South Lanarkshire (UK Parliament constituency)

South Lanarkshire
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	County of Lanark
1868–1918
Number of members	One

South Lanarkshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) from 1868 to 1918. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

Boundaries

The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 provided that the South Lanarkshire constituency was to consist of the parishes of Biggar, Cambusnethan, Carluke, Carmichael, Carnwath, Carstairs, Covington and Thankerton, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Dalserf, Dolphinton, Douglas, Dunsyre, Lanark, Lesmahagow, Libberton, Pitinain, Shotts, Stonehouse, Walston, Wandell and Lamington, Wiston and Roberton, and so much of the parishes of Culter and Moffat as is situated in the County of Lanark.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the constituency was to consist of:

the parishes of Biggar, Carluke, Carmichael, Carnwath, Carstairs, Covington and Thankerton, Crawford, Crawfordjohn, Culter, Dolphinton, Douglas, Dunsyre, Lamington and Wandel, Lanark, Lesmahagow, Liberton, Pettinain, Symington, Walston, Wiston and Roberton, Moffat, Avondale, Stonehouse, Glasford, and East Kilbride; so much of the parish of Cathcart as adjoins East Kilbride, and so much of the parish of Kirkpatrick juxta as may be in the county of Lanark.

Member of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1868	John Hamilton	Liberal
	1874	Sir Windham Carmichael-Anstruther	Conservative
	1880	John Hamilton	Liberal
	1886	James Hozier	Conservative
	1906	Walter Menzies	Liberal
	1913 b-e	Hon. William Watson	Unionist
1918		Constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: South Lanarkshire [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Glencairn Carter Hamilton	4,583	58.5
	Conservative	James Henry Cecil Hozier	3,245	41.5
Majority			1,338	17.0
Turnout				87.2
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1886: South Lanarkshire [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Henry Cecil Hozier	3,577	50.1	+8.6
	Liberal	John Glencairn Carter Hamilton	3,559	49.9	-8.6
Majority			18	0.2	17.2
Turnout				79.5	-7.7
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+8.6

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: South Lanarkshire [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Henry Cecil Hozier	4,032	52.4
	Liberal	Thomas Charles Hunter Hedderwick	3,664	47.6
Majority			368	4.8
Turnout				87.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

General Election 1895: South Lanarkshire [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Henry Cecil Hozier	4,053	51.5	-0.9
	Liberal	Robert Lambie	3,823	48.5	+0.9
Majority			230	3.0	-1.8
Turnout				86.2	-1.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	-0.9

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: South Lanarkshire [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hon. James Henry Cecil Hozier	3,968	53.0
	Liberal	Walter Menzies	3,516	47.0
Majority			452	6.0
Turnout				81.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Walter Menzies

General Election 1906: South Lanarkshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Walter Menzies	4,816	57.6	+10.6
	Conservative	James Dennistoun Mitchell	3,541	42.4	-10.6
Majority			1,275	15.2
Turnout				84.0	+2.1
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+10.6

Elections in the 1910s

General Election Jan 1910: South Lanarkshire [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Walter Menzies	5,346	59.0
	Conservative	James Dennistoun Mitchell	3,715	41.0
Majority			1,631	18.0
Turnout				85.3
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election Dec 1910: South Lanarkshire [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Walter Menzies	5,160	56.6	-2.4
	Liberal Unionist	Charles Mackinnon Douglas	3,963	43.4	+2.4
Majority			1,187	13.2	-4.8
Turnout				84.8	-0.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	-2.4

South Lanarkshire by-election, 1913
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Hon. William Watson	4,257	42.8	-0.6
	Liberal	George Morton	4,006	40.3	-16.3
	Labour	Thomas Gibb	1,674	16.8	n/a
Majority				2.5
Turnout
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+7.8

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;

• Unionist: Hon. William Watson
• Liberal: George Morton^[7]
• Labour:

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 1)
2. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
3. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
4. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
5. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
7. Hamilton Advertiser 28 Feb 1914