# Bute and Northern Ayrshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Bute and Northern Ayrshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

## History

The constituency was formed by combining Buteshire (which historically included the islands of Arran, Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae) with part of North Ayrshire. The rest of Ayrshire North was merged into Kilmarnock.
In 1918 the constituency consisted of "The county of Bute, inclusive of all burghs, situated therein, and the county district of Northern Ayr, inclusive of all burghs situated therein except insofar as included in the Ayr District of Burghs".
In 1950 some of the constituency was transferred to the then new constituency of Central Ayrshire.
In 1983, Bute and Northern Ayrshire was divided between Argyll and Bute and Cunninghame North.

## Boundaries

1918–1950: The county of Bute, and the county district of Northern Ayr, inclusive of all burghs therein except in so far as included in the Ayr District of Burghs.
1950–1955: The county of Bute, the burghs of Ardrossan, Largs, and Saltcoats, and the district of Saltcoats.
1955–1983: The county of Bute, the burghs of Ardrossan, Largs, Saltcoats, and Stevenston, and the district of Saltcoats.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1918 | Sir Aylmer Hunter-Weston | Unionist |
| | 1935 | Sir Charles MacAndrew | Unionist |
| | 1959 | Sir Fitzroy Maclean | Unionist |
| | Feb 1974 | John Corrie | Conservative |
| 1983 | 1983 | constituency abolished: see Argyll and Bute & Cunninghame North | constituency abolished: see Argyll and Bute & Cunninghame North |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Bute & Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Aylmer Hunter-Weston | 12,638 | 61.5 | |
| | Labour | Robert Smith | 5,848 | 28.5 | |
| | Liberal | Hugh Fraser Campbell | 2,059 | 10.0 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,790 | 33.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,545 | 55.3 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 37,158 | | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Bute & Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Aylmer Hunter-Weston | 14,368 | 60.6 | −0.9 |
| | Labour | John Paton | 9,323 | 39.4 | +10.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,045 | 21.2 | −11.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,691 | 59.5 | +4.2 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 39,817 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −5.9 | |
General election 1923: Bute & Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Aylmer Hunter-Weston | 12,320 | 55.6 | −5.0 |
| | Labour | Peter Campbell Stephen | 9,855 | 44.4 | +5.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,465 | 11.2 | −10.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,175 | 55.9 | −3.6 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 39,685 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −5.0 | |
General election 1924: Bute & Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Aylmer Hunter-Weston | 16,203 | 61.7 | +6.1 |
| | Labour | Peter Campbell Stephen | 10,075 | 38.3 | −6.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,128 | 23.4 | +12.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,278 | 65.6 | +9.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 40,076 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +6.1 | |
General election 1929: Bute and Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Aylmer Hunter-Weston | 18,331 | 56.2 | −5.5 |
| | Labour | Alexander Sloan | 14,294 | 43.8 | +5.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,037 | 12.4 | −11.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,625 | 65.2 | −0.4 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 50,032 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −5.5 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Bute and Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Aylmer Hunter-Weston | 24,467 | 70.5 | +14.3 |
| | Ind. Labour Party | Alexander Sloan | 10,227 | 29.5 | −14.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,240 | 41.0 | +28.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,694 | 67.9 | +2.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 51,095 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1935: Bute and Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 22,391 | 62.6 | −7.9 |
| | Labour | Maurice Shinwell | 13,358 | 37.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,033 | 25.2 | −15.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,749 | 66.6 | −1.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 53,682 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General Election 1939–40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;
* Unionist: Charles MacAndrew
* Labour:

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Bute and Northern Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 21,652 | 53.0 | −9.6 |
| | Labour | John Wheatley | 19,209 | 47.0 | +9.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,443 | 6.0 | −19.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,861 | 68.5 | +1.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 59,657 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | −9.6 | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 22,019 | 64.2 | +11.2 |
| | Labour | G Aitken | 12,243 | 35.7 | −11.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,776 | 28.5 | +22.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,262 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1951: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 22,361 | 64.2 | 0.0 |
| | Labour | Dickson Mabon | 12,492 | 35.8 | +0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,869 | 28.4 | −0.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,853 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1955: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Charles MacAndrew | 20,338 | 64.5 | +0.3 |
| | Labour | David Lambie | 11,183 | 35.5 | −0.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,155 | 29.0 | +0.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,521 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1959: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Fitzroy Maclean | 20,270 | 62.4 | −2.1 |
| | Labour | David Lambie | 12,218 | 37.6 | +2.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,052 | 24.8 | −4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,488 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Fitzroy Maclean | 16,497 | 49.8 | −12.6 |
| | Labour | David Lambie | 11,934 | 36.0 | −1.6 |
| | Liberal | Richard J. Gammon | 4,671 | 14.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,563 | 13.8 | −11.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,102 | | |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | | |
General election 1966: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Fitzroy Maclean | 16,138 | 48.7 | −1.1 |
| | Labour | David Lambie | 13,482 | 40.7 | +4.7 |
| | Liberal | Robert P. Cochrane | 3,539 | 10.7 | −3.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,656 | 8.0 | −5.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,159 | 76.0 | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | −2.8 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | Fitzroy Maclean | 18,853 | 53.6 | +4.9 |
| | Labour | Hugh G. Millar | 12,459 | 35.4 | −5.3 |
| | SNP | Peggy Macrae | 3,852 | 10.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,394 | 18.2 | +10.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,164 | 73.0 | −3.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | +5.1 | |
General election February 1974: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Corrie | 17,166 | 45.7 | −7.9 |
| | Labour | Raymond D. Donnelly | 10,436 | 27.8 | −7.6 |
| | SNP | John A. Murphy | 6,104 | 16.3 | +5.4 |
| | Liberal | R. Stevenson | 3,832 | 10.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,730 | 17.9 | −0.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,538 | 77.0 | +4.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Corrie | 13,599 | 38.9 | −6.8 |
| | Labour | J.N. Carson | 10,093 | 28.9 | +1.1 |
| | SNP | John A. Murphy | 9,055 | 25.9 | +9.6 |
| | Liberal | R. Stevenson | 2,224 | 6.4 | −3.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,506 | 10.0 | −7.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,971 | 71.3 | −5.7 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
General election 1979: Bute and North Ayrshire :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | John Corrie | 17,317 | 45.7 | +6.8 |
| | Labour | M.G. Smith | 13,004 | 34.3 | +5.4 |
| | SNP | M. Brown | 5,272 | 13.9 | −12.0 |
| | Liberal | P. Giffney | 2,280 | 6.0 | −0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,313 | 11.4 | +1.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,873 | 75.8 | +4.5 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |