Sutherland was a Scottish
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 ...
of 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 ...
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 ...
from 1708 to 1801 and of 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 to 1918.
Creation
The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the
Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced 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 ...
shire constituency of
Sutherlandshire.
Boundaries
The constituency represented essentially the
traditional county of Sutherland. The
county town
In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...
of
Dornoch
Dornoch (; ; ) is a town, seaside resort, parish and former royal burgh in the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east. ...
, however, was represented as a component of the
Tain Burghs constituency, from 1708 to 1832, and of the
Wick Burghs constituency, from 1832 to 1918.
History
The constituency elected one
Member of Parliament (MP) by the
first past the post
First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
system until the seat was abolished in 1918.
In 1918 the Sutherland constituency and Dornoch were merged into the then new constituency of
Caithness and Sutherland. In 1997 Caithness and Sutherland was merged into
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 1830s
Innes' death caused a by-election.
Elections in the 1840s
Howard resigned by accepting the office of
Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds, causing a by-election.
Dundas was appointed
Solicitor General for Scotland, requiring a by-election.
Dundas was appointed
Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces
In the United Kingdom, the Judge Advocate General is a judge responsible for the Court Martial process within the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. As such the post has existed since 2006; prior to this date the Judge Advocate General ...
, requiring a by-election.
Elections in the 1850s
Elections in the 1860s
Sutherland-Leveson-Gower succeeded to the peerage, becoming 3rd Duke of Sutherland, and causing a by-election.
Dundas resigned, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1870s
Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
Sutherland was appointed Chairman of the
Fishery Board for Scotland, causing a by-election.
Elections in the 1900s
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:
Alpheus Morton
*Unionist: Theodore Gervase Chambers
[Aberdeen Journal 13 Apr 1914]
References
{{Scottish Westminster constituencies (style 1)
Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster)
Sutherland
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1918
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1708