West Renfrewshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983 and again from 1997 until 2005. In 2005 the constituency was abolished and the area is now represented by Inverclyde, Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South.
Boundaries The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the Western division should consist of "the parishes of Inverkip, Greenock, Port Glasgow, Kilmacolm, Erskine, Inchinnan, Houston, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch, Renfrew, Abbey, Neilston, Beith, and Dunlop".Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule, Part II
From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The Lower county District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burgh of Greenock, together with the burgh of Johnstone."
From 1997 to 2005 the constituency consisted of the Renfrew District electoral divisions of Bargarran and Gryffe, and the Inverclyde District electoral division of Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm.
In 1999 with the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament, a Scottish Parliamentary constituency of West Renfrewshire was created with the same name and boundaries as the UK Parliament constituency.
Abolition Under the Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1983 (SI 1983/422), made under the authority of the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, West Renfrewshire was abolished in 1983. The area of the constituency was divided between Renfrew West and Inverclyde, Paisley North and Paisley South.
In 2005, the constituency was again abolished and remains so to the present day. The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 2005 (SI 2005/250) made under the authority of the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 divided the former West Renfrewshire constituency amongst the new Inverclyde, Paisley and Renfrewshire North and Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituencies.
Members of Parliament
MPs 1885–1983 Election Member Party1885 Sir Archibald Campbell, Bt Unionist1892 Charles Renshaw Unionist1906 Sir Thomas Glen-Coats, Bt LiberalJanuary 1910James Greig Liberal 1916 Coalition Liberal Jan 1922 National Liberal Nov 1922 Robert Murray Labour 1924 McInnes Shaw Unionist1929 Robert Forgan Labour1931 Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn, later Earl of Dundee Unionist1945 Thomas Scollan Labour1950 John Maclay later Viscount Muirshiel National Liberal and Conservative1964 Norman Buchan Labour 1983 constituency abolished
Constituency divided amongst: Renfrew West and Inverclyde Paisley North Paisley South
MPs 1997–2005 Election Member Party1997 Tommy Graham Labour 1998Independent2001 Jim Sheridan Labour 2005 constituency abolished
Constituency divided amongst:
Inverclyde Paisley and Renfrewshire North Paisley and Renfrewshire South
Election results Elections in the 1880s
Elections in the 1890s
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 the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected; Liberal: James Greig Unionist: Henry MechanDaily Record 26 December 1914
Elections in the 1920s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1940s 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 and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected; Unionist: Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn Labour: David Cleghorn ThomsonReport of the Annual Conference of the Labour Party, 1939 SNP:
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 2000s
References