A burgh constituency is a type of parliamentary

constituency 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 ...

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 ...

. It is a constituency which is predominantly urban, and on this basis has been designated as a

burgh A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...

constituency. They are the successors of the historic parliamentary burghs of the

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 1708 parliamentary burghs were allocated to

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 ...

, each district serving as a constituency of the

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 ...

. In 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 ...

, from 1801 onwards, this district system continued until it was gradually abolished during the first half of the 20th century. Modern burgh constituencies are much like

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 ...

in the way that their boundaries are drawn, but election candidates are allowed lower expenses, as they do not need to travel as much. For

British House of Commons The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 memb ...

elections, the allowance is £7,150 and 5p per elector. For

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

s, the allowance is always £100,000. House of Commons constituencies were formerly used for elections to the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

, created in 1999, but they have been de-linked since 2005, by reducing the number of Commons constituencies in Scotland without a corresponding change in the Scottish Parliament. The historic distinction between county and burgh constituencies is maintained in both sets of constituencies. For Scottish Parliament elections, the allowance is £5,761 and 4.8p per elector. The following constituencies are designated as burgh constituencies in the Scottish Parliament: * Aberdeen Central * Aberdeen Donside * Airdrie and Shotts * Ayr * Coatbridge and Chryston * Dundee City East * Dundee City West * Edinburgh Central *

Edinburgh Eastern Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 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 had a population of in ...

* Edinburgh Northern and Leith * Edinburgh Pentlands * Edinburgh Southern * Edinburgh Western * Glasgow Anniesland * Glasgow Cathcart * Glasgow Kelvin * Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn * Glasgow Pollok * Glasgow Provan * Glasgow Shettleston *

Glasgow Southside Glasgow Southside is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood), being one of eight constituencies within the Glasgow City council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) ...

* Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse * Motherwell and Wishaw * Paisley *

Rutherglen Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...

* Uddingston and Bellshill

References

Burghs Politics of Scotland * {{Scotland-poli-stub

See also

References