Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1918–1997
Caithness and Sutherland Former County constituencyfor the House of Commons Location of Caithness and Sutherland within Scotland
Subdivisions of Scotland Highland 1918 –1997 Created from Caithness, Sutherland and Wick Burghs Replaced by Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross
Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
The constituency was created by merging the constituencies of Caithness and Sutherland and the Dornoch and Wick components of the Wick Burghs constituency.
In 1997 the constituency was superseded by the creation of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which merged Caithness and Sutherland and the Easter Ross area of Ross, Cromarty and Skye.
Caithness and Sutherland was geographically one of the largest constituencies in the United Kingdom, as well as the most northerly constituency on the mainland (only the island constituency of Orkney and Shetland was further north).
1918 constituency reform The creation of Caithness and Sutherland as a single constituency was a part of a package of boundary reform also affecting many other parts of the United Kingdom. The reform was the first since the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 , and its main aim was to make constituencies more equal in terms of the sizes of their electorates.
Local government areas 1918 to 1975 When created the constituency covered the county of Caithness and the county of Sutherland, including the burghs of Dornoch, Thurso and Wick.
1975 to 1983 In 1975 counties and burghs were abolished and the constituency became an area within the Highland region . The region included two new local government districts, called Caithness and Sutherland . The Caithness district was entirely within the constituency. The Sutherland district had a small area, the Kincardine electoral division, within the Ross and Cromarty constituency.
1983 to 1996 Constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1983, and the Caithness and Sutherland constituency was enlarged to cover the whole of the Sutherland district.
1996 to 1997 In 1996 the districts were abolished and the Highland region became a unitary council area . Throughout the remainder of the life of the constituency the Highland Council had area committees representing the areas of the former districts.
Members of Parliament At the time of the 1918 general election , Sir Leicester Harmsworth had been MP for the constituency of Caithness since the 1900 general election .
In the general election of 1997 , Robert Maclennan was elected MP for the then new constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, a seat he held until retiring from parliament at the 2001 general election .
Election results Election results since 1918 Elections in the 1910s Sir Leicester Harmsworth Elections in the 1920s Elections in the 1930s General election 1935 : Caithness and Sutherland Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Archibald Sinclair 12,071 72.32 N/A National William Bruce 4,621 27.68 New Majority 7,650 44.64 N/A Turnout 16,692 60.06 N/A Liberal hold Swing N/A
Elections in the 1940s Elections in the 1950s General election 1950 : Caithness and Sutherland Party Candidate Votes % ±% Unionist David Robertson 6,969 36.0 +2.5 Liberal Archibald Sinclair 6,700 34.6 +1.5 Labour Alasdair MacArthur 5,676 29.3 -4.1 Majority 269 1.4 +1.4 Turnout 25,021 76.6 +12.4 Unionist hold Swing +3.3
General election 1951 : Caithness and Sutherland Party Candidate Votes % ±% Unionist David Robertson 9,814 49.2 +13.2 Labour Richard Murray 6,799 34.1 +4.8 Liberal Peter J M McEwan 3,299 16.6 -18.0 Majority 3,015 15.14 +14.7 Turnout 19,912 73.26 +3.3 Unionist hold Swing +4.2
General election 1955 : Caithness and Sutherland[3] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Unionist David Robertson 10,453 56.5 +7.3 Labour Hugh F Sutherland 5,364 29.0 -5.1 Liberal John Stuart Mowat 2,674 14.5 -2.1 Majority 5,089 27.5 +12.4 Turnout 18,491 69.5 -3.8 Unionist hold Swing +6.1
Elections in the 1960s Elections in the 1970s General election February 1974 : Caithness and Sutherland[4] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Robert Maclennan 8,574 36.2 -0.5 Liberal Michael R Burnett 6,222 26.2 +0.8 Conservative G Susan Bell 5,104 21.5 -0.8 SNP Eric Alexander Sutherland 3,814 16.1 +0.7 Majority 2,352 10.0 -1.3 Turnout 23,714 83.0 Labour hold Swing -0.7
General election 1979 : Caithness and Sutherland[6] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labour Robert Maclennan 9,613 41.5 +6.2 Conservative Richard H. Wardrop 7,074 30.5 +11.7 SNP Robin R. Shaw 6,487 28.0 +4.1 Majority 2,539 11.0 −0.4 Turnout 23,714 78.4 +0.3 Labour hold Swing −2.7
Elections in the 1980s General election 1983 : Caithness and Sutherland[7] Party Candidate Votes % ±% SDP Robert Maclennan 12,119 52.0 N/A Conservative Alistair M. Scouller 5,276 22.7 −7.8 Labour Danny Carrigan 3,325 14.3 −27.2 SNP Jim Ingram 2,568 11.0 −17.0 Majority 6,843 29.3 N/A Turnout 23,288 75.4 -3.0 SDP gain from Labour Swing
General election 1987 : Caithness and Sutherland[8] Party Candidate Votes % ±% SDP Robert Maclennan 12,338 53.7 +1.7 Conservative Robert Hamilton 3,844 16.7 −6.0 Labour Allan Byron 3,437 14.9 +0.6 SNP Archibal MacGregor 2,371 10.3 −0.7 Independent Liberal William Mowat 686 2.9 New Green Bernard Planterose 333 1.4 New Majority 8,494 37.0 +7.7 Turnout 23,009 73.6 -1.8 SDP hold Swing +3.8
Elections in the 1990s General election 1992 : Caithness and Sutherland[9] Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Democrats Robert Maclennan 10,032 45.1 −8.6 Conservative George Bruce 4,667 20.9 +4.2 SNP Kerr MacGregor 4,049 18.2 +7.9 Labour Michael F. Coyne 3,483 15.6 +0.7 Majority 5,365 24.2 -12.8 Turnout 22,231 72.5 -1.1 Liberal Democrats hold Swing −6.4
References ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1) ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig ^ The Times House of Commons, 1955 ^ British Parliamentary election Results 1974-83 by FWS Craig ^ British Parliamentary election Results 1974-83 by FWS Craig ^ British Parliamentary election Results 1974-83 by FWS Craig ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017 . ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017 . ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus . Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017 . See also Current constituencies (2024)
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