Berwick and East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency)

Berwick and East Lothian
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Berwickshire, East Lothian
1950–1983
Seats	One
Created from	Berwick and Haddington
Replaced by	East Lothian Roxburgh & Berwickshire

Berwick and East Lothian was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first past the post system.

History

The constituency was created in 1950 and abolished in 1983.

Boundaries

Berwick and East Lothian covered the counties of Berwickshire and East Lothian. It was largely created from Berwick and Haddington and was replaced by East Lothian and part of Roxburgh and Berwickshire for the 1983 general election.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1950	John James Robertson	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Unionist Party (Scotland)/meta/color" |	1951	William Anstruther-Gray	Unionist
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1966	John Mackintosh	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Feb 1974	Michael Ancram	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Oct 1974	John Mackintosh	Labour
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1978 by-election	John Home Robertson	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	21,977	43.5	+0.2
	Conservative	Margaret Marshall	20,304	40.2	+2.6
	Liberal	Tam Glen	4,948	9.8	+3.9
	SNP	A McCartney	3,300	6.5	−6.7
Majority			1,673	3.3	+1.5
Turnout			60,919	82.9
	Labour hold		Swing

By-election 1978: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	20,530	47.4	+4.1
	Conservative	Margaret Marshall	17,418	40.2	+2.6
	SNP	Isobel Lindsay	3,799	8.8	−4.4
	Liberal	Tam Glen	1,543	3.6	−2.3
Majority			3,112	7.2	+1.5
Turnout			43,290
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.8

General Election October 1974: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Mackintosh	20,682	43.3	+1.0
	Conservative	Michael Ancram	17,942	37.6	−5.8
	SNP	R. Macleod	6,323	13.2	−1.0
	Liberal	C.F. Lawson	2,811	5.9	K.A.
Majority			2,740	5.7
Turnout			47,758	80.8	−5.0
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.4

General Election February 1974: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Michael Ancram	21,234	43.4	−0.8
	Labour	John Mackintosh	20,694	42.3	−3.3
	SNP	D. Simpson	6,956	14.2	+4.0
Majority			540	1.1
Turnout			48,884	85.8	+2.1
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+1.3

General Election 1970: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Mackintosh	21,107	45.6	−6.3
	Conservative	J.D.M Hardie	20,466	44.2	−3.9
	SNP	D.R.F. Simpson	4,735	10.2	K.A.
Majority			641	1.4
Turnout			46,308	83.7	−2.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Mackintosh	22,620	51.9	+2.6
	Conservative	William Anstruther-Gray	20,931	48.1	−2.6
Majority			1,689	3.9
Turnout			43,551	86.1	+1.1
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.6

General Election 1964: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Anstruther-Gray	20,669	50.7	−2.7
	Labour	John Mackintosh	21,044	49.3	+2.7
Majority			625	1.5
Turnout			41,713	85.0	+1.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Anstruther-Gray	22,472	53.4	+0.l
	Labour	P. Jones	19,622	46.6	−0.l
Majority			2,850	6.8
Turnout			42,094	83.2	+2.9
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.l

General Election 1955: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Anstruther-Gray	21,739	53.3	+0.5
	Labour	P. Jones	19,029	46.7	−0.5
Majority			2,710	6.7
Turnout			40,768	80.3	−3.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.5

General Election 1951: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Anstruther-Gray	22,510	52.8	+11.9
	Labour	John James Robertson	20,152	47.2	+6.3
Majority			2,358	5.5
Turnout			42,662	83.8	+1.0
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	+2.8

General Election 1950: Berwick and East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John James Robertson	17,105	40.9	K.A.
	Conservative	William Anstruther-Gray	15,377	36.8	K.A.
	Liberal	J.A. Stoddart	9,352	22.4	K.A.
Majority			1,728	4.1	K.A.
Turnout			41,834	82.8	K.A.
	Labour win (new seat)

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 2)