Forfarshire was a Scottish

county constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...

represented in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1708 until 1800, and then in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom until 1950. It elected one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) using the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

voting system.

Creation

The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former

Parliament of Scotland The Parliament of Scotland ( sco, Pairlament o Scotland; gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba) was the legislature of the Kingdom of Scotland from the 13th century until 1707. The parliament evolved during the early 13th century from the king's council o ...

shire constituency of Forfarshire.

Boundaries

The Representation of the People Act 1918 defined the constituency as consisting of the county of

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a pop ...

, except the county of the city of Dundee and the burghs of Montrose, Arbroath,

Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...

, and

. The four excepted burghs formed part of the Montrose

District of Burghs The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland) ...

. The county of Forfarshire was renamed

Angus Angus may refer to: Media * ''Angus'' (film), a 1995 film * ''Angus Og'' (comics), in the ''Daily Record'' Places Australia * Angus, New South Wales Canada * Angus, Ontario, a community in Essa, Ontario * East Angus, Quebec Scotland * An ...

in 1928. However, no change was made in the name of the constituency prior to its abolition.

History

The constituency elected one

Member of Parliament (MP) A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members often ...

by the

system until the seat was abolished for the 1950 general election. The constituency was abolished under the

Representation of the People Act 1948 The Representation of the People Act 1948 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered the law relating to parliamentary and local elections. It is noteworthy for abolishing plural voting for parliamentary elections, including ...

, which reorganised parliamentary boundaries throughout the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The seat was divided between

North Angus and Mearns Angus North and Mearns was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system. It was unsucces ...

(which also included

Kincardineshire Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the Stewartry"), is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and ...

) and South Angus.

, First Schedule, Parliamentary Constituencies, Part III: Scotland

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 1830s

Maule was elevated to the peerage, becoming 1st

Baron Panmure Baron Panmure, of Brechin and Navar in the County of Forfar, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The barony was created on 10 September 1831 for the Hon. William Maule, longtime Member of Parliament for Forfar. On the death of Wi ...

and causing a by-election. * On petition, Ogilvy was unseated in favour of Gordon-Hallyburton

Elections in the 1840s

Elections in the 1850s

Maule was appointed

Surveyor-General of the Ordnance The Surveyor-General of the Ordnance was a subordinate of the Master-General of the Ordnance and a member of the Board of Ordnance, a British government body, from its constitution in 1597. Appointments to the post were made by the crown under L ...

, requiring a by-election. Maule's death caused a by-election. Haldane-Duncan was appointed a

Lord Commissioner of the Treasury In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Treasurer of the Exchequer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the ...

, requiring a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s

Haldane-Duncan succeeded to the peerage, becoming Earl of Camperdown, and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1870s

Carnegie resigned after being appointed Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland.

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

Rigby is appointed

Solicitor General for England and Wales His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to ad ...

, requiring a by-election. Rigby resigns after being appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal, triggering a by-election. White resigns, triggering a by-election.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

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 from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected; *Unionist:

William T. Shaw Captain William Thomas Shaw (26 February 1879 – 20 October 1965) was Unionist Party Member of Parliament for Forfar for two periods, 1918 to 1922 and 1931 to 1945. He was educated at the High School of Dundee and was admitted to the London St ...

*Liberal:

References

{{Scottish Westminster constituencies Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster) Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1708 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1950 Politics of Angus, Scotland Politics of the county of Forfar