Combined Scottish Universities (UK Parliament constituency)

Combined Scottish Universities
Combined Scottish Universities
Former university constituency; for the House of Commons
1918–1950
Seats	Three
Created from	Glasgow & Aberdeen Universities; Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities

The Combined Scottish Universities was a three-member university constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 1950. It was created by merging the single-member constituencies of Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities.

Boundaries

The constituency was not a physical area but was rather elected by the graduates of the Scottish Universities of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

The constituency returned three Members of Parliament to Westminster, elected by Single Transferable Vote. The by-elections used the first past the post voting system.

This University constituency was created by the Representation of the People Act 1918 and abolished in 1950 by the Representation of the People Act 1948.

Members of Parliament

Election	First member		First party		Second party		Third party
1918		Sir William Cheyne	Coalition Conservative	Dugald McCoig Cowan	Coalition Liberal	Sir Henry Craik	Coalition Conservative
1922		Sir George Berry	Unionist		Liberal	Sir Henry Craik	Unionist
Apr 1927		Sir George Berry	Unionist			John Buchan	Unionist
1931		Noel Skelton	Unionist
Mar 1934				George Alexander Morrison	Liberal
Jun 1935					National Liberal	Sir John Kerr	Unionist
Jan 1936		Ramsay MacDonald	National Labour
Feb 1938		Sir John Anderson	National
Apr 1945				Sir John Boyd-Orr	Independent
Nov 1946				Walter Elliot	Unionist
1950	University constituencies abolished

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election, November 1918: Combined Scottish Universities ^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Unionist	YWatson Cheyne	3,719	28.7
	Liberal	YDugald Cowan	3,499	27.0
	Unionist	YHenry Craik	3,286	25.4
	Labour	Peter Macdonald	1,581	12.2
	Independent	William Robert Smith	850	6.6
Majority			1,705	13.2
Turnout			12,935
	Unionist win (new seat)
	Liberal win (new seat)
	Unionist win (new seat)

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Combined Scottish Universities
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Unionist	George Andreas Berry	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Liberal	Dugald Cowan	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Unionist	Henry Craik	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

General election 1923: Combined Scottish Universities
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Unionist	George Andreas Berry	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Liberal	Dugald Cowan	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Unionist	Henry Craik	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

General election 1924: Combined Scottish Universities ^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Henry Craik	7,188	40.8	*N/A*
	Liberal	Dugald Cowan	5,011	28.4	*N/A*
	Unionist	George Andreas Berry	3,781	21.5	*N/A*
	Labour	John Martin Munro	1,639	9.3	New
Majority			2,142	12.2	N/A
Turnout			17,619
	Unionist hold		Swing
	Liberal hold		Swing
	Unionist hold		Swing

1927 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Buchan	16,963	87.7	+66.2
	Labour	Hugh Guthrie	2,378	12.3	+3.0
Majority			14,585	75.4	+63.2
Turnout			19,341	55.1	0.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1929: Combined Scottish Universities (3 seats) ^[3]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2
	Unionist	John Buchan	39.7	9,959
	Liberal	Dugald Cowan	26.7	6,698
	Unionist	George Berry	22.9	5,755	9,262
	Labour	James Kerr (Scottish doctor)	10.7	2,691	2,867
Electorate: 43,192 Valid: 25,103 Quota: 6,276 Turnout: 25,103

Elections in the 1930s

General election, October 1931: Combined Scottish Universities
	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Unionist	John Buchan	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Liberal	Dugald Cowan	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*
Unionist	Noel Skelton	Unopposed	*N/A*	*N/A*

1934 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Morrison	18,070	79.2	*N/A*
	Labour	Robert Gibson	4,750	20.8	New
Majority			13,320	58.4	N/A
Turnout			22,820	44.3	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing

1935 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Graham Kerr	20,507	82.7	*N/A*
	Labour	Naomi Mitchison	4,293	17.3	−3.5
Majority			16,214	65.4	N/A
Turnout			24,800	48.1	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election, November 1935: Combined Scottish Universities ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Graham Kerr	8,252	30.4	*N/A*
	National Liberal	George Morrison	7,529	27.7	*N/A*
	Unionist	Noel Skelton^[5]	7,479	27.6	*N/A*
	SNP	Andrew Dewar Gibb	3,865	14.2	New
Majority			723	13.4	N/A
Turnout			27,125		N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing

1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Labour	Ramsay MacDonald	16,393	56.5	*New*
	SNP	Andrew Dewar Gibb	9,034	31.1	+16.9
	Labour	David Cleghorn Thomson	3,597	12.4	New
Majority			7,359	37.4	N/A
Turnout			29,024	54.8	+3.6
	National Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	N/A

1938 Combined Scottish Universities by-election^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Anderson	14,042	48.8	−7.7
	Independent	Frances H. Melville	5,618	19.5	New
	SNP	Andrew Dewar Gibb	5,246	18.2	−12.9
	Independent Progressive	Peter Chalmers Mitchell	3,868	13.5	New
Majority			8,424	29.3	+3.9
Turnout			28,774	52.1	−2.7
	National hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

1945 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Boyd-Orr	20,197	71.2	*N/A*
	National Liberal	R.M. Munro	8,177	28.8	N/A
Majority			12,020	43.4	N/A
Turnout			28,374	44.6	−7.5
Registered electors			63,581
	Independent gain from National Liberal		Swing

1945 general election: Combined Scottish Universities
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	YJohn Anderson	16,011	48.8	*New*
	Independent	YJohn Boyd-Orr	10,685	32.6	*New*
	Labour	Halliday Sutherland	2,860	8.7	N/A
	Liberal	Ralph Somerville Weir	1,872	5.7	N/A
	Unionist	YJohn Graham Kerr	1,361	4.2	−53.8
Majority			7,825	23.9
Turnout			32,789	51.6	+3.5
	National hold		Swing	N/A
	Independent hold		Swing	N/A
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

1946 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Walter Elliot	22,152	68.2	+64.0
	Labour	C. E. M. Joad	3,731	11.5	+2.8
	Liberal	John Bannerman	2,593	8.0	+2.3
	Independent	J. G. Jameson	2,080	6.4	N/A
	National Liberal	Robert Scott Stevenson	1,938	5.9	N/A
Majority			18,421	56.7	N/A
Turnout			32,494	50.7	−0.9
	Unionist gain from Independent		Swing

References

^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
^ The Times, 11 June 1929
^ The Times, 26 November 1935
^ Skelton died on 22 November, and his election was announced posthumously
^ "Ex-Premier returned to Parliament. 7359 Majority in Universities By-election". The Glasgow Herald. 4 February 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
^ "Universities By-election. Sir J. Anderson's Success". The Glasgow Herald. 1 March 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "S" (part 2)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Woolwich West	Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer 1943–1945	Succeeded by Bishop Auckland

[1] Whitaker's Almanack, 1920

[2] Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927

[3] The Times, 11 June 1929

[4] The Times, 26 November 1935

[5] Skelton died on 22 November, and his election was announced posthumously

[6] "Ex-Premier returned to Parliament. 7359 Majority in Universities By-election". The Glasgow Herald. 4 February 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

[7] "Universities By-election. Sir J. Anderson's Success". The Glasgow Herald. 1 March 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 19 March 2017.

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v t e Scottish Westminster constituencies
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Current constituencies (2024)
Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Aberdeenshire North and Moray East Airdrie & Shotts Alloa & Grangemouth Angus & Perthshire Glens Arbroath & Broughty Ferry Argyll, Bute & South Lochaber Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Bathgate & Linlithgow Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross Central Ayrshire Coatbridge & Bellshill Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy Cumbernauld & Kirkintilloch Dumfries & Galloway Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Dundee Central Dunfermline & Dollar East Kilbride & Strathaven East Renfrewshire Edinburgh East & Musselburgh Edinburgh North & Leith Edinburgh South Edinburgh South West Edinburgh West Falkirk Glasgow East Glasgow North Glasgow North East Glasgow South Glasgow South West Glasgow West Glenrothes & Mid Fife Gordon & Buchan Hamilton & Clyde Valley Inverclyde & Renfrewshire West Inverness, Skye & West Ross-shire Kilmarnock & Loudoun Livingston Lothian East Mid Dunbartonshire Midlothian Moray West, Nairn & Strathspey Motherwell, Wishaw & Carluke Na h-Eileanan an Iar North Ayrshire & Arran North East Fife Orkney & Shetland Paisley & Renfrewshire North Paisley & Renfrewshire South Perth & Kinross-shire Rutherglen Stirling & Strathallan West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine West Dunbartonshire

v t e University constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
England	Cambridge University (1603–1950) Oxford University (1603–1950) London University (1868–1950) Combined English Universities (1918–1950)
Ireland	Dublin University (1801–1922) National University of Ireland (1918–1922) Queen's University of Belfast (1918–1950)
Scotland	Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities (1868–1918) Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities (1868–1918) Combined Scottish Universities (1918–1950)
Wales	University of Wales (1918–1950)