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East Fife (UK Parliament constituency)

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East Fife
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of ScotlandFife
1885–1983
SeatsOne
Created fromFife and (from 1918) St Andrews Burghs
Replaced byNorth East Fife and Central Fife[1]

East Fife was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. Along with West Fife, it was formed by splitting the old Fife constituency.

It elected one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post voting system, and from 1886 to 1918 it was represented by the Liberal Prime Minister (1908–16), H. H. Asquith.

Boundaries

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In 1885, the constituency comprised the parishes of Abdie, Abernethy, Anstruther Wester, Anstruther Easter, Auchtermuchty, Balmerino, Cameron, Carnbee, Ceres, Collessie, Crail, Creich, Cults, Cupar, Dairsie, Dunbog, Dunino, Elie, Falkland, Ferry-Port-on-Craig, Flisk, Forgan, Kemback, Kennoway, Kettle, Kilconquhar, Kilmany, Kilrenny, Kingsbarns, Largo, Leuchars, Logie, Monimail, Moonzie, Newburgh, Newburn, Pittenweem, St Andrews, St Leonards, St Monance, Scoonie and Strathmiglo.[2]

In 1918, on the dissolution of the St Andrews Burghs constituency, the burghs of St Andrews, Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Crail, Cupar, Kilrenny and Pittenweem were added to the constituency. It then consisted of "The Cupar and St. Andrews County Districts, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, together with the burgh of Leven and so much of the Kirkcaldy County District as is contained within the extra-burghal portion of the parish of Scoonie and the parish of Kennoway."

Members of Parliament

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Election Member Party
1885 John Boyd Kinnear Liberal
1886 Liberal Unionist
1886 H. H. Asquith Liberal
1918 Alexander Sprot Unionist
1922 James Duncan Millar Liberal
1924 Archibald Cochrane Unionist
1929 James Duncan Millar Liberal
1931 National Liberal
1933 by-election James Henderson-Stewart National Liberal
1961 by-election John Gilmour Unionist
1979 Barry Henderson Conservative
1983 Constituency abolished

Election results

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Elections in the 1880s

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General election 1885: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Boyd Kinnear 4,533 63.8
Conservative John Gilmour 2,577 36.2
Majority 1,956 27.6
Turnout 7,110 77.0
Registered electors 9,233
Liberal win (new seat)
H. H. Asquith
General election 1886: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 2,863 53.5 −10.3
Liberal Unionist John Boyd Kinnear 2,489 46.5 +10.3
Majority 374 7.0 −20.6
Turnout 5,352 58.0 −19.0
Registered electors 9,233
Liberal hold Swing −10.3

Elections in the 1890s

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General election 1892: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 3,743 52.0 −1.5
Conservative John Gilmour 3,449 48.0 +1.5
Majority 294 4.0 −3.0
Turnout 7,192 78.7 +20.7
Registered electors 9,133
Liberal hold Swing −1.5

Asquith is appointed Secretary of State for the Home Department, requiring a by-election.

By-election, 1892: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith Unopposed
Liberal hold
General election 1895: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 4,332 54.5 +2.5
Conservative John Gilmour 3,616 45.5 −2.5
Majority 716 9.0 +5.0
Turnout 7,948 84.3 +5.6
Registered electors 9,432
Liberal hold Swing +2.5

Elections in the 1900s

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General election 1900: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 4,141 60.4 +5.9
Conservative Arthur Constable 2,710 39.6 −5.9
Majority 1,431 20.8 +11.8
Turnout 6,851 72.1 −12.2
Registered electors 9,505
Liberal hold Swing +5.9
H. H. Asquith
General election 1906: East Fife[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 4,723 59.0 −1.4
Conservative John Gilmour 3,279 41.0 +1.4
Majority 1,444 18.0 −2.8
Turnout 8,002 80.0 +7.9
Registered electors 9,998
Liberal hold Swing −1.4

Elections in the 1910s

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General election January 1910: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 5,242 62.2 +3.2
Conservative Alexander Sprot 3,183 37.8 −3.2
Majority 2,059 24.4 +6.4
Turnout 8,425 81.2 +1.2
Liberal hold Swing
Asquith
General election December 1910: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith 5,149 60.6 −1.6
Conservative Alexander Sprot 3,350 39.4 +1.6
Majority 1,799 21.2 −3.2
Turnout 8,499 78.0 −3.2
Liberal hold Swing
By-election, 1914: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal H. H. Asquith Unopposed
Liberal hold
General election 1918: East Fife[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Alexander Sprot 8,996 54.2 +14.8
Liberal H. H. Asquith 6,996 42.2 −18.4
Independent Progressive William Pritchard Morgan 591 3.6 New
Majority 2,002 12.0 N/A
Turnout 16,581 54.0 −24.0
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing

Elections in the 1920s

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Duncan Millar
General election 1922: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Duncan Millar 12,697 56.0 +13.8
Unionist Alexander Sprot 9,987 44.0 −10.2
Majority 2,710 12.0 N/A
Turnout 22,684 67.2 +13.2
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +12.0
General election 1923: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Duncan Millar 12,825 55.5 −0.5
Unionist Alexander Sprot 10,275 44.5 +0.5
Majority 2,550 11.0 −1.0
Turnout 23,100 67.8 +0.6
Liberal hold Swing -0.5
General election 1924: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Archibald Cochrane 12,664 53.0 +8.5
Liberal James Duncan Millar 11,242 47.0 −8.5
Majority 1,422 6.0 N/A
Turnout 23,906 69.2 +1.4
Unionist gain from Liberal Swing
General election 1929: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal James Duncan Millar 14,329 42.9 −4.1
Unionist Archibald Cochrane 13,748 41.1 −11.9
Labour W R Garson 5,350 6.0 New
Majority 581 1.8 N/A
Turnout 33,427 73.3 +4.1
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing +3.9

Elections in the 1930s

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1931 general election: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Duncan Millar Unopposed
National Liberal gain from Liberal
Henderson-Stewart
1933 East Fife by-election[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 15,770 52.2 N/A
Labour Joseph Westwood 6,635 22.0 New
Agricultural Party J. L. Anderson 4,404 14.6 New
Independent Liberal David Edwin Keir 2,296 7.6 New
National (Scotland) Eric Linklater 1,083 3.6 New
Majority 9,135 30.2 N/A
Turnout 30,188 65.6 N/A
National Liberal hold Swing
General election 1935: East Fife [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 27,915 82.3 +30.1
Labour Alexander Kerr Davidson 6,016 17.7 −4.3
Majority 21,899 64.6 +34.4
Turnout 33,931 71.0 +5.4
National Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

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General election 1945: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 24,765 69.4 −12.9
Labour Co-op Samuel McLaren 10,920 30.6 +12.9
Majority 13,845 38.8 −25.8
Turnout 35,685 70.8 −0.2
National Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

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General election 1950: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 25,749 63.7 −5.7
Labour Co-op Samuel McLaren 10,694 26.5 −4.1
Liberal David Alexander Freeman 3,975 9.8 N/A
Majority 15,055 37.2 −1.6
Turnout 40,418 81.1 +1.3
National Liberal hold Swing
General election 1951: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 28,446 70.6 +6.9
Labour John McGowan 11,844 29.4 +2.9
Majority 16,602 41.2 +4.0
Turnout 40,290 78.7 −2.4
National Liberal hold Swing
General election 1955: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 26,104 70.6 0.0
Labour John McGowan 10,872 29.4 0.0
Majority 15,522 41.2 0.0
Turnout 36,976 73.2 −5.5
National Liberal hold Swing
General election 1959: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal James Henderson-Stewart 26,585 69.9 −0.6
Labour John Nicol 11,421 30.0 +0.6
Majority 15,164 39.9 −1.3
Turnout 38,006 75.2 +2.0
National Liberal hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

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1961 East Fife by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Gilmour 15,948 47.5 −22.4
Labour John Smith 8,882 26.4 −3.6
Liberal Donald Leach 8,786 26.1 N/A
Majority 7,066 21.1 −18.8
Turnout 33,616
Unionist hold Swing -9.3
General election 1964: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Gilmour 21,001 54.2 −15.7
Labour John Smith 9,765 25.2 −4.8
Liberal Derek C Wood 5,075 13.1 N/A
SNP James Braid 2,635 6.8 New
Independent Loyalist Leslie M.C. Greene 257 0.7 New
Majority 11,236 29.0 −10.9
Turnout 38,733 77.8 +2.6
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1966: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gilmour 19,323 51.5 −2.7
Labour Harry Peaker 9,229 24.6 −0.6
SNP James Braid 5,394 14.4 +7.6
Liberal Derek A. Barrie 3,574 9.5 −3.6
Majority 10,094 26.9 −2.1
Turnout 37,520 76.1 −1.7
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

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General election 1970: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gilmour 21,619 54.6 +3.1
Labour Harry Ewing 9,756 24.6 0.0
SNP James Braid 4,666 11.8 −2.6
Liberal Willis Pickard 3,577 9.0 −0.5
Majority 11,863 30.0 +3.1
Turnout 39,618 74.4 −1.7
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gilmour 21,172 47.9 −6.7
SNP James Braid 8,593 19.5 +7.7
Liberal Willis Pickard 7,766 17.6 +8.6
Labour Bashir Maan 6,634 15.0 −9.6
Majority 12,579 28.4 −1.6
Turnout 44,165 78.8 +4.4
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Gilmour 16,116 38.8 −9.1
SNP James Braid 13,202 31.8 +12.3
Labour Helen Liddell 7,040 16.9 +1.9
Liberal D.W.C. Docherty 5,247 12.6 −5.0
Majority 2,914 7.0 −21.4
Turnout 41,605 73.7 −5.1
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: East Fife
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Barry Henderson 20,117 43.0 +4.2
Liberal Menzies Campbell 10,762 23.0 +10.4
Labour Henry McLeish 9,339 19.9 +3.0
SNP J. Marshall 6,612 14.1 −17.7
Majority 9,355 20.0 +13.0
Turnout 46,830 79.0 +5.3
Conservative hold Swing

References

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  1. ^ "'Fife East', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  2. ^ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  4. ^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench
  5. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  6. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939

Sources

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See also

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer
1905–1908 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Constituency represented by the prime minister
1908–1916 		Succeeded by
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