Banffshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Banffshire was a constituency of the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800, and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Banffshire
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Banffshire
1708–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Banffshire
Replaced by	Moray Banff & Buchan

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 Banffshire.^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]}

History

The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system until 1983 when it was split and merged into Moray and Banff and Buchan.

The constituency covered the county of Banffshire, Scotland, but until 1918 the county town of Banff and the burgh of Cullen were represented as part of Elgin Burghs.

Members of Parliament

Election [6]		Member [7]	Party
	1707	John Murray
	1708	Alexander Abercromby
	1727	William Duff, later 1st Earl Fife
	1734	James Abercromby
	1754	James Duff, later 2nd Earl Fife
	1784	Sir James Duff
	1789 by-election	James Ferguson	Tory
	1790	Sir James Grant, Bt	Tory
	1795 by-election	David McDowall-Grant
	1796	Sir William Grant	Whig
	1812	Robert Abercromby
	1818	James Duff	Whig[8]
	1827 by-election	John Morison	Tory[9]
	1832	George Ferguson	Tory[9]
	1834		Conservative
	1837	James Duff, later 5th Earl Fife	Whig[9][10][11][12]
	1857 by-election	Lachlan Gordon-Duff	Whig
	1859		Liberal
	1861 by-election	Robert Duff	Liberal
	1893 by-election	Sir William Wedderburn	Liberal
	1900	Alexander William Black	Liberal
	1907 by-election	Walter Waring	Liberal
	1918	Charles Barrie, later Baron Abertay	Liberal
	1924	William Templeton	Unionist
	1929	Sir Murdoch McKenzie Wood	Liberal
	1935	Sir Edmund Findlay	Unionist
	1945	Sir William Duthie	Unionist
	1964	Wilfred Baker	Conservative
	Feb 1974	Hamish Watt	SNP
	1979	David Myles	Conservative
	1983	constituency abolished: see Banff & Buchan and Moray

Election results

Banff election results

Decades:

1840s 1850s 1860s 1870s 1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s

Elections in the 1830s

General election 1830: Banffshire^[9][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Morison	Unopposed
Registered electors			49
	Tory gain from Whig

General election 1831: Banffshire^[9][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Tory	John Morison	20	60.6
	Tory	George Ferguson	13	39.4
Majority			7	21.2
Turnout			33	c. 67.3
Registered electors			c. 49
	Tory hold

General election 1832: Banffshire^[9][14][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Tory	George Ferguson	295	69.7	−30.3
	Whig	Thomas Gordon	128	30.3	New
Majority			167	39.4	+18.2
Turnout			423	84.9	c. +17.6
Registered electors			498
	Tory hold		Swing	+30.3

General election 1835: Banffshire^[9][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	George Ferguson	Unopposed
Registered electors			525
	Conservative hold

General election 1837: Banffshire^[9][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Whig	James Duff	292	57.7
	Conservative	George Ferguson	214	42.3
Majority			78	15.4
Turnout			506	73.9
Registered electors			685
	Whig gain from Conservative

Elections in the 1840s

General election 1841: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Duff	316	53.7	−4.0
	Conservative	John Ogilvy-Grant	273	46.3	+4.0
Majority			43	7.4	−8.0
Turnout			589	82.1	+8.2
Registered electors			717
	Whig hold		Swing	−4.0

General election 1847: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			833
	Whig hold

Elections in the 1850s

General election 1852: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Duff	327	52.1	N/A
	Conservative	Hay Macdowall-Grant[15]	301	47.9	New
Majority			26	4.2	N/A
Turnout			628	77.2	N/A
Registered electors			813
	Whig hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1857: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	James Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			927
	Whig hold

Duff resigned by accepting the office of Steward of the Manor of Hempholme, causing a by-election.

By-election, 30 June 1857: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Whig	Lachlan Gordon	Unopposed
	Whig hold

General election 1859: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Lachlan Gordon-Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			905
	Liberal hold

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1860s

Duff's resignation caused a by-election.

By-election, 1 May 1861: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1865: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			1,062
	Liberal hold

General election 1868: Banffshire^[16][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,291
	Liberal hold

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1870s

General election 1874: Banffshire^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,418
	Liberal hold

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1880: Banffshire^[17][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,649
	Liberal hold

Duff was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 19 Jun 1882: Banffshire^[17][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
Registered electors			2,649
	Liberal hold

General election 1885: Banffshire^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	3,740	65.1	N/A
	Conservative	Moir Stormonth-Darling	2,008	34.9	New
Majority			1,732	30.2	N/A
Turnout			5,748	81.9	N/A
Registered electors			7,018
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Duff was appointed Civil Lord of the Admiralty, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 13 Feb 1886: Banffshire^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1886: Banffshire^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	2,583	64.9	−0.2
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Grant	1,394	35.1	+0.2
Majority			1,189	29.8	−0.4
Turnout			3,977	56.7	−25.2
Registered electors			7,018
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.2

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1890s

Robert Duff

General election 1892: Banffshire^[19][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Duff	2,293	61.7	−3.2
	Ind. Conservative	Maltman Barry	1,424	38.3	New
Majority			869	23.4	−6.4
Turnout			3,717	51.7	−5.0
Registered electors			7,185
	Liberal hold		Swing	−3.2

W. Wedderburn

1893 Banffshire by-election^[20][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Wedderburn	3,166	56.9	−4.8
	Conservative	James Grant	2,395	43.1	New
Majority			771	13.8	−9.6
Turnout			5,561	76.8	+25.1
Registered electors			7,241
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.8

General election 1895: Banffshire^[21][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Wedderburn	2,977	54.7	−7.0
	Conservative	James Grant	2,467	45.3	N/A
Majority			510	9.4	−14.0
Turnout			5,444	72.4	+20.7
Registered electors			7,520
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.0

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1900s

Alexander Black

General election 1900: Banffshire^[21][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander William Black	2,768	52.8	−1.9
	Liberal Unionist	George Watt (1854–1940)	2,470	47.2	+1.9
Majority			298	5.6	−3.8
Turnout			5,238	64.2	−8.2
Registered electors			8,156
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.9

General election 1906: Banffshire^[22][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander William Black	4,101	68.3	+15.5
	Conservative	James Grant	1,901	31.7	−15.5
Majority			2,200	36.6	+31.0
Turnout			6,002	73.9	+9.7
Registered electors			8,118
	Liberal hold		Swing	+15.5

Walter Waring

1907 Banffshire by-election^[23][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Waring	3,901	67.3	−1.0
	Conservative	William Whitelaw	1,892	32.7	+1.0
Majority			2,009	34.6	−2.0
Turnout			5,793	70.8	−3.1
Registered electors			8,179
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.0

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Banffshire^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Waring	4,066	66.4	−1.9
	Conservative	James Crabb Watt	2,053	33.6	+1.9
Majority			2,013	32.8	−3.8
Turnout			6,119	74.8	+0.9
Registered electors			8,181
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.9

General election December 1910: Banffshire^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Waring	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Walter Waring
• Unionist: Edward Archibald Hume

Charles Barrie

General election 1918: Banffshire^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Charles Barrie	Unopposed
	Liberal hold
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Banffshire^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Barrie	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1923: Banffshire^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Barrie	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election 1924: Banffshire^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Templeton	6,829	42.7	New
	Liberal	Charles Barrie	5,426	34.0	N/A
	Labour	A W Groundwater	3,722	23.3	New
Majority			403	8.7	N/A
Turnout			15,977		N/A
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

General election 1929: Banffshire^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Murdoch McKenzie Wood	9,278	44.3	+10.3
	Unionist	William Templeton	6,720	32.0	−10.7
	Labour	Alasdair Alpin MacGregor	4,982	23.7	+0.4
Majority			2,558	12.3	N/A
Turnout			20,980
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+10.5

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Banffshire^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Murdoch McKenzie Wood	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1935: Banffshire^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Edmund Findlay	11,771	51.3	New
	Liberal	Murdoch McKenzie Wood	11,168	48.7	N/A
Majority			603	2.6	N/A
Turnout			22,939	70.5	N/A
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

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: William Lindsay
• Liberal: Murdoch McKenzie Wood^[32]
• Labour: George A Mair^[33]

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Banffshire^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Duthie	10,689	49.45
	Liberal	Ian Alistair Duncan Millar	6,401	29.62
	Labour	D. Macpherson	4,524	20.93	New
Majority			4,288	19.83
Turnout			21,614
	Unionist hold		Swing

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Banffshire^[35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Duthie	13,952	58.15
	Labour	J. Brown	6,303	26.27
	Liberal	Gordon Lethem	3,739	15.58
Majority			7,649	31.88
Turnout			23,994
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1951: Banffshire^[36]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Duthie	16,562	70.87
	Labour	Alexander Flett	6,806	29.13
Majority			9,756	41.74
Turnout			23,368
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1955: Banffshire^[37]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Duthie	14,643	69.80
	Labour	William Paterson	6,337	30.20
Majority			8,306	39.60
Turnout			20,980
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1959: Banffshire^[38]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	William Duthie	14,359	70.56
	Labour	Robert W. Irvine	5,992	29.44
Majority			8,367	41.12
Turnout			20,351
	Unionist hold		Swing

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Banffshire^[39]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	9,995	47.77
	Labour	Henry Dickson	5,574	26.64
	Liberal	Thomas Alexander Macnair	5,354	25.59	New
Majority			4,421	21.13
Turnout			20,923
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1966: Banffshire^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	8,139	41.4	−6.4
	Liberal	Basil Wishart	6,762	34.4	+8.8
	Labour	Robert Middleton	4,775	24.3	−2.3
Majority			1,377	7.0	−14.1
Turnout			19,676
	Conservative hold		Swing

Back to Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Banffshire^[40]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	8,457	38.7	−2.7
	SNP	Hamish Watt	5,006	22.9	New
	Liberal	Ronnie Fraser	4,589	21.0	−13.4
	Labour	Andrew F. Walls	3,795	17.4	−6.9
Majority			3,451	15.8	+7.8
Turnout			21,847
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: Banffshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Hamish Watt	11,037	46.1	+23.2
	Conservative	Wilfred Baker	8,252	34.5	−4.2
	Liberal	Ronnie Fraser	3,121	13.0	−8.0
	Labour	R. Dool	1,528	6.4	−11.0
Majority			2,785	11.6	N/A
Turnout			23,938	75.7
	SNP gain from Conservative		Swing	+13.7

General election October 1974: Banffshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Hamish Watt	10,638	45.9	−0.2
	Conservative	J.S. Gordon	8,797	37.9	+3.4
	Liberal	C. McLeod	2,059	8.9	−4.1
	Labour	A.W.M. Porteous	1,700	7.3	+0.9
Majority			1,851	8.0	−3.6
Turnout			23,194	72.5	−3.2
	SNP hold		Swing	−1.8

General election 1979: Banffshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Fairlie Myles	10,580	44.6	+6.7
	SNP	Hamish Watt	9,781	41.2	−4.7
	Labour	Robert E. Duncan	3,381	14.2	+6.9
Majority			799	3.4	N/A
Turnout			23,742	72.4	−0.1
	Conservative gain from SNP		Swing	+5.7

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References

1. "Banffshire". History of Parliament Online (1690–1715). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
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20. The Times, 17 March 1893
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22. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
23. The Times, 19 Feb 1907
24. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
25. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
26. The Times, 17 November 1922
27. The Times, 8 December 1923
28. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
29. The Times, 1 June 1929
30. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
31. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
32. The Liberal Magazine, 1939
33. Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939
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38. Whitaker's Almanack, 1963
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