Inverness-shire was a

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 "constituenc ...

of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

of the

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a new unified Kingdo ...

from 1708 to 1801 and of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

from 1801 until 1918. There was also a

burgh constituency A burgh constituency is a type of parliamentary constituency in Scotland. It is a constituency which is predominantly urban, and on this basis has been designated as a burgh constituency. They are the successors of the historic parliamentary bur ...

called Inverness Burghs, 1708 to 1918, and a county constituency called

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, 1918 to 1983.

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

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populatio ...

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

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 their ...

system until the seat was abolished in 1918.

Boundaries

The Inverness-shire

represented, nominally, the

county of Inverness Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populati ...

minus the Inverness parliamentary burgh, which was represented as a component of Inverness District of Burghs. However, by 1892 the boundaries of the county had been redefined for all purposes except parliamentary representation, and it had become a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

, under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it foll ...

. 26 years were to elapse before a review of constituency boundaries took account of new local government boundaries. Results of the review were implemented under the

Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, also ...

. In 1918, the constituency was largely replaced by two new county constituencies. The

Western Isles The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coas ...

constituency was created to cover

Outer Hebridean The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an Archipelago, island chain off t ...

areas of the county of Inverness, as well as part of the

county of Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty ( gd, Ros agus Cromba), sometimes referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latt ...

. The

constituency was created to cover the rest of the county of Inverness, including the parliamentary burgh.

Members of Parliament

Election results

The original electorate for this constituency was limited to substantial landowners. The 40 shilling freehold qualification used for English county constituencies, which was not adjusted for inflation since it was first set in the 15th century, was significantly lower than the Scottish county qualification. In Scotland the qualification was land worth 40 shillings "of old extent", which prevented inflation lowering the real value of the property qualification required.The House of Commons 1754-1790 The county electorate, in Scotland, was significantly extended in 1832 and was further expanded in 1868 and 1885. The change, before and after 1832, can be seen by comparing the 32 votes cast at the contested election in 1802 with the 467 votes cast in 1832 (when the new registration system recorded a registered electorate of 669). Unless otherwise indicated, the primary source for the results listed was Craig. Candidates identified by Craig as Conservatives, in the 1832-1835 Parliament, are listed as Tories. In elections before the formal creation of the Liberal Party, shortly after the 1859 general election, candidates identified by Craig as Liberals are classified as Whigs. There were no

Radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

s candidates in this seat, according to Stooks Smith. Craig's registered electorate and vote figures are sometimes different from those of Stooks Smith, but Craig's figures are used below. For details of the books of Craig and Stooks Smith, see the Reference section below. The calculations of change in % vote and swing, for the 1835 general election result, relate the performance of the Conservative candidate to his achievements as the Tory candidate in the 1832 general election.

Elections in the 1800s

Elections in the 1830s

Grant was appointed as President of the Board of Control, requiring a by-election. * ''Appointment of Grant as

Secretary of State for War and the Colonies The Secretary of State for War and the Colonies was a British cabinet-level position responsible for the army and the British colonies (other than India). The Secretary was supported by an Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Hist ...

and elevation to the peerage as the 1st Lord Glenelg'' * ''Resignation of Chisholm, in June 1838''

Elections in the 1840s

* ''Death of Grant''

Elections in the 1850s

Elections in the 1860s

Elections in the 1870s

* ''Appointment of Cameron as a

Groom in Waiting The office of Groom in Waiting (sometimes hyphenated as Groom-in-Waiting) was a post in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, which in earlier times was usually held by more than one person at a time – in the late Middle Ages there might be d ...

to Her Majesty''

Elections in the 1880s

Elections in the 1890s

* ''Since the last election Fraser-Mackintosh had lost the support of the Highland Land League; which endorsed the Liberal nominee MacGregor as a Crofters' candidate.'' * ''Resignation of MacGregor * ''The Highland Land League supported Macrae in this election, so he was a Crofters' candidate as well as the Liberal nominee.'' * Results compared with 1892 election, not the 1895 by-election.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1910s

* ''Creation of Dewar as the 1st Baron Forteviot'' * ''Constituency abolished (1918)''

References

* ''Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Reference Publications 1972) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1832-1885'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1977) * ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Macmillan Press 1974) * ''The House of Commons 1754-1790'', by Sir

Lewis Namier Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (; 27 June 1888 – 19 August 1960) was a British historian of Polish-Jewish background. His best-known works were ''The Structure of Politics at the Accession of George III'' (1929), ''England in the Age of the Ameri ...

and John Brooke (HMSO 1964) * ''The Parliaments of England'' by Henry Stooks Smith (1st edition published in three volumes 1844–50), second edition edited (in one volume) by F.W.S. Craig (Political Reference Publications 1973) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume I 1832-1885'', edited by M. Stenton (The Harvester Press 1976) * ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume II 1886-1918'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (Harvester Press 1978) *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inverness-Shire (Uk Parliament Constituency) Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster) Politics of the county of Inverness Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918 Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1708