Dumfriesshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Dumfriesshire was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of Great Britain (at Westminster) from 1708 to 1801 and in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (also at Westminster) from 1801 until 2005. It was known as Dumfries from 1950.

Creation
The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Dumfries & Annandale.

History
The constituency was virtually unchanged until it was redistributed in 2005. It was redistributed to Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale and Dumfries and Galloway as part of a major reorganisation of Scottish constituencies. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system.

Boundaries
From 1885 to 1918 it comprised the shire districts of the county. From 1918 all the burghs were added.

MPs 1832–2005
1 Dr Hunter was elected in 1929 as a Liberal candidate, but in the split after the 1931 general election, he joined the National Liberals.

Elections in the 1850s
Douglas was appointed Comptroller of the Household, requiring a by-election.

Douglas succeeded to the peerage, becoming 8th Marquess of Queensberry and causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1860s
Waterlow was disqualified, owing to holding a government contract at the time of the election, causing a by-election.

Elections in the 1910s
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 July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;
 * Liberal:
 * Unionist: William T. Shaw

Elections in the 1920s