Leith Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)

Leith Burghs
Former District of burghs constituency for the House of Commons
1832–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Leith Edinburgh East

Leith Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918. The constituency represented the parliamentary burghs of Leith, Musselburgh and Portobello.

In 1918 Leith was included in Leith, while Musselburgh and Portobello were merged into Edinburgh East.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1][2][3]	Party
	1832	John Archibald Murray	Liberal
	1839 by-election	Andrew Rutherfurd	Liberal
	1851 by-election	James Moncreiff, later Baron Moncreiff	Liberal
	1859	Sir William Miller, 1st Baronet	Liberal
	1868	Robert Andrew Macfie	Liberal
	1874	Donald Robert Macgregor	Liberal
	1878 by-election	Andrew Grant	Liberal
	1885	William Jacks	Liberal
	1886		Liberal Unionist
	1886	William Ewart Gladstone	Liberal
	1886 by-election	Ronald Munro Ferguson, later Viscount Novar	Liberal
	1914 by-election	George Welsh Currie	Conservative
	1918	constituency abolished

Election results

Election	Political result		Candidate		Party	Votes	%	±%
By-election 26 Feb 1914 [3][4] Electorate: 17,705 Turnout: 77.1%		Conservative gain from Liberal Majority: 16 (0.1%)		George Welsh Currie	Conservative	5,159	37.8	−5.0
				Malcolm Smith	Liberal	5,143	37.7	−19.5
				Joseph Nicholas Bell	Labour	3,346	24.5	N/A
General Election Dec 1910 [3][4] Electorate: 17,987 Turnout: 68.7%		Liberal hold Majority: 1,785 (14.4%) Swing: 9.5% from LibU to Lib		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	7,069	57.2	+7.6
				Frederick Alexander Macquisten	Conservative	5,284	42.8	+11.3
General Election Jan 1910 [3][4] Electorate: 17,351 Turnout: 83.0%		Liberal hold Majority: 2,606 (18.1%)		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	7,146	49.6	−11.6
				Sir Robert Cranston	Liberal Unionist	4,540	31.5	−7.3
				William Walker	Labour	2,724	18.9	N/A
General Election 1906 [3][5] Electorate: 16,974 Turnout: 73.9%		Liberal hold Majority: 2,802 (22.4%)		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	7,677	61.2	+7.6
				Frank T. Cooper KC	Liberal Unionist	4,865	38.8	−7.6
General Election 1900 [3][6] Electorate: 15,484 Turnout: 11,269 (72.8%)		Liberal hold Majority: 817 (7.2%)		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	6,043	53.6	−2.8
				Edward Theodore Salvesen	Liberal Unionist	5,226	46.4	+2.8
General Election 1895 [3][6] Electorate: 13,982 Turnout: 73.8%		Liberal hold Majority: 1,325 (12.8%)		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	5,819	55.4	+1.0
				John Wilson	Liberal Unionist	4,494	44.6	−1.0
General Election 1892 [3][7] Electorate: 13,198 Turnout: 74.5%		Liberal hold Majority: 1,643 (16.8%)		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	5,738	58.4
				William Alexander Bell	Liberal Unionist	4,095	41.6
By-election 20 Aug 1886 [3][8] Electorate: 11,779 Turnout: 61.4%		Liberal hold Majority: 2,676 (37.1%)		Ronald Munro Ferguson	Liberal	4,204	58.2
				Donald Robert Macgregor[9]	Independent Liberal Unionist	1,528	21.1
				William Jacks	Liberal Unionist	1,499	20.7
				Henry Munster[10]	Independent Liberal Unionist	3	0.0
General Election 1886 [3]		Liberal hold		William Ewart Gladstone[11]	Liberal	unopposed
General Election 1885 [3][8] Electorate: 11,779 Turnout: 75.0%		Liberal hold Majority: 3,870 (43.8%)		William Jacks	Liberal	6,355	71.9	N/A
				William David Thorburn	Conservative	2,485	28.1	N/A
General Election 1880 [2] Electorate: 10,333		Liberal hold		Andrew Grant	Liberal	unopposed
By-election 29 Jan 1878 [2] Electorate: 9,739		Liberal hold		Andrew Grant	Liberal	4,929
				C. W. Tennant	Conservative	1,788
General Election 1874 [2] Electorate: 8,248		Liberal hold		Donald Robert Macgregor	Liberal	4,489
				Robert Andrew Macfie	Liberal	1,945
General Election 1868 [2][12] Electorate: 6,223		Liberal hold		Robert Andrew Macfie	Liberal	2,907
				William Miller	Liberal	2,310
General Election 1859 [2] Electorate: 2,139		Liberal hold		William Miller	Liberal	904
				Robert Andrew Macfie	Liberal	746
General Election 1857 [2] Electorate: 1,973		Liberal hold		James Moncreiff	Liberal	821
				William Miller	Liberal	701
General Election 1852 [2] Electorate: 2,027		Liberal hold		James Moncreiff	Liberal	643
				T. W. Henderson	Conservative	407
By-election 11 April 1851 [2]		Liberal hold		James Moncreiff	Liberal	unopposed
General Election 1847 [2] Electorate: 1,888		Liberal hold		Andrew Rutherfurd	Liberal	unopposed
General Election 1841 [2] Electorate: 1,732		Liberal hold		Andrew Rutherfurd	Liberal	unopposed
By-election 1839 [2]		Liberal hold		Andrew Rutherfurd	Liberal	unopposed
General Election 1837 [2] Electorate: 2,171		Liberal hold		John Archibald Murray	Liberal	unopposed
General Election 1835 [2] Electorate: 1,838		Liberal hold		John Archibald Murray	Liberal	unopposed
General Election 1832 [2] Electorate: 1,624		Liberal win		John Archibald Murray	Liberal	unopposed

See also

• District of burghs

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
2. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. pp. 554–555. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
3. Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1974]. British parliamentary election results 1885–1918 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 515. ISBN 0-900178-27-2.
4. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
5. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
8. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
9. Macgregor was supported by the local Conservative Association
10. At the by-election in 1886, Munster withdrew from the election after nominations had closed
11. At the 1886 general election, William Ewart Gladstone was returned unopposed, but being also elected for Edinburghshire, he elected to sit for the latter constituency, and a new election was held on 20 August 1886
12. Debrett's House of Commons, 1870