West Lothian (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1950–1983

West Lothian

Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland| Linlithgowshire
1950–1983
Seats| One
Created from| Linlithgowshire
Replaced by| Linlithgow
Livingston
Falkirk East[1]

West Lothian was a Scottish county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1983. Its area corresponded to the Council area of West Lothian. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

The constituency is best known for its third and final MP, Tam Dalyell of the Labour Party, whose concerns about Scottish devolution were labelled "the West Lothian question".

## History

[edit]

West Lothian was created for the 1950 general election, partly replacing the previous Linlithgowshire constituency.

With effect from the 1983 general election, it became two different constituencies: Linlithgow and Livingston.

## Members of Parliament

[edit]

Election  | Member[2] | Party | Notes

|
|
|

| 1950 | George Mathers | Labour | later Baron Mathers
| 1951 | John Taylor | Labour
| 1962 by-election | Tam Dalyell | Labour | subsequently MP for Linlithgow
1983 | constituency abolished: see Linlithgow

## Election results

[edit]

### Elections in the 1950s

[edit]

1950 general election: West Lothian[3] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | George Mathers | 27,236  | 60.61  | '
| Unionist | W M Younger  | 15,999  | 35.60  |
| Scottish Self-Government  | Maxwell Hynd  | 1,039  | 2.31  |
| Communist | J Borrowman  | 664  | 1.48  |
Majority | 11,237  | 25.01  |
Turnout | 44,938  | 79.76  |
Registered electors | 56,339  |  |
| Labour win (new seat)
1951 general election: West Lothian[4] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | John Taylor | 28,906  | 60.52  | −0.09
| Unionist | Humphrey Atkins | 18,854  | 39.48  | +3.88
Majority | 10,052  | 21.04  | −3.97
Turnout | 47,760  | 84.89  | +5.13
Registered electors | 56,259  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | -1.99  |
1955 general election: West Lothian[5] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | John Taylor | 25,654  | 59.66  | −0.86
| Unionist | William R Grieve  | 17,347  | 40.34  | +0.86
Majority | 8,307  | 19.32  | −1.72
Turnout | 43,001  | 75.38  | −9.51
Registered electors | 57,045  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | -0.86  |
1959 general election: West Lothian[6] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | John Taylor | 27,454  | 60.29  | +0.63
| Unionist | W Ian Stewart  | 18,083  | 39.71  | −0.63
Majority | 9,371  | 20.58  | +1.26
Turnout | 45,537  | 77.90  | +2.52
Registered electors | 58,457  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | +0.63  |

### Elections in the 1960s

[edit]

West Lothian by-election, 1962[7] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 21,266  | 50.82  | −9.47
| SNP | William Wolfe | 9,750  | 23.30  | New
| Unionist | W. I. Stewart  | 4,784  | 11.43  | −28.28
| Liberal | D. Bryce  | 4,537  | 10.84  | New
| Communist | Gordon McLennan | 1,511  | 3.61  | New
Majority | 11,516  | 27.52  | +6.94
Turnout | 41,848  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing |  |
1964 general election: West Lothian[8] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 24,933  | 50.32  | −9.97
| SNP | William Wolfe | 15,087  | 30.45  | N/A
| Unionist | RA Gordon Stuart  | 8,919  | 18.00  | −21.71
| Communist | Irene Swan | 610  | 1.23  | N/A
Majority | 9,846  | 19.87  | −0.71
Turnout | 49,549  | 79.50  | +1.60
Registered electors | 62,328  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | -20.21  |
1966 general election: West Lothian[9] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 26,662  | 52.37  | +2.05
| SNP | William Wolfe | 17,955  | 35.27  | +4.82
| Conservative | David L MacKinnon  | 5,726  | 11.25  | −6.75
| Communist | Irene Swan | 567  | 1.11  | −0.12
Majority | 8,707  | 17.10  | −2.77
Turnout | 50,910  | 79.59  | +0.09
Registered electors | 63,967  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | -1.39  |

### Elections in the 1970s

[edit]

1970 general election: West Lothian[10] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 29,360  | 52.9  | +0.5
| SNP | William Wolfe | 15,620  | 28.2  | −7.1
| Conservative | Michael Ancram | 10,048  | 18.1  | +6.9
| Communist | Christopher Bett  | 459  | 0.8  | −0.3
Majority | 13,740  | 24.7  | +7.6
Turnout | 55,487  | 76.7  | −2.9
Registered electors | 72,366  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | +3.8  |
February 1974 general election: West Lothian[1][11] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 28,112  | 45.3  | −7.6
| SNP | William Wolfe | 21,690  | 35.0  | +6.8
| Conservative | Alexander Pollock | 11,804  | 19.0  | +0.9
| Communist | Christopher Bett  | 438  | 0.7  | −0.1
Majority | 6,422  | 10.3  | −14.4
Turnout | 62,044  | 80.6  | +3.9
Registered electors | 76,946  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | -7.2  |
October 1974 general election: West Lothian[1][12] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 27,687  | 45.3  | 0.0
| SNP | William Wolfe | 24,997  | 40.9  | +5.9
| Conservative | Anthony Lester  | 6,086  | 10.0  | −9.0
| Liberal | Hector MacAulay  | 2,083  | 3.4  | New
| Communist | Christopher Bett  | 247  | 0.4  | −0.3
Majority | 2,690  | 4.4  | −5.9
Turnout | 61,100  | 78.8  | −1.8
Registered electors | 77,527  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | -3.0  |
1979 general election: West Lothian[1][13] Party  | Candidate  | Votes  | %  | ±%

|
|
|
|

| Labour | Tam Dalyell | 36,713  | 54.9  | +9.6
| SNP | William Wolfe | 16,631  | 24.9  | −16.0
| Conservative | John Roderick Whyte  | 13,162  | 19.7  | +9.7
| Communist | William Sneddon  | 404  | 0.6  | +0.2
Majority | 20,082  | 30.0  | +25.6
Turnout | 66,910  | 78.1  | −0.7
Registered electors | 85,645  |  |
| Labour hold | Swing | +22.8  |

## See also

[edit]

* West Lothian question

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "'West Lothian', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "W" (part 3)
3. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1950". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
4. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
5. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
6. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
7. ^ "1962 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
8. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
9. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
10. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
11. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
12. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
13. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results May 1979". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 24 March 2016.

* v
* t
* e

Scottish Westminster constituencies

* 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
* 2005 to 2024
* from 2024

Current constituencies (2024)

* Aberdeen North
* Aberdeen South
* Aberdeenshire North and Moray East
* Airdrie & Shotts
* Alloa & Grangemouth
* Angus & Perthshire Glens
* Arbroath & Broughty Ferry
* Argyll, Bute & South Lochaber
* Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock
* Bathgate & Linlithgow
* Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk
* Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross
* Central Ayrshire
* Coatbridge & Bellshill
* Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy
* Cumbernauld & Kirkintilloch
* Dumfries & Galloway
* Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale
* Dundee Central
* Dunfermline & Dollar
* East Kilbride & Strathaven
* East Renfrewshire
* Edinburgh East & Musselburgh
* Edinburgh North & Leith
* Edinburgh South
* Edinburgh South West
* Edinburgh West
* Falkirk
* Glasgow East
* Glasgow North
* Glasgow North East
* Glasgow South
* Glasgow South West
* Glasgow West
* Glenrothes & Mid Fife
* Gordon & Buchan
* Hamilton & Clyde Valley
* Inverclyde & Renfrewshire West
* Inverness, Skye & West Ross-shire
* Kilmarnock & Loudoun
* Livingston
* Lothian East
* Mid Dunbartonshire
* Midlothian
* Moray West, Nairn & Strathspey
* Motherwell, Wishaw & Carluke
* Na h-Eileanan an Iar
* North Ayrshire & Arran
* North East Fife
* Orkney & Shetland
* Paisley & Renfrewshire North
* Paisley & Renfrewshire South
* Perth & Kinross-shire
* Rutherglen
* Stirling & Strathallan
* West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine
* West Dunbartonshire

* v
* t
* e

« 1918–1950 «   Scottish Westminster constituencies 1950–1955   » 1955–1974 »

Burgh
constituencies|

* Aberdeen North
* Aberdeen South
* Coatbridge and Airdrie
* Dundee East
* Dundee West
* Dunfermline Burghs
* Edinburgh Central
* Edinburgh East
* Edinburgh Leith
* Edinburgh North
* Edinburgh Pentlands
* Edinburgh West
* Glasgow Bridgeton
* Glasgow Camlachie
* Glasgow Cathcart
* Glasgow Central
* Glasgow Gorbals
* Glasgow Govan
* Glasgow Hillhead
* Glasgow Kelvingrove
* Glasgow Maryhill
* Glasgow Pollok
* Glasgow Scotstoun
* Glasgow Shettleston
* Glasgow Springburn
* Glasgow Tradeston
* Glasgow Woodside
* Greenock
* Kirkcaldy Burghs
* Paisley
* Stirling and Falkirk Burghs

County
constituencies|

* Argyll
* Ayr
* Banffshire
* Berwick and East Lothian
* Bothwell
* Bute and Northern Ayrshire
* Caithness and Sutherland
* Central Ayrshire CC
* Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire
* Dumfriesshire
* East Aberdeenshire
* East Dunbartonshire
* East Fife
* East Renfrewshire
* Galloway
* Hamilton
* Inverness
* Kilmarnock
* Kinross and Western Perthshire
* Lanark
* Midlothian and Peebles
* Moray and Nairn
* Motherwell
* North Angus and Mearns
* North Lanarkshire
* Orkney and Shetland
* Perth and East Perthshire
* Ross and Cromarty
* Roxburgh and Selkirk
* Rutherglen
* South Angus
* South Ayrshire
* West Aberdeenshire
* West Dunbartonshire
* West Fife
* West Lothian
* West Renfrewshire
* West Stirlingshire
* Western Isles

Lists|

* 1708–1832
* 1832–1868
* 1868–1885
* 1885–1918
* 1918–1950
* 1950–1955
* 1955–1974
* 1974–1983
* 1983–1997
* 1997–2005
* 2005–2024
* 2024–present

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template