Caithness and Sutherland

Caithness and Sutherland
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Outline map Location of Caithness and Sutherland within Scotland
Subdivision	Highland
1918–1997
Created from	Caithness, Sutherland and Wick Burghs
Replaced by	Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross

Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

The constituency was created by merging the constituencies of Caithness and Sutherland and the Dornoch and Wick components of the Wick Burghs constituency.

In 1997 the constituency was superseded by the creation of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which merged Caithness and Sutherland and the Easter Ross area of Ross, Cromarty and Skye.

Caithness and Sutherland was geographically one of the largest constituencies in the United Kingdom, as well as the most northerly constituency on the mainland (only the island constituency of Orkney and Shetland was further north).

1918 constituency reform

The creation of Caithness and Sutherland as a single constituency was a part of a package of boundary reform also affecting many other parts of the United Kingdom. The reform was the first since the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, and its main aim was to make constituencies more equal in terms of the sizes of their electorates.

Local government areas

1918 to 1975

When created the constituency covered the county of Caithness and the county of Sutherland, including the burghs of Dornoch, Thurso and Wick.

1975 to 1983

In 1975 counties and burghs were abolished and the constituency became an area within the Highland region. The region included two new local government districts, called Caithness and Sutherland. The Caithness district was entirely within the constituency. The Sutherland district had a small area, the Kincardine electoral division, within the Ross and Cromarty constituency.

1983 to 1996

Constituency boundaries were redrawn in 1983, and the Caithness and Sutherland constituency was enlarged to cover the whole of the Sutherland district.

1996 to 1997

In 1996 the districts were abolished and the Highland region became a unitary council area. Throughout the remainder of the life of the constituency the Highland Council had area committees representing the areas of the former districts.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1918	Sir Leicester Harmsworth	Coalition Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1922	Sir Archibald Sinclair	National Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1923		Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1945	Eric Gandar Dower	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1950	Sir David Robertson	Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1959		Independent Conservative
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1964	George Mackie	Liberal
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1966	Robert Maclennan	Labour
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1981		SDP
style="color:inherit;background-color: Template:Party color" |	1988		Liberal Democrats
	1997	constituency abolished

At the time of the 1918 general election, Sir Leicester Harmsworth had been MP for the constituency of Caithness since the 1900 general election.

In the general election of 1997, Robert Maclennan was elected MP for the then new constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, a seat he held until retiring from parliament at the 2001 general election.

Election results

File:Caithness & Sutherland election history.png

Election results since 1918

Elections in the 1910s

File:Leicester Harmsworth.jpeg

Sir Leicester Harmsworth

Template:Election box winning candidate with party link coalition 1918Template:Election box end 1918

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1918: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Francis John Robertson	4,036	37.4
Majority			2,733	25.2
Turnout			10,785
	win (new seat)

General election 1922: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Archibald Sinclair	7,715	57.1	−5.5
		Leicester Harmsworth	5,803	42.9	+5.5
Majority			1,912	14.2	−11.0
Turnout			13,518	60.1
	hold		Swing

General election 1923: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Archibald Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1924: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Archibald Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1929: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Archibald Sinclair	13,462	73.9	N/A
		James Duncan	3,041	16.7	New
		Charles G Oman	1,711	9.4	New
Majority			10,421	57.2	N/A
Turnout			18,214	66.5	N/A
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Archibald Sinclair	Unopposed	N/A	N/A
	hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1935: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Archibald Sinclair	12,071	72.32	N/A
		William Bruce	4,621	27.68	New
Majority			7,650	44.64	N/A
Turnout			16,692	60.06	N/A
	hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Eric Gandar Dower	5,564	33.5	New
		Robert Ian Aonas MacInnes	5,558	33.4	New
		Archibald Sinclair	5,503	33.1	−39.2
Majority			6	0.04	N/A
Turnout			16,625	64.2	+4.1
	gain from		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		David Robertson	6,969	36.0	+2.5
		Archibald Sinclair	6,700	34.6	+1.5
		Alasdair MacArthur	5,676	29.3	−4.1
Majority			269	1.4	+1.4
Turnout			25,021	76.6	+12.4
	hold		Swing	+3.3

General election 1951: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		David Robertson	9,814	49.2	+13.2
		Richard Murray	6,799	34.1	+4.8
		Peter J M McEwan	3,299	16.6	−18.0
Majority			3,015	15.14	+14.7
Turnout			19,912	73.26	+3.3
	hold		Swing	+4.2

General election 1955: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		David Robertson	10,453	56.5	+7.3
		Hugh F Sutherland	5,364	29.0	−5.1
		John Stuart Mowat	2,674	14.5	−2.1
Majority			5,089	27.5	+12.4
Turnout			18,491	69.5	−3.8
	hold		Swing	+6.1

General election 1959: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		David Robertson	12,163	65.3	+8.8
		Ronald Murray	6,438	34.6	+5.6
Majority			5,725	30.7	N/A
Turnout			18,601	69.6	+0.1
	gain from		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		George Mackie	7,894	36.1	New
		John B Urquhart	6,619	30.2	−4.4
		Patrick Maitland	4,550	20.8	New
		John M Young	2,795	12.7	−52.6
Majority			1,275	5.9	N/A
Turnout			21,858	80.1	+11.5
	gain from		Swing

General election 1966: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	8,308	39.1	+8.9
		George Mackie	8,244	38.8	+2.7
		Hamish Watt	4,662	21.9	+1.1
Majority			64	0.3	N/A
Turnout			21,214	79.2	−0.9
	gain from		Swing	+3.1

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	8,768	36.7	−2.4
		George Mackie	6,063	25.4	−13.4
		John M Young	5,334	22.3	+0.4
		Donald G. Barr	3,690	15.4	New
Majority			2,705	11.3	+11.0
Turnout			23,855
	hold		Swing	+5.5

General election February 1974: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	8,574	36.2	−0.5
		Michael R Burnett	6,222	26.2	+0.8
		G Susan Bell	5,104	21.5	−0.8
		Eric Alexander Sutherland	3,814	16.1	+0.7
Majority			2,352	10.0	−1.3
Turnout			23,714	83.0
	hold		Swing	-0.7

General election October 1974: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	7,941	35.3	−0.9
		Eric Alexander Sutherland	5,381	23.9	+7.8
		Michael R Burnett	4,949	22.0	−4.2
		Albert McQuarrie	4,240	18.8	−2.7
Majority			2,560	11.4	+1.4
Turnout			22,511	78.1	−4.9
	hold		Swing	−4.3

General election 1979: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	9,613	41.5	+6.2
		Richard H. Wardrop	7,074	30.5	+11.7
		Robin R. Shaw	6,487	28.0	+4.1
Majority			2,539	11.0	−0.4
Turnout			23,714	78.4	+0.3
	hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	12,119	52.0	+10.5
		Alistair M. Scouller	5,276	22.7	−7.8
		Danny Carrigan	3,325	14.3	−27.2
		Jim Ingram	2,568	11.0	−17.0
Majority			6,843	29.3	N/A
Turnout			23,288	75.4	−3.0
	gain from		Swing

General election 1987: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	12,338	53.7	+1.7
		Robert Hamilton	3,844	16.7	−6.0
		Allan Byron	3,437	14.9	+0.6
		Archibal MacGregor	2,371	10.3	−0.7
		William Mowat	686	2.9	New
		Bernard Planterose	333	1.4	New
Majority			8,494	37.0	+7.7
Turnout			23,009	73.6	−1.8
	hold		Swing	+3.8

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Caithness and Sutherland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Template:Encodefirst
		Robert Maclennan	10,032	45.1	−8.6
		George Bruce	4,667	20.9	+4.2
		Kerr MacGregor	4,049	18.2	+7.9
		Michael F. Coyne	3,483	15.6	+0.7
Majority			5,365	24.2	−12.8
Turnout			22,231	72.5	−1.1
	hold		Swing	−6.4

See also

• Former United Kingdom Parliament constituencies