Scottish Westminster constituencies were Scottish constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain, normally at the Palace of Westminster, from 1708 to 1801, and have been constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, also at Westminster, since 1801. Constituency boundaries have changed on various occasions, and are now subject to both periodical and ad hoc reviews of the Boundary Commission for Scotland.
Since 1950 each Scottish constituency has been either a burgh constituency or a county constituency, defined by geographic boundaries and representing a seat for one Member of Parliament (MP). More historically there have been university constituencies and constituencies representing two or three parliamentary seats.
Scottish local government counties and burghs were abolished in 1975. A burgh constituency is now one with a predominantly urban electorate, and a county constituency is one with more than a token rural electorate.
Counties and burghs were replaced with two-tier regions and districts and unitary islands council areas, and the regions and districts were replaced with unitary council areas in 1996.
The history of constituency boundaries can be divided into eleven distinct periods, as below, each starting with the date of a general election when a new set of boundaries was first used.
1708 to 1832
As a result of the union of Scotland with England and Wales and the creation of the Parliament of Great Britain in 1707, Scotland had 48 constituencies representing seats for 45 MPs in the House of Commons of the new parliament at Westminster. Westminster was previously the meeting place for the Parliament of England, which covered both England and Wales.
Scottish Westminster constituencies were first used in the 1708 general election. Prior to that election Scotland was represented in the new parliament by MPs who were co-opted as commissioners of the former Parliament of Scotland.
In the Parliament of Great Britain, Scotland had 15 burgh constituencies and 33 county constituencies, with each representing a seat for one MP. The county constituencies included, however, three pairs of alternating constituencies, so that only one member of a pair was represented at any one time. Therefore, Scotland had more constituencies than seats. With the exception of Edinburgh, the burgh constituencies consisted of districts of burghs.
1708 boundaries were used for all subsequent elections of the Parliament of Great Britain.
The creation of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801 was a merger of the Parliament of Ireland with the Parliament of Great Britain. The first general election of this new parliament was the general election of 1802, and there was at that stage no change to the boundaries of any pre-existing Westminster constituency.
1802 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1806, 1807, 1812, 1818, 1820, 1826, 1830 and 1831.
1832 to 1868
For the 1832 general election, Scottish Westminster constituencies were redefined by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832.
As a result of the legislation, there were 21 burgh constituencies and 30 county constituencies. Except for Edinburgh and Glasgow, which were two-seat constituencies, each Scottish constituency represented a seat for one MP. Therefore, Scotland had 53 parliamentary seats.
The constituencies related nominally to counties and burghs, but boundaries for parliamentary purposes were not necessarily those for other purposes. 14 of the burgh constituencies were districts of burghs.
1832 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1835, 1837, 1841, 1847, 1852, 1857, 1859 and 1865.
1868 to 1885
For the 1868 general election Scottish Westminster constituencies were redefined by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868. For the same general election, boundaries in England were redefined by the Representation of the People Act 1867 and there was, effectively, a transfer of seven parliamentary seats from England to Scotland.
As a result of the legislation, Scotland had 22 burgh constituencies, 32 county constituencies and two university constituencies. Except for Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow, each Scottish constituency represented a seat for one MP. Edinburgh and Dundee represented two seats each, and Glasgow represented three seats. Therefore, Scotland was entitled to 60 MPs.
The constituencies again related nominally to counties and burghs but, again, boundaries for parliamentary purposes were not necessarily those for other purposes.
1868 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1874 and 1880.