West Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with West Renfrewshire (Scottish Parliament constituency).

West Renfrewshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Renfrewshire
1997–2005
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Inverclyde Paisley & Renfrewshire North Paisley & Renfrewshire South
1885–1983
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Renfrew West & Inverclyde Paisley North Paisley South

West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005. In 2005 the constituency was abolished and the area is now represented by Inverclyde, Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South.

Boundaries

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the Western division should consist of "the parishes of Inverkip, Greenock, Port Glasgow, Kilmalcolm, Erskine, Inchinnan, Houston, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch, Renfrew, Abbey, Neilston, Beith, and Dunlop".^[1]

From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The Lower county District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burgh of Greenock, together with the burgh of Johnstone."

From 1997 to 2005 the constituency consisted of the Renfrew District electoral divisions of Bargarran and Gryffe, and the Inverclyde District electoral division of Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm.

In 1999 with the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament, a Scottish Parliamentary constituency of West Renfrewshire was created with the same name and boundaries as the UK Parliament constituency.

Abolition

Under the Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1983 (SI 1983/422), made under the authority of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, West Renfrewshire was abolished in 1983. The area of the constituency was divided between Renfrew West and Inverclyde, Paisley North and Paisley South.

In 2005, the constituency was again abolished and remains so to the present day. The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 2005 (SI 2005/250) made under the authority of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 divided the former West Renfrewshire constituency amongst the new Inverclyde, Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituencies.

Member of Parliament

MPs 1885–1983

Election		Member^[2]	Party
	1885	Sir Archibald Campbell, Bt	Unionist
	1892	Charles Renshaw	Unionist
	1906	Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats, Bt	Liberal
	January 1910	James William Greig	Liberal
	1922	Robert Murray	Labour
	1924	Archibald Douglas MacInnes Shaw	Unionist
	1929	Robert Forgan	Labour
	1931	Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, later Earl of Dundee	Unionist
	1945	Thomas Scollan	Labour
	1950	John Maclay later Viscount Muirshiel	National Liberal and Conservative^[3]^[4]
	1964	Norman Buchan	Labour
1983		constituency abolished

Constituency divided amongst:

MPs 1997–2005

Election		Member^[2]	Party
	1997	Tommy Graham	Labour then Independent
	2001	Jim Sheridan	Labour
2005		constituency abolished

Constituency divided amongst:

Election results

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Renfrewshire West ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	±
	Conservative	Sir Archibald Campbell	3,618	n/a
	Liberal	Harry Smith	2,980	n/a
Majority			638	n/a
Turnout				n/a
	Conservative win

General Election 1886: Renfrewshire West ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Sir Archibald Campbell	3,431
	Liberal	William Dunn	2,881
Majority			553
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1890s

Robert Wallace

General Election 1892: Renfrewshire West ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Charles Bine Renshaw	3,773
	Liberal	Robert Wallace	3,322
Majority			451
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1895: Renfrewshire West ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Charles Bine Renshaw	3,909
	Liberal	Duncan Vernon Pirie	3,397
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Renfrewshire West ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Charles Bine Renshaw	4,323
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats	4,053
Majority			270
Turnout
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1906: Renfrewshire West ^[8] 12,079
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Sir Thomas Glen Glen-Coats	5,858	56.6
	Conservative	John Charles Cuninghame	4,490	43.4
Majority			1,368
Turnout
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1910s

General Election Jan 1910: Renfrewshire West ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	James William Greig	6,480
	Conservative	John Charles Cuninghame	5,631
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election Dec 1910: Renfrewshire West ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	James William Greig	6,366
	Conservative	Henry Mechan	6,082
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

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;

Liberal: James William Greig
Unionist: Henry Mechan^[10]

James Greig

General Election 1918: Renfrewshire West ^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	James William Greig	11,524
	Labour	Robert Murray	7,126		n/a
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

endorsed by Coalition Government

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1922: Renfrewshire West ^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Murray	11,787	54.0
	National Liberal	Sir James William Greig	10,051	46.0
Majority			1,736	8.0
Turnout			21,838
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing

General Election 1923: Renfrewshire West ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	±
	Labour	Robert Murray	10,904
	Unionist	Alexander Thomson Taylor	7,602	n/a
	Liberal	James Scott	4,149	n/a
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Renfrewshire West ^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Unionist	Archibald Douglas MacInnes Shaw	13,267
	Labour	Robert Murray	11,252
Majority
Turnout
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1929: Renfrewshire West ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Robert Forgan	14,419	46.5
	Unionist	Alexander Thomson Taylor	12,183	39.4
	Liberal	Francis Sheed Anderson	2,682	8.7	n/a
	National (Scotland)	Roland Eugene Muirhead	1,667	5.4	n/a
Majority			2,236
Turnout				81.6
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1931: Renfrewshire West^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn	17,318	53.5
	Labour	Jean Mann	10,203	31.5
	National (Scotland)	Roland Eugene Muirhead	3,547	11.0
	New Party	Robert Forgan	1,304	4.0	n/a
Majority			7,115	22.0
Turnout			32,372	83.2
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1935: Renfrewshire West ^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn	15,906	49.7
	Labour	Jean Mann	12,407	38.8
	SNP	Roland Eugene Muirhead	3,697	11.5
Majority			3,499	10.9
Turnout			32,010	81.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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: Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn
Labour: David Cleghorn Thomson^[18]
SNP:

General Election 1945: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thomas Scollan	15,050	48.9	+10.1
	Unionist	Henry James Scrymgeour-Wedderburn	13,836	44.9	-4.8
	SNP	Robert Blair Wilkie	1,995	6.3	-5.2
Majority			1,214	3.9	14.8
Turnout			30,841	70.0	-11.2
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+7.4

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1950: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National Liberal	John Scott Maclay	20,810	54.03
	Labour	Thomas Scollan	17,708	45.97
Majority			3,102	8.05
Turnout			38,518	77.42
	National Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

General Election 1951: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National Liberal	John Scott Maclay	21,456	53.71
	Labour	Bruce Millan	18,493	46.29
Majority			2,963	7.42
Turnout			39,949	84.66
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National Liberal	Rt Hon. John Scott Maclay	21,283	55.24
	Labour	Jesse Dickson Mabon	17,243	44.76
Majority			4,040	10.49
Turnout			38,526	83.02
	National Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1959: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	National Liberal	Rt Hon. John Scott Maclay	20,959	53.51
	Labour	Charles Minihan	18,206	46.49
Majority			2,753	7.03
Turnout			39,165	82.64
	National Liberal hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1964: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Norman Findlay Buchan	19,518	46.17
	Unionist	Roy Pickering Paton	18,507	43.77
	Liberal	Gavin E McFadyean	4,253	10.06
Majority			1,011	2.39
Turnout			42,278	82.87
	Labour gain from National Liberal		Swing

General Election 1966: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Norman Findlay Buchan	23,849	54.31
	Conservative	Roy Pickering Paton	20,060	45.69
Majority			3,789	8.63
Turnout			43,909	81.62
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Norman Findlay Buchan	22,999	48.02
	Conservative	Alexander MacPherson Fletcher	20,699	43.22
	SNP	Alan Macartney	4,195	8.76
Majority			2,300	4.80
Turnout			47,893	79.41
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Norman Findlay Buchan	22,178	40.25
	Conservative	J Ross-Harper	19,510	35.41
	SNP	C Cameron	8,394	15.23
	Liberal	D Young	5,022	9.11
Majority			2,668	4.84
Turnout			55,104	82.92
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Norman Findlay Buchan	20,674	38.49
	SNP	C Cameron	15,374	28.62
	Conservative	J Ross-Harper	14,399	26.80
	Liberal	D Brown	3,271	6.09
Majority			5,300	9.87
Turnout			53,718	80.08
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1979: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Norman Findlay Buchan	28,236	44.47
	Conservative	W Boyle	19,664	30.97
	SNP	C Cameron	8,333	13.13
	Liberal	D Brown	7,256	11.43
Majority			8,572	13.50
Turnout			63,489	81.17
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Thomas Graham	19,525	46.6	N/A
	SNP	Colin McIver Campbell	10,546	26.5	N/A
	Conservative	Charles J.S. Cormack	7,387	18.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Bruce J.S. Macpherson	3,045	7.7	N/A
	Referendum	Shaw T. Lindsay	283	0.7	N/A
Majority			7,979	20.1	N/A
Turnout			39,786	76.0	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Renfrewshire West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	James Sheridan	15,720	46.9	+0.4
	SNP	Ms. Carol Puthucheary	7,145	21.3	−5.2
	Conservative	David John Sharpe	5,522	16.5	−2.1
	Liberal Democrat	Miss Clare Alison Hamblen	4,185	12.5	+4.8
	Scottish Socialist	Ms. Arlene Nunnery	925	2.8	N/A
Majority			8,575	25.6
Turnout			33,497	63.3	−12.7
	Labour hold		Swing

References

↑ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule, Part II
1 2 Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-viscount-muirshiel-1541565.html
↑ http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/history/whisp/whisp-00/wh49-03.htm
1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
1 2 Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
↑ Daily Record 26 Dec 1914
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
↑ The Times, 17 November 1922
↑ The Times, 8 December 1923
↑ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
↑ The Times, 1 June 1929
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
↑ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
↑ Report of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939

Westminster constituencies of Scotland

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

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