Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency)

Sutherland
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Sutherland
1708–1918
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Caithness & Sutherland
Created from	Sutherland

Sutherland was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. It represented essentially the traditional county of Sutherland, electing one Member of Parliament (MP). The county town of Dornoch, however, was represented as a component of the Tain Burghs constituency, from 1708 to 1832, and of the Wick Burghs constituency, from 1832 to 1918.

In 1918 the Sutherland constituency and Dornoch were merged into the then new constituency of Caithness and Sutherland. In 1997 Caithness and Sutherland was merged into Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
	1708	Sir William Gordon
	1713	William Morison
	1714	Sir William Gordon
	1727	Lord Strathnaver
	1734	Sir James Fergusson
	1736	Hon. James St Clair
	1747	Hon. George Mackay
	1761	Hon. Alexander Mackay
	1768	James Wemyss
	1784	William Wemyss	Pittite
	1787	James Grant
	1802	William Dundas	Tory
	1808	John Randoll Mackenzie
	1809	George Macpherson-Grant
	1812	James Macdonald	Whig
	1816	George Macpherson-Grant
	1826	Lord Francis Leveson-Gower	Tory
	1831	Sir Hugh Innes	Whig
	1831 by-election	Roderick Macleod	Whig
	1837	Hon. William Howard	Conservative
	1840 by-election	Sir David Dundas	Liberal
	1852	Marquess of Stafford	Liberal
	1861 by-election	Sir David Dundas	Liberal
	1867 by-election	Lord Ronald Gower	Liberal
	1874	Marquess of Stafford	Liberal
	1886	Angus Sutherland	Liberal/Crofter
	1894 by-election	John MacLeod	Liberal/Crofter
	1900	Frederick Leveson-Gower	Liberal Unionist
	1906	Alpheus Cleophas Morton	Liberal
	1918	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1885: Sutherland [2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Marquess of Stafford	1,071	61.7
	Independent Liberal	Angus Sutherland	1,058	38.3
Majority			643	23.4
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

• backed by the Crofters

General Election 1886: Sutherland [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Angus Sutherland	1,463	71.5	n/a
	Liberal Unionist	Ralph Wardlaw McLeod Fullarton	583	28.5	n/a
Majority			880	43.0	n/a
Turnout				64.2
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

• backed by the Crofters

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1892: Sutherland [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Angus Sutherland	1,453	70.5
	Liberal Unionist	John MacKay	607	29.5
Majority			846	41.0
Turnout				75.0
	Liberal hold		Swing

• backed by the Crofters

Sutherland by-election, 1894[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John MacLeod	unopposed	n/a	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

• backed by the Crofters

General Election 1895: Sutherland [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John MacLeod	1,085	64.8	n/a
	Liberal Unionist	John Alexander Swanston	590	35.2	n/a
Majority			495	29.6	n/a
Turnout				67.2	n/a
	Liberal hold		Swing	n/a

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1900: Sutherland [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Neville Sutherland Leveson-Gower	1,224	61.9	+26.7
	Liberal	John MacLeod	752	38.1	-26.7
Majority			472	23.8	53.4
Turnout				76.3	+9.1
	Liberal Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	+26.7

General Election 1906: Sutherland [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alpheus Cleophas Morton	1,383	59.7	+21.6
	Liberal Unionist	Frederick Neville Sutherland Leveson-Gower	933	40.3	-21.6
Majority			450	19.4	43.2
Turnout				82.3
	Liberal gain from Liberal Unionist		Swing	+21.6

Elections in the 1910s

Alpheus Morton

General Election Jan 1910: Sutherland [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alpheus Cleophas Morton	1,607	62.8	+3.1
	Conservative	Donald Walter Cameron	951	37.2	-3.1
Majority			656	25.6	+6.2
Turnout				83.7	+1.4
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.1

Stafford

General Election Dec 1910: Sutherland [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alpheus Cleophas Morton	1,464
	Liberal Unionist	Marquess of Stafford	1,277
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal hold		Swing

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;

• Liberal: Alpheus Cleophas Morton
• Unionist: Theodore Gervase Chambers^[11]

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 6)
2. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
3. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
4. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
5. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
7. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
8. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
9. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
10. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
11. Aberdeen Journal 13 Apr 1914

See also