Midlothian (UK Parliament constituency) (1708–1918)

Edinburghshire (also known as Midlothian) was a 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.

Boundaries

As first used, in 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 1832–33 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]

Members of Parliament

Election results

1880s

General Election 1880: Midlothian ^[2]

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 ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Gladstone

General Election 1885: Midlothian ^[4][5]

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 ^[5][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General Election 1886: Midlothian ^[5][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

1890s

Wauchope

General Election 1892: Midlothian ^[6][5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	5,845	53.1	N/A
	Conservative	Andrew Wauchope	5,155	46.9	N/A
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^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	William Ewart Gladstone	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Gibson-Carmichael

General Election 1895: Midlothian ^[7][5]

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 ^[7][5]

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

Dalmeny

General Election 1906: Midlothian ^[8][5]

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

Elibank

General Election January 1910: Midlothian ^[9][5]

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 ^[9][5]

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

Shaw

Midlothian by-election, 1912 ^[9][5]

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	N/A
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)