Redistribution of Seats Act 1885


The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, a concept in the broader global context termed equal apportionment, in an attempt to equalise representation across the UK. It was associated with, but not part of, the Representation of the People Act 1884.

Background

The first major reform of Commons' seats took place under the Reform Act 1832. The second major reform of Commons' seats occurred in three territory-specific Acts in 1867–68:
The latter United Kingdom set of Acts had fallen short of the Chartist aim to enfranchise and to equalise the electorates. Electoral quotas diverged and the gap by 1885 widened; most starkly in the retention of boroughs of dubious size and a limited attempt at creation of new urban boroughs. In reductions these previous reforms halved rather merged into their surroundings those boroughs having fewer than 10,000 inhabitants as at the 1861 census. In a de-radicalising move a few of largest cities were given three MPs, whereby "no person shall vote for more than two candidates". As a result, the net partisan impact of these cities tended to be counterbalanced: for example, a borough formerly represented by two Liberals was now usually represented by two Liberals and one Conservative. In a Commons vote on party lines, the Conservative neutralised one of the Liberals, so that the borough counted for one party-based vote albeit having greater and slightly more equalised non-partisan local issue representation. By contrast the mid-size boroughs with two members such as the new creations — wherever they so happened to have two MPs of the same party — produced twice the voting power in the House as such cities.
By the 1880s, continued industrial growth and resulting population movements had resulted in an increased imbalance between the constituencies in terms of the numbers of MPs and the population.

The Third Reform Bill

, leading a Liberal government, introduced a Representation of the People Bill in 1884, which sought to greatly extend the franchise but not to alter the boundaries of constituencies. The Liberals had a large majority in the House of Commons, and the measure passed through the House easily. The House of Lords, on the other hand, was dominated by the Conservative Party. The Conservative leader, Lord Salisbury, was opposed to the bill. The majority of the Conservative party's MPs were elected by the counties, with the Liberals being electorally strong in the boroughs. He realised that the bill's extension of household suffrage into the counties would enfranchise many rural voters such as coalminers and agricultural labourers who were likely to vote for the Liberals. This, he claimed, would lead to "the absolute effacement of the Conservative Party". Salisbury hoped to use the Conservative majority in the Lords to block the bill and force Gladstone to seek a dissolution of Parliament before the reforms could be enacted. The Lords duly rejected the bill and returned it to the Commons, provoking outrage among the Radical wing of the Liberals. A campaign organised around the slogan "The Peers Against the People" called for reform or abolition of the Lords if they rejected the bill a second time.

The "Arlington Street Compact"

During October 1884 Queen Victoria intervened in what was rapidly becoming a constitutional crisis, urging the party leaders to meet and break the deadlock. Negotiations duly started at Salisbury's London home in Arlington Street, Westminster, between the Conservative leader and Sir Charles Dilke, a member of Gladstone's cabinet. Lord Salisbury agreed to allow the reform bill to pass on condition that a bill to redistribute parliamentary seats was also enacted; the two parties reached an agreement, the "Arlington Street Compact", whereby the bulk of MPs would be elected in single-member constituencies. He calculated that this would minimise the adverse effect on the Conservatives of the extension of the vote: dividing the counties would allow Liberal-voting and Conservative-voting districts to be separated. The division of boroughs would allow the suburban areas of towns to be represented separately from the inner cities, allowing the growth of "Villa Toryism". Dilke, a member of the Radical wing of the Liberal Party, also favoured the division of boroughs to weaken the influence of the Whig faction in the party. Before 1885 many existing two-member boroughs one Whig and one Radical were nominated by agreement, often leading to uncontested elections.

The Boundary Commissions

Three boundary commissions were appointed in late 1884, one for England and Wales, one for Scotland and one for Ireland. Each commission was given similar instructions.
In dividing the counties they were to use Ordnance Survey maps and other documents in order to determine the boundaries of divisions. In doing so they were to ensure that each division of a county was to have an equal population "so far as practicable". In addition they were instructed "in all those cases where there are populous localities of an urban character to include them in one and the same division, unless this cannot be done without grave inconvenience, and involving boundaries of a very irregular and objectionable character". Subject to these rules, the divisions were to be as compact as possible and should be based on "well known local areas" such as petty sessional divisions or other aggregations of parishes. If necessary, an individual parish or parishes could be added to existing areas in order to equalise population, but under no circumstances was a parish to be divided. The county divisions were to be named after an "important town or place" within it, "preference being given to any merged borough or boroughs, or when it consists mainly of a well-known area, from that area". When the commissioners had devised a scheme of divisions for a county the details were to be advertised in the local press. A date would then be announced when one of the commissioners would attend at "a principal town" in the county to hear objections or proposed alterations.
The procedure for boroughs was similar. Firstly the commissioners were to determine whether the present boundaries, or the boundaries proposed in the bill, embraced "the whole of the population which ought to be included within the borough". They could decide if an area formed a "community of interest" with the town and should be included within the borough boundaries. Where suburban areas had a sufficiently large population and distinct identity they might form a county division rather than be included in the borough. If boroughs were extended, existing "well-established" boundaries were to be used if possible. Where boroughs were to be divided, the population of each division was to be approximately equal, and "special regard" was to be had to the "pursuits of the population". This was clearly understood as meaning that working class and middle class parts of towns were to be separated where possible.

Passage through parliament

The Bill was introduced to the House of Commons by the Prime Minister William Gladstone on 1 December 1884. The Bill was seen as a compromise measure, and did not include proportional representation. This led to unrest among the Liberals. Leonard Courteney, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, felt forced to resign his post and the party whip. Gladstone had held a meeting with Liberal MPs earlier in the day at the Foreign Office, where he defended the bill. He stated that far from being a compromise it was very much a government bill, and that the discussions with the opposition had been conducted with "no party bias". The bill received its second reading on 4 December 1884, and was then sent forward to the committee stage, which was to commence on 19 February 1885. The delay was to allow the boundary commissions to complete their work, with the boundaries and names of the new constituencies to be included as the schedules of the final Act.
In committee few changes were made to the boundaries recommended by the commissioners. However the committee felt that the proposed names for many of the divisions were unfamiliar, and preferred to use what they termed "geographical" names incorporating a compass point. A compromise was made where both were incorporated in the names of many of the constituencies: thus the seat officially called the "Northern or Biggleswade Division of Bedfordshire" was informally referred to as "Biggleswade", the "Biggleswade Division", "Northern Bedfordshire" or "North Bedfordshire".
The act received Royal Assent on 25 June, and the provisions of both the redistribution and representation acts first came into use at the 1885 general election.

Provisions

The Committee's work coupled with the Arlington Street Compact resulted a major redistribution under the Act as follows:
Apart from boundary changes, approximately 160 seats were new in England and Wales. The number of seats in Scotland was increased by 12, and the representation of Ireland in Parliament remained at 103 members, even though its population had declined relative to the rest of the United Kingdom, due to emigration which had continued since the famine. This arrangement was described by The Times as "...obviously dictated by a somewhat pusillanimous calculation that it was better to avoid a struggle with the Parnellite party."
The number of seats had been fixed at 658 in the 1832 and 1867/8 legislation, but two two-member boroughs and two single-member boroughs had been disenfranchised for corruption.

Consequences

Cessation of dual-MP constituency pacts and majority-minority appeal

The reduction in the number of two-member constituencies ended cross-party cooperation: before the Act, in many counties and boroughs the two main parties had agreed to nominate one candidate each, and no election was held. Contested elections became the norm after the Act: 657 of 670 seats were contested at the 1885 general election.

Recognition of the middle and working classes

The division of former two-member constituencies had a direct, clear consequence: it hastened the decline of the domination of Parliament by the aristocracy. After 1885, for the first time, MPs connected to industry and commerce outnumbered those closely related to the gentry. The Lords immediately stood out therefore as non-representative of the electorate; the "household suffrage" of 1885 gave the majority of men the vote; and by the end of 1918 all those aged over 21 could vote and some women.
Nonetheless the Lords and their sons, grandsons and nephews in the Commons continued to form the greater part of the Cabinet until the Asquith ministry — further, the Lords legally bore equal strength, save for their inability to initiate bills spending public funds since 1407, until Asquith's constitutional Parliament Act 1911. The Lords could veto bills and propose most types of bills.

Electoral results and impact on strategy and attitudes

Immediate expansion of the working class electorate caused the number of 'Lib/Lab' MPs to rise from 2 in 1874 to 13 in 1885. The Act's new seats saw a 1% single-party swing to the Conservatives and so a gain of only 10 seats and a similar gain of 11 seats by Independent Liberals, the latter often slightly more radical than both mainstream parties.
The sudden balance of power of the seats held or won by Irish Parliamentary Party candidates galvanised those opposed to Home Rule. This third party power of veto coupled with the end of local electoral pacts in a foreseeable way; Disraeli and Gladstone needed central control of their members to pursue narrower narratives and promote differing values. The IPP were often labelled particularly by the media and Conservatives as 'Parnellites'. Their power saw Gladstone make Home Rule his touchstone but, in so doing, distance his party from most peers who, until the House of Lords was flooded with Liberal peers in 1911, preferred conservative policies and guarded their near-equal power. Peers of the Whig persuasion flocked to a conservative line given immediate loss of family ties in the Commons and tide of reformist policies engulfing the Liberal party caused by the Act's generous franchise and loss of their coveted and often sponsored Whig-Radical and Whig-Conservative dual-member seats in the Commons. In short most peers felt change had gone far and fast enough. The opening words of free thought of the Lords, in its reply to the Queen's Speech came from the Duke of Abercorn who said:-
Liberal MPs opposing Home Rule rapidly formed a new party to stand at the next election in 1886, the Liberal Unionists who were willing to govern with Conservatives.
Liberals were unable to rely on any Lords' majorities on their Bills from 1885 until the Parliament Act 1911. The 1911 Act ended the equal power of the House of Lords forever, constitutionally.
132 small areas were merged with part or all of their surrounding county constituency, all of which had previously returned two members. Courted for decades with the promise of for social change, religious freedom and free trade by Liberals, often served by a Radical-leaning alongside and a Whig-leaning MP, these boroughs had few Conservative MPs at most elections. Their substitute single-member seats where gaining suburban and wealthy rural parts particularly assisted the Conservative party, which took a position of national "strength and unity" in opposing Chamberlain's "radicalism" preferring instead education reform and opposing Gladstone's Home Rule "crusade" in favour of budgetary concessions and support for unionist Irish businesses. The ensuing Queens Speech showed the Queen was "...resolutely opposed ...convinced that I shall be heartily supported by my Parliament and my people."
The Conservative party thinkers and leaders in both houses had now enfranchised the majority of men trusting them to break the deadlock in their favour; in return they had espoused religious freedom and almost completely free trade. The Liberal Party may have won the 1885 General Election however the new Lords heavy antipathy and the Irish question tore the party apart.
The majority of multi-member seats saw cooperation before 1885 whereas under the new one-MP-per-constituency norm, cooperation as patron and protégé or to attract opposing voters was futile. Whig and the most progressive Radical candidates could now be branded "weak", "divided" or "distanced" from the line of Gladstone and his successors which proved a flaw in the broad congregation of the Liberal Party until the formation of the final splinter group of 1931. Conservatives depicted Gladstone's dogged advancement of Home Rule, notably his failed first and second Irish Home Rule bills in 1886 and 1893, an open dissent from Her Majesty, as the root cause of Liberal Party disintegration. This unorthodoxy combined with heavy defeats on other Commons bills in the House of Lords which began to hemorrhage more Whigs led to electoral landslide victories for the Conservative party in 1886 and 1895 to break the deadlock.

Redistributed seats: England

Bedfordshire

Representation decreased from 4 to 3 MPs
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Berkshire

Representation decreased from 8 to 5 MPs
‡ The Borough of Abingdon was partly in Oxfordshire
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Buckinghamshire

Representation decreased from 8 to 3 MPs
‡ The Borough of Great Marlow was partly in Berkshire
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The Buckingham Division absorbed Buckingham and the Wycombe Division absorbed Chipping Wycombe.

Cambridgeshire

Representation decreased from 5 to 4 MPs
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Cheshire

Representation decreased from 14 to 13 MPs
‡ The Boroughs of Stalybridge and Stockport were partly in Lancashire
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Representation decreased from 13 to 7 MPs
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Representation decreased from 8 to 6 MPs
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Derbyshire

Representation increased from 8 to 9 MPs
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Devon

Representation decreased from 17 to 13 MPs
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Dorset

Representation decreased from 10 to 4 MPs
‡ The Borough of Shaftesbury was partly in Wiltshire
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Durham

Representation increased from 13 to 16 MPs
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Essex

Representation increased from 10 to 11 MPs
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Gloucestershire

Representation decreased from 13 to 11 MPs
‡ The Borough of Bristol was partly in Somerset
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Hampshire and Isle of Wight

Representation decreased from 16 to 12 MPs
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Herefordshire

Representation decreased from 6 to 3 MPs
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Hertfordshire

Representation remained at 4 MPs
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Huntingdonshire

Representation decreased from 3 to 2 MPs
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Kent

Representation decreased from 21 to 19 MPs
† Formed part of "The Metropolis" of London
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Lancashire

Representation increased from 32 to 57 MPs
‡ The Borough of Warrington was partly in Cheshire
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Blackpool Division

Leicestershire

Representation remained at 6 MPs
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Lincolnshire

Representation decreased from 14 to 11 MPs
‡ The Borough of Stamford was partly in Northamptonshire
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North Kesteven Division

Middlesex

Representation increased from 18 to 47 MPs
† Formed part of "The Metropolis" of London
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Norfolk

Representation unchanged
‡ The Borough of Great Yarmouth was partly in Suffolk
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Northamptonshire

Representation decreased from 8 to 7 MPs
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Northumberland

Representation decreased from 10 to 8 MPs
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Nottinghamshire

Representation decreased from 10 to 7 MPs
‡ The Borough of East Retford was partly in the West Riding of Yorkshire
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Oxfordshire

Representation decreased from 7 to 4 MPs
‡ The Borough of Banbury was partly in Northamptonshire
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Rutland

Representation reduced from 2 MPs to 1
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Shropshire

Representation decreased from 10 to 5 MPs
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Somerset

Representation decreased from 11 to 10 MPs
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Staffordshire

Representation decreased from 19 to 17 MPs
‡ The Borough of Tamworth was partly in Warwickshire
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Suffolk

Representation decreased from 9 to 8 MPs
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Surrey

Representation increased from 11 to 22 MPs
† Formed part of "The Metropolis" of London
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Sussex

Representation decreased from 15 to 9 MPs
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Warwickshire

Representation increased from 11 to 14 MPs
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Westmorland

Representation decreased from 3 to 2 MPs
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Wiltshire

Representation decreased from 15 to 6 MPs
‡ The Borough of Cricklade was partly in Gloucestershire
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Worcestershire

Representation decreased from 11 to 8 MPs
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Yorkshire

Representation increased from 38 to 52 MPs
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Universities

University representation was not altered by the act.
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Redistributed seats: Wales

Anglesey

Representation decreased from 2 to 1 MPs
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Breconshire

Representation decreased from 2 to 1 MPs
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Cardiganshire

Representation decreased from 2 to 1 MPs
‡ The Borough of Cardigan was partly in Pembrokeshire, the Boroughs of Adpar and Lampeter were partly in Carmarthenshire
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Carmarthenshire

Representation unchanged
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Carnarvonshire

Representation increased from 2 to 3 MPs
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Denbighshire

Representation unchanged
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Flintshire

Representation unchanged
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Glamorganshire

Representation increased from 6 to 10 MPs
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Merionethshire

Representation unchanged
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Monmouthshire

Representation increased from 3 to 4 MPs
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Montgomeryshire

''Representation unchanged
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Pembrokeshire

Representation decreased from 3 to 2 MPs
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Radnorshire

Representation decreased from 2 to 1 MPs
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Redistributed seats: Scotland

Burghs and Districts of Burghs

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Comprised five parliamentary burghs: Ayr and Irvine in Ayrshire, and Campbeltown, Inverary and Oban in Argyllshire.
Comprised five parliamentary burghs: Annan Lochmaben and Sanquhar in Dumfriesshire, Dumfries in Dumfriesshire and Kirkcudbrightshire, Kirkcudbright in Kirkcudbrightshire.
Comprised five parliamentary burghs: Inverurie, Kintore and Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Banff and Cullen in Banffshire, and Elgin in Elginshire.
Boundaries widened to include entire municipal burgh of Hamilton.
Boundaries extended to include entire municipal burgh of Hawick.
Comprised four parliamentary burghs: Forres in Elginshire, Inverness in Inverness-shire, Nairn in Nairnshire and Fortrose in Ross and Cromarty.
Comprised three burghs in the County of Edinburgh: Leith, Musselburgh and Portobello.
Comprised five burghs: Arbroath, Brechin, Forfar and Montrose in Forfarshire and Inverbervie in Kincardineshire.
Comprised seven burghs in Fife: Anstruther Easter, Anstruther Wester, Crail, Cupar, Kilrenny, Pittenweem and St Andrews.
Comprised five burghs: Dunfermline and Inverkeithing in Fife; Queensferry in Linlithgowshire; Culross in Perthshire and Stirling in Stirlingshire.
Comprised six burghs: Wick in Caithness; Kirkwall in Orkney; Cromarty, Dingwall and Tain in Ross and Cromarty; Dornoch in Sutherland.

Aberdeenshire

Representation unchanged
See also the parliamentary burgh of Aberdeen and the Elgin District of Burghs which included Peterhead.
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Argyllshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burghs in the county formed part of the Ayr District.
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Ayrshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burghs in the county formed parts of Ayr and Kilmarnock Districts.
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Banffshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burghs in the county formed part of the Elgin District.
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Berwickshire

Representation unchanged
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Buteshire

Representation unchanged
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Caithness

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh in the county formed part of the Wick District
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Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire

Representation unchanged
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The constituency consisted of the combined parliamentary counties of Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire, and also included the parishes of Tulliallan, Culross and Muckhart in Perthshire, the Perthshire portions of the parishes of Logie and Fossaway, and the Stirlingshire part of the parish of Alva.

Dumfriesshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burghs in the county formed part of the Dumfries District
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Dumbartonshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Dumbarton formed part of Kilmarnock District
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County of Edinburgh

Representation unchanged
See also the parliamentary burgh of Edinburgh and the Leith District of Burghs.
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Elginshire and Nairnshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Elgin formed part of Elgin District; the burghs of Forres and Nairn were part of Inverness District.
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Fife

Representation increased from 1 to 2 MPs
The 13 parliamentary burghs in the county formed the Kirkcaldy District, the St Andrews District and part of the Stirling District.
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Forfarshire

Representation unchanged
See also the parliamentary burgh of Dundee and the Montrose District of Burghs.
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Haddingtonshire

Representation unchanged
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Inverness-shire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Inverness formed part of the Inverness District of Burghs.
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Kincardineshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Montrose formed part of the Montrose District of Burghs.
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Kirkcudbrightshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Kirkcudbright and the burgh of Dumfries formed part of Dumfries District.
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Lanarkshire

Representation increased from 2 to 6 MPs
See also the parliamentary burgh of Glasgow, the Falkirk District of Burghs which included three Lanarkshire burghs and the Kilmarnock District of Burghs which included the burgh of Rutherglen.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Linlithgowshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Linlithgow formed part of Fakirk District and the burgh of Queensferry formed part of Stirling District.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Orkney and Shetland

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Kirkwall formed part of Wick District.
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Peeblesshire and Selkirkshire

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burghs of Galashiels and Selkirk formed part of the Hawick District
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Perthshire

Representation increased from 1 to 2 MPs
See also the parliamentary burghs of Perth City and Culross. Detached parts of the county formed part of the Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire constituency.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Renfrewshire

Representation increased from 1 to 2 MPs
See also the parliamentary burghs of Greenock and Paisley; and two burghs in the Kilmarnock District: Port Glasgow and Renfrew. Part of the parliamentary burgh of Glasgow was in Renfrewshire.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Ross and Cromarty

Representation unchanged
Parliamentary burghs of Cromarty, Dingwall and Tain formed part of the Dingwall District; the burgh of Fortrose was part of the Inverness District.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Roxburghshire

Representation unchanged
Parliamentary burgh of Hawick formed part of the Hawick District.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Stirlingshire

Representation unchanged
Parliamentary burgh of Falkirk formed part of the Falkirk District; burgh of Stirling was part of Stirling District. The Stirlingshire portion of the parish of Alva formed of the Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire constituency.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Sutherland

Representation unchanged
The parliamentary burgh of Dornoch formed part of the Wick District.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Wigtownshire

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Universities

Redistributed seats: Ireland

Antrim

Representation increased from 6 to 8 MPs
‡ The parliamentary boroughs of Belfast and Lisburn were partly in County Down
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Armagh

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Carlow

Representation decreased from 3 MPs to 1.
‡ Part of the borough of Carlow was in Queen's County
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Cavan

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Clare

Representation decreased from 3 to 2 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Cork

Representation increased from 8 to 9 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Donegal

''Representation increased from 2 to 4 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Down

Representation increased from 4 to 5 MPs
‡ The Borough of Newry was partly in County Armagh.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Dublin

Representation increased from 4 to 6 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Fermanagh

Representation reduced from 3 to 2 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Galway

Representation increased from 4 to 5 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Kerry

Representation increased from 3 to 4 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Kildare

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Kilkenny

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

King's County

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Leitrim

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Limerick

Representation reduced from 4 to 3 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Londonderry

Representation reduced from 4 to 3 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Longford

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Louth

Representation reduced from 4 to 2 MPs
‡ The parliamentary borough of Drogheda lay partly in County Meath.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Mayo

Representation increased from 2 to 4 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Meath

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Monaghan

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Queen's County

Representation reduced from 3 MPs to 2.
‡ The parliamentary borough of Portarlington was partly in King's County
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Roscommon

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Sligo

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Tipperary

Representation increased from 3 MPs to 4.
‡ The parliamentary borough of Clonmel was partly in County Waterford
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Tyrone

Representation increased from 3 MPs to 4.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Waterford

Representation reduced from 5 to 3 MPs
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Westmeath

Representation reduced from 3 to 2 MPs
‡ The parliamentary borough of Athlone was partly in County Roscommon.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Wexford

Representation reduced from 4 to 2 MPs
‡ The parliamentary borough of New Ross was partly in County Kilkenny.
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

Wicklow

Representation unchanged
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!Before 1885!!Change!!After 1885

University of Dublin

Representation unchanged