East Perthshire (UK Parliament constituency)

East (or Eastern) Perthshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

Eastern Perthshire
Former County constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of ScotlandPerthshire
1885–1918
Number of membersOne
Replaced byPerth
Created fromPerthshire

Boundaries

The constituency was defined by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, by dividing the Perthshire constituency to form two new constituencies which were first used in the 1885 general election. The other new constituency was West Perthshire. Together with the burgh constituency of Perth, which was unaltered, these constituencies covered the county of Perth, except that five detached parishes had been merged into the Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire constituency by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832.[1]

As defined in the 1885 Act, the constituency consisted of the "Parishes of Aberdalgie, Alyth, Abernyte, Auchtergaven, Arngask, Abernethy, Blairgowrie, Bendochy, Coupar Angus, Cargill, Caputh (except the detached portions locally situated in Forfarshire), Collace, Clunie, Dunbarney, Dunning, the detached portion of the parish of Dunkeld and Dowally which contains the town of Dunkeld, Dron, Errol, Fowlis-Easter, Forteviot, Forgandenny, Findogask, Inchture, so much of the parish of Kettins as is locally situate in Perthshire, Kinloch, Kinfauns, Kinclaven, Kinnaird, Kinnoull, Kilspindie, Lethendy, Longforgan (including so much of the parish of ‘Liff, Benvie, and Invergowrie’ as is situate in Perthshire), Meigle, Methven, Moneydie, Perth, Redgorton, Tibbermore, Rattray, Rhynd, Scone, St. Martins, and St Madoes." [2]

1885 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1886, 1892, 1895, 1900, 1906, January 1910 and December 1910.

By 1918, throughout most of Scotland, county boundaries had been altered, and detached parishes were generally historic. The Representation of the People Act 1918 took account of new local government boundaries and grouped the county of Perth with the county of Kinross for parliamentary representation purposes. Therefore, for the 1918 general election, the two counties were covered by the Perth constituency, which was now a county constituency, entirely within the county of Perth, and the Kinross and West Perthshire constituency, which covered the county of Kinross and part of the county of Perth.[1]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[3]Party
1885 Robert Stewart Menzies Liberal
1889 b-e Sir John Kinloch Liberal
1903 b-e Thomas Buchanan Liberal
Jan. 1910 William Young Liberal
1918 constituency abolished

Elections
Decades:

Elections in the 1880s
1885 general election: East Perthshire [4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Stewart Menzies 4,222 63.6
Conservative Andrew Murray 2,421 36.4
Majority 1,801 27.2
Turnout 6,643 84.6
Registered electors 7,851
Liberal win (new seat)
1886 general election: East Perthshire [4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Robert Stewart Menzies 3,504 61.5 -2.1
Liberal Unionist John Robert Holland 2,195 38.5 +2.1
Majority 1,309 23.0 -4.2
Turnout 5,699 72.6 -12.0
Registered electors 7,851
Liberal hold Swing -2.1

Menzies' death caused a by-election.

Kinloch
1889 East Perthshire by-election [6][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Kinloch 4,005 63.6 +2.1
Conservative William Lindsay Boase 2,289 36.4 -2.1
Majority 1,716 27.2 +4.2
Turnout 6,294 80.8 +8.2
Registered electors 7,790
Liberal hold Swing +2.1

Elections in the 1890s
1892 general election: East Perthshire [6][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Kinloch 3,533 58.7 −2.8
Conservative William Lindsay Boase 2,484 41.3 +2.8
Majority 1,049 17.4 −5.6
Turnout 6,017 79.3 +6.7
Registered electors 7,585
Liberal hold Swing −2.8
1895 general election: East Perthshire [7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Kinloch 3,410 57.4 -1.3
Conservative William Lindsay Boase 2,535 42.6 +1.3
Majority 875 14.8 -2.6
Turnout 5,945 77.8 -1.5
Registered electors 7,641
Liberal hold Swing -1.3

Elections in the 1900s
1900 general election: East Perthshire [7][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Kinloch 3,185 59.8 +2.4
Conservative John Graham Stewart 2,143 40.2 -2.4
Majority 1,042 19.6 +4.8
Turnout 5,328 71.4 -6.4
Registered electors 7,463
Liberal hold Swing +2.4
Buchanan
1903 East Perthshire by-election[8][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Buchanan Unopposed
Liberal hold
1906 general election: East Perthshire [9][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Buchanan 3,738 58.5 −1.3
Conservative John Stewart-Murray 2,648 41.5 +1.3
Majority 1,090 17.0 −2.6
Turnout 6,386 81.6 +10.2
Registered electors 7,825
Liberal hold Swing −1.3

Elections in the 1910s
Young
January 1910 general election: East Perthshire [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Young 3,884 59.0 +0.5
Conservative Alexander David Murray 2,703 41.0 -0.5
Majority 1,181 18.0 +1.0
Turnout 6,587 83.4 -3.2
Liberal hold Swing +0.5
December 1910 general election: East Perthshire [10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal William Young 3,658 56.4 -2.6
Conservative Noel Skelton 2,826 43.6 +2.6
Majority 832 12.8 -5.2
Turnout 6,484 80.2 -3.2
Liberal hold Swing -2.6

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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

Notes and references
  1. Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig 1972
  2. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "P" (part 1)
  4. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
  5. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  6. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
  7. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  8. The Times, 27 February 1903 p8
  9. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  10. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  11. Perthshire Advertiser 17 Jun 1914
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