As a result of the 1707 union of the

Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, traditionally said to have been founded in 843. Its territories expanded and shrank, but it came to occupy the northern third of the island of Great Britain, sharing a Anglo-Sc ...

with the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from the late 9th century, when it was unified from various Heptarchy, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to f ...

(including

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

) to form the

Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain, also known as the Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in Western Europe from 1707 to the end of 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the Kingd ...

, within the newly formed

Parliament of Great Britain The Parliament of Great Britain was formed in May 1707 following the ratification of the Acts of Union 1707, Acts of Union by both the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland. The Acts ratified the treaty of Union which created a ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

had 48

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

representing seats for 45 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, normally located at the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. (Westminster being the meeting place for the former

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

Scottish Westminster constituenciesAs set out in Section XII of the Union with Scotland Act, 1706 were first used in the 1708 general election. Prior to that election Scotland was represented by MPs who were co-opted as commissioners of the former

Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In the Parliament of Great Britain, Scotland had 15 burgh constituencies and 33

county constituencies In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

, with each representing a seat for one MP. The county constituencies included, however, three pairs of ''alternating constituencies'', so that only one member of a pair was represented at any one time. Therefore, Scotland had more constituencies than seats. With the exception of

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, the burgh constituencies were

districts of burghs The Act of Union 1707 and pre-Union Scottish legislation provided for 14 Members of Parliament (MPs) from Scotland to be elected from districts of burghs. All the parliamentary burghs (burghs represented in the pre-Union Parliament of Scotland ...

. 1708 boundaries were used for all subsequent election of the Parliament of Great Britain. In 1801 the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

was merged with the Parliament of Great Britain to form the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

, also at Westminster. The first

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

of the new parliament was the general election of 1802, and there was no change to the boundaries of any pre-existing Westminster constituency. 1802 boundaries were used also in the general elections of

1806 Events January–March *January 1 ** The French Republican Calendar is abolished. ** The Kingdom of Bavaria is established by Napoleon. *January 5 – The body of British naval leader Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, lies in state ...

1807 Events January–March *January 7 – The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland issues an Order in Council prohibiting British ships from trading with France or its allies. *January 20 – The Sierra Leone Company, faced with b ...

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege ...

1818 Events January–March * January 1 ** Battle of Koregaon: Troops of the British East India Company score a decisive victory over the Maratha Confederacy, Maratha Empire. ** English author Mary Shelley publishes the novel ''Frankenstein ...

1820 Events January–March *January 1 – A constitutionalist military insurrection at Cádiz leads to the summoning of the Spanish Parliament to meet on March 7, becoming the nominal beginning of the "Trienio Liberal" in History of Spain (1 ...

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a satirical weekly. * January 17 – The Ballantyne printing business in Edinburgh (Scotland) crashes, ruining noveli ...

1830 It is known in European history as a rather tumultuous year with the Revolutions of 1830 in France, Belgium, Poland, Switzerland and Italy. Events January–March * January 11 – LaGrange College (later the University of North Alabama) ...

and

1831 Events January–March * January 1 – William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing '' The Liberator'', an anti-slavery newspaper, in Boston, Massachusetts. * January 10 – Japanese department store, Takashimaya in Kyoto estab ...

. For the 1832 general election, Scottish Westminster constituencies were redefined by the

Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 The Scottish Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 65) was an act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. The act was passed at approximately the same time as the Reform Act 1832, which applied to England ...

Burgh constituencies

County constituencies

References

{{reflist 1708 1708 establishments in Scotland Political history of Scotland 1708 in politics Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1708 1832 disestablishments in Scotland Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1832