Fife West (UK Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
West Fife was a parliamentary constituency
represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
from 1885 until 1974. It is famous for providing the Communist Party Of Great Britain with its longest-serving Member of Parliament. Along with East Fife, it was formed by dividing the old Fife
constituency.
, Auchterderran
, Auchtertool
, Ballingry
, Beath, Burntisland
, Dalgetty, Dunfermline
, Dysart
, Inverkeithing
, Kinghorn
, Kinglassie
, Kirkcaldy
, Leslie
, Markinch
, Saline
, Torryburn
and Wemyss
.
The constituency contained:
From 1918 it consisted of "The Dunfermline County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein except insofar as included in the Dunfermline District of Burghs
, together with so much of the Kirkcaldy County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, as is included neither in the Eastern Division nor in the Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Districts of Burghs."
For later changes see:
In the 1922 general election
, William Adamson
was elected unopposed.
In the 1886 general election
, Robert Preston Bruce
was elected unopposed.
General election of 1885
In the 1885 general election
, Robert Preston Bruce
was elected unopposed.
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
from 1885 until 1974. It is famous for providing the Communist Party Of Great Britain with its longest-serving Member of Parliament. Along with East Fife, it was formed by dividing the old Fife
Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
Fife was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 until 1885, when it was divided into East Fife and West Fife....
constituency.
Boundaries
From 1885 the constituency consisted of the parishes of Abbotshall, AberdourAberdour
Aberdour is a scenic and historic village on the south coast of Fife, Scotland. It is on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, looking south to the island of Inchcolm and its Abbey, and to Leith and Edinburgh beyond. According to the 2006 population estimate, the village has a population of...
, Auchterderran
Auchterderran
Auchterderran is a village in Fife, Scotland. It is sometimes thought as part of the larger village, Cardenden, although Cardenden is part of the parish of Auchterderran....
, Auchtertool
Auchtertool
Auchtertool is a small village in Fife, Scotland. It is 4 miles west of Kirkcaldy. The name is from the Gaelic uachdar, meaning upland or heights above the Tiel burn . The Tiel Burn flows a few hundred yards south of the kirk and village, which was formerly known as Milton of Auchtertool...
, Ballingry
Ballingry
Ballingry is a small town, in Fife, close to the border with Perth and Kinross, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population of 5,740 . The once separate villages of Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill, and Glencraig are now somewhat joined together as the part of the Benarty area...
, Beath, Burntisland
Burntisland
Burntisland is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland on the Firth of Forth. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 5,940....
, Dalgetty, Dunfermline
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
, Dysart
Dysart
Dysart is a former town and royal burgh located on the south-east coast between Kirkcaldy and West Wemyss in Fife. The town is now considered to be a suburb of Kirkcaldy. Dysart was once part of a wider estate owned by the St Clair or Sinclair family...
, Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing
Inverkeithing is a town and a royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, located on the Firth of Forth. According to population estimates , the town has a population of 5,265. The port town was given burgh status by King David I of Scotland in the 12th century and is situated about 9 miles north from...
, Kinghorn
Kinghorn
Kinghorn is a town in Fife, Scotland. A seaside resort with two beaches, Kinghorn Beach and Pettycur Bay, plus a fishing port, it stands on the north shore of the Firth of Forth opposite Edinburgh...
, Kinglassie
Kinglassie
Kinglassie is a small village in central Fife, Scotland.It is located 0.5 miles to the southwest of Glenrothes...
, Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
, Leslie
Leslie, Fife
Leslie is a large village on the northern tip of the River Leven Valley, to the west of Glenrothes in Fife. According to the population estimates , the village has a population of 3,092. The village was granted burgh of barony status by James II in 1458 for George Leslie who became the first Earl...
, Markinch
Markinch
Markinch is a small town situated in the heart of Fife, in the eastern central lowlands of Scotland. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town...
, Saline
Saline, Fife
Saline is a village in Fife, Scotland, some to the north-west of Dunfermline.At the 2001 Census the population was 1188, a decline from the 1235 recorded in the 1991 Census...
, Torryburn
Torryburn
Torryburn is a village in Scotland, lying on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. It is one of a number of old port communities that have existed on this coast and at one point even served as port for Dunfermline...
and Wemyss
East Wemyss
East Wemyss is a village situated on the south coast of the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland. In the United Kingdom Census 2001 the population was recorded as 1841.- History :...
.
The constituency contained:
- the burghs of CulrossCulrossThe town of Culross, pronounced "Coo-ros", is a former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland.According to the 2006 estimate, the village has a population of 395...
, LeslieLeslie, FifeLeslie is a large village on the northern tip of the River Leven Valley, to the west of Glenrothes in Fife. According to the population estimates , the village has a population of 3,092. The village was granted burgh of barony status by James II in 1458 for George Leslie who became the first Earl...
and MarkinchMarkinchMarkinch is a small town situated in the heart of Fife, in the eastern central lowlands of Scotland. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town... - the Districts of DunfermlineDunfermlineDunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
, KirkcaldyKirkcaldyKirkcaldy is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. The town lies on a shallow bay on the northern shore of the Firth of Forth; SSE of Glenrothes, ENE of Dunfermline, WSW of Dundee and NNE of Edinburgh...
and LochgellyLochgellyLochgelly is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of Lumphinnans. According to the 2007 population estimate, the town has a population of 6,834.-History:From the 1830s... - part of the District of WemyssWemyssWemyss can refer to:Places*Wemyss Bay, a large village in Inverclyde, Scotland**Wemyss Bay railway station**Castle Wemyss, a demolished mansion in Wemyss Bay, Scotland*East Wemyss, Fife, Scotland*West Wemyss, Fife, Scotland...
the remainder being in East Fife
From 1918 it consisted of "The Dunfermline County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein except insofar as included in the Dunfermline District of Burghs
Dunfermline (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1974 until 1983.There was also an earlier Dunfermline Burghs constituency, from 1918 to 1974.- Boundaries :...
, together with so much of the Kirkcaldy County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, as is included neither in the Eastern Division nor in the Dunfermline and Kirkcaldy Districts of Burghs."
For later changes see:
- the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats)(Scotland)(West Fife and Kirkcaldy Burghs) Order 1953; and
- the Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) (West Fife and Dunfermline Burghs) Order, 1960
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:... |
Robert Preston Bruce Robert Preston Bruce Robert Preston Bruce was a British Liberal Party politician.Bruce was the second son of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and his wife Lady Mary Louisa... |
Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| 1889 by-election | Augustine Birrell Augustine Birrell Augustine Birrell PC, KC was an English politician, barrister, academic and author. He was Chief Secretary for Ireland from 1907 to 1916, resigning in the immediate aftermath of the Easter Rising.-Early life:... |
Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| 1900 United Kingdom general election, 1900 -Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:***-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**... |
John Deans Hope John Deans Hope John Deans Hope was a Scottish Liberal politician.-Family and education:Hope was born in Duddington, Midlothian, the son of the late James Hope of Eastbarns, Dunbar, a famous agriculturalist. In 1899 he married Elizabeth Holmes-Kerr whose father had homes in Glasgow and Underbank in Ayrshire. They... |
Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day... |
|
| Dec 1910 | William Adamson William Adamson William Adamson was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour politician. He was Leader of the Labour Party between 1917 and 1921 and served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations headed by Ramsay MacDonald.-Background:Adamson was... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| 1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the... |
Charles Black Milne Charles Black Milne Charles Black Milne was Unionist Party MP for West Fife from 1931 to 1935.This was normally Labour country, he did well to win it in narrowly in the National Government landslide of 1931, but lost it to William Gallacher of the Communist Party.- External links :*... |
Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House... |
|
| 1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady... |
William Gallacher | Communist Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:... |
|
| 1950 United Kingdom general election, 1950 The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever after a full term of a Labour government. Despite polling over one and a half million votes more than the Conservatives, the election, held on 23 February 1950 resulted in Labour receiving a slim majority of just five... |
Willie Hamilton Willie Hamilton William Winter "Willie" Hamilton was a British politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament for constituencies in Fife, Scotland between 1950 and 1987... |
Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... |
|
| Feb 1974 United Kingdom general election, February 1974 The United Kingdom's general election of February 1974 was held on the 28th of that month. It was the first of two United Kingdom general elections held that year, and the first election since the Second World War not to produce an overall majority in the House of Commons for the winning party,... |
constituency abolished | ||
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
General election of 1922In the 1922 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1922
The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...
, William Adamson
William Adamson
William Adamson was a Scottish trade unionist and Labour politician. He was Leader of the Labour Party between 1917 and 1921 and served as Secretary of State for Scotland in 1924 and between 1929 and 1931 in the first two Labour administrations headed by Ramsay MacDonald.-Background:Adamson was...
was elected unopposed.
Elections in the 1910s
Elections in the 1900s
Elections in the 1890s
Elections in the 1880s
General election of 1886In the 1886 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1886
-Seats summary:-See also:*MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886*The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:*F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...
, Robert Preston Bruce
Robert Preston Bruce
Robert Preston Bruce was a British Liberal Party politician.Bruce was the second son of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and his wife Lady Mary Louisa...
was elected unopposed.
General election of 1885
In the 1885 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1885
-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...
, Robert Preston Bruce
Robert Preston Bruce
Robert Preston Bruce was a British Liberal Party politician.Bruce was the second son of James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and his wife Lady Mary Louisa...
was elected unopposed.
Sources
- Election results, 1950 - 1974
- F. W. S. CraigF. W. S. CraigFrederick Walter Scott Craig was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compiling election results in his spare time which were published by the Scottish Unionist Party...
, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918 - 1949 - F. W. S. CraigF. W. S. CraigFrederick Walter Scott Craig was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compiling election results in his spare time which were published by the Scottish Unionist Party...
, British Parliamentary Election Results 1885 - 1918