][11]
1847		Sir William Gibson-Craig	Whig[7][12][13][8][9]	Charles Cowan	Radical[14][11][15][16]
1852		Thomas Babington Macaulay	Whig[7][8][9][10][11]
1856 by-election		Adam Black	Whig[17][18]
1859		Adam Black	Liberal	James Moncreiff, later Baron Moncreiff	Liberal
1865		Duncan McLaren	Liberal	James Moncreiff, later Baron Moncreiff	Liberal
1868				John Miller	Liberal
1874				James Cowan	Liberal
1880
January 1881 by-election		John McLaren	Liberal
August 1881 by-election		Thomas Buchanan	Liberal
1882 by-election		Thomas Buchanan	Liberal	Samuel Danks Waddy	Liberal
1885	constituency divided: see Central, East, South and West divisions

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

By-election, 4 Nov 1882: Edinburgh[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Samuel Danks Waddy	8,455	52.3	−33.8
	Independent Liberal	James Hall Renton[20]	7,718	47.7	New
Majority			737	4.6	−23.9
Turnout			16,173	55.3	−5.9 (est)
Registered electors			29,252
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Caused by Cowan's resignation.

By-election, 24 Aug 1881: Edinburgh[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Buchanan	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Caused by McLaren's appointment as Senator of the College of Justice and elevation to the peerage, becoming Lord McLaren.

By-election, 28 Jan 1881: Edinburgh[19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John McLaren	11,390	74.3	−11.8
	Independent Liberal	Edward Jenkins[21]	3,940	25.7	New
Majority			7,450	48.6	+20.1
Turnout			15,330	53.5	−7.7 (est)
Registered electors			28,644
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Caused by McLaren's resignation.

General election 1880: Edinburgh[22][23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Duncan McLaren	17,807	43.7	+8.1
	Liberal	James Cowan	17,301	42.4	+15.2
	Conservative	John Macdonald	5,651	13.9	−3.9
Majority			11,650	28.5	+20.7
Turnout			17,458 (est)	61.2 (est)	−15.0
Registered electors			28,524
	Liberal hold		Swing	+5.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.6

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Edinburgh[22][23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Duncan McLaren	11,431	35.6	*N/A*
	Liberal	James Cowan	8,749	27.2	*N/A*
	Liberal	John Miller	6,218	19.4	N/A
	Conservative	John Macdonald	5,713	17.8	New
Majority			2,531	7.8	N/A
Turnout			18,912 (est)	76.2 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			24,832
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1860s

General election 1868: Edinburgh [24][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Duncan McLaren	Unopposed
	Liberal	John Miller	Unopposed
Registered electors			20,779
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Edinburgh[22][23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Duncan McLaren	4,354	27.2	*N/A*
	Liberal	James Moncreiff	4,148	25.9	*N/A*
	Liberal	Adam Black	3,797	23.7	N/A
	Liberal	John Miller	3,723	23.2	N/A
Majority			351	2.2	N/A
Turnout			8,011 (est)	77.5 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			10,343
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1850s

By-election, 28 June 1859: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Moncreiff	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Caused by Moncreiff's appointment as Lord Advocate

General election 1859: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Adam Black	Unopposed
	Liberal	James Moncreiff	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,347
	Liberal hold
	Liberal hold

General election 1857: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Adam Black	Unopposed
	Radical	Charles Cowan	Unopposed
Registered electors			8,297
	Whig hold
	Radical hold

By-election, 9 February 1856: February[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Adam Black	2,429	57.6	+30.4
	Peelite	Francis Brown Douglas[25][26][27]	1,786	42.4	+33.3
Majority			643	15.2	+13.5
Turnout			4,215	50.8	−4.4
Registered electors			8,297
	Whig hold		Swing	−1.5

Caused by Macaulay's resignation by accepting the office of Steward of the Manor of Hempholme

General election 1852: Edinburgh[23][28][29][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	1,872	27.2	+4.0
	Radical	Charles Cowan	1,754	25.5	−6.9
	Radical	Duncan McLaren[30]	1,559	22.7	N/A
	Conservative	Thomas Charles Bruce[31]	1,065	15.5	+0.1
	Peelite	Alexander Campbell Cameron[32][33][34]	625	9.1	N/A
Turnout			3,438 (est)	55.2 (est)	+10.4
Registered electors			6,230
Majority			118	1.7	−12.0
	Whig hold		Swing	+5.5
Majority			689	10.0	+6.7
	Radical hold		Swing	−5.5

Elections in the 1840s

By-election, 15 December 1847: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Cowan	Unopposed
	Radical hold

Caused by Cowan's election in 1847 being declared void, due to him being disqualified for holding a government contract at the time of the election

General election 1847: Edinburgh[23][35][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Radical	Charles Cowan	2,063	32.4	*N/A*
	Whig	William Gibson-Craig	1,854	29.1	*N/A*
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	1,477	23.2	N/A
	Conservative	Peter Blackburn	980	15.4	New
Turnout			3,187 (est)	44.8 (est)	N/A
Registered electors			7,114
Majority			209	3.3	N/A
	Radical gain from Whig		Swing	N/A
Majority			874	13.7	N/A
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

By-election, 15 July 1846: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	1,735	67.6	*N/A*
	Whig	Culling Eardley	832	32.4	N/A
Majority			903	35.2	N/A
Turnout			2,567	42.0	N/A
Registered electors			6,118
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

Caused by Macaulay's appointment as Paymaster-General

By-election, 13 July 1846: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	William Gibson-Craig	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Caused by Gibson-Craig's appointment as a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury

General election 1841: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	Unopposed
	Whig	William Gibson-Craig	Unopposed
Registered electors			5,346
	Whig hold
	Whig gain from Speaker

By-election, 23 January 1840: Edinburgh[23][19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Caused by Macaulay's appointment as Secretary at War

Elections in the 1830s

By-election, 4 June 1839: Edinburgh[23][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	Thomas Babington Macaulay	Unopposed
	Whig gain from Speaker

Caused by Abercromby's elevation to the peerage, becoming 1st Baron Dunfermline

General election 1837: Edinburgh[23][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Speaker	James Abercromby	Unopposed
	Whig	John Campbell	Unopposed
Registered electors			9,640
	Speaker gain from Whig
	Whig hold

By-election, 30 April 1835: Edinburgh[23][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	John Campbell	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Caused by Campbell's appointment as Attorney General for England and Wales

General election 1835: Edinburgh[23][36][37][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Abercromby	2,963	32.4	−10.5
	Whig	John Campbell	2,858	31.3	−9.6
	Conservative	James Broun-Ramsay	1,716	18.8	+10.7
	Conservative	John Learmonth	1,608	17.6	+9.5
Majority			1,142	12.5	-12.2
Turnout			4,679	59.5	c. −18.2
Registered electors			7,862
	Whig hold		Swing	−10.3
	Whig hold		Swing	−9.9

By-election, 23 June 1834[23][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Abercromby	Unopposed
	Whig hold

Caused by Abercromby's appointment as Master of the Mint

Edinburgh by-election, 2 June 1834[23][38][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	John Campbell	1,932	50.7	−33.1
	Tory	John Learmonth	1,401	36.7	+20.5
	Radical	James Aytoun	480	12.6	N/A
Majority			531	14.0	−10.7
Turnout			3,813	58.6	c. −19.1
Registered electors			6,512
	Whig hold		Swing	−26.8

Caused by Jeffrey's appointment as a Senator of the College of Justice, and his elevation to Lord Jeffrey

General election 1832: Edinburgh[23][39][19][7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Francis Jeffrey	4,035	42.9	+21.2
	Whig	James Abercromby	3,850	40.9	+19.2
	Tory	Forbes Blair	1,519	16.2	−41.4
Majority			2,331	24.7	N/A
Turnout			c. 4,702	c. 77.7	c. −22.3
Registered electors			6,048
	Whig gain from Tory		Swing	+21.0
	Whig win (new seat)

The Radical candidate, James Aytoun, withdrew in favour of Jeffrey and Abercromby

General election 1831: Edinburgh[40][7][41]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	Robert Dundas	17	51.5
	Whig	Francis Jeffrey	14	42.4
	Tory	William Allan	2	6.1
Majority			3	9.1
Turnout			33	100.0
Registered electors			33
	Tory hold

General election 1830: Edinburgh[40][7][41]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Tory	William Dundas	Unopposed
Registered electors			33
	Tory hold

Elections in the 1820s

General election 1826: Edinburgh[40]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	William Dundas	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

General election 1820: Edinburgh[40]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	William Dundas	25	89.3
	Whig	James Maitland	3	10.7
Majority			22	78.6
Turnout			28
	Tory hold		Swing

References

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Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)

Edinburgh constituencies
Current	Edinburgh East Edinburgh North and Leith Edinburgh South Edinburgh South West Edinburgh West
Historic	Edinburgh (1708–1885) Edinburgh Central (1885-2005) Edinburgh North (1918-1983) Edinburgh Leith (1950–1997) Edinburgh Pentlands (1950–2005) Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (1997–2005)

Scottish Westminster constituencies
1708 to 1832 1832 to 1868 1868 to 1885 1885 to 1918 1918 to 1950 1950 to 1955 1955 to 1974 1974 to 1983 1983 to 1997 1997 to 2005
Current constituencies (2005 to present)
Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Airdrie & Shotts Angus Argyll & Bute Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Banff & Buchan Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross Central Ayrshire Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East Dumfries & Galloway Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Dundee East Dundee West Dunfermline & West Fife East Dunbartonshire East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh East Edinburgh North & Leith Edinburgh South Edinburgh South West Edinburgh West Falkirk Glasgow Central Glasgow East Glasgow North Glasgow North East Glasgow North West Glasgow South Glasgow South West Glenrothes Gordon Inverclyde Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey Kilmarnock & Loudoun Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Lanark & Hamilton East Linlithgow & East Falkirk Livingston Midlothian Moray Motherwell & Wishaw Na h-Eileanan an Iar North Ayrshire & Arran North East Fife Ochil & South Perthshire Orkney & Shetland Paisley & Renfrewshire North Paisley & Renfrewshire South Perth & North Perthshire Ross, Skye & Lochaber Rutherglen & Hamilton West Stirling West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine West Dunbartonshire