| Overview |
| 1708 to 1832 |
| 1832 to 1868 |
| 1868 to 1885 |
| 1885 to 1918 |
| 1918 to 1950 |
| 1950 to 1955 |
| 1955 to 1974 |
| 1974 to 1983 |
| 1983 to 1997 |
| 1997 to 2005 |
| 2005 to present |
As a result of the 1707 union of the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England (including Wales) to form the Kingdom of Great Britain, within the newly formed Parliament of Great Britain, Scotland had 48 constituencies representing seats for 45 Members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons, normally located at the Palace of Westminster. (Westminster being the meeting place for the former Parliament of England).
Scottish Westminster constituencies[1] were first used in the 1708 general election. Prior to that election Scotland was represented by MPs who were co-opted as commissioners of the former Parliament of Scotland.
In the Parliament of Great Britain, Scotland had 15 burgh constituencies and 33 county constituencies, with each representing a seat for one MP. The county constituencies included, however, three pairs of alternating constituencies, so that only one member of a pair was represented at any one time. Therefore, Scotland had more constituencies than seats. With the exception of Edinburgh, the burgh constituencies were districts of burghs.
1708 boundaries were used for all subsequent election of the Parliament of Great Britain.
In 1801 the Parliament of Ireland was merged with the Parliament of Great Britain to form the Parliament of the United Kingdom, also at Westminster. The first general election of the new parliament was the general election of 1802, and there was no change to the boundaries of any pre-existing Westminster constituency.
1802 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1806, 1807, 1812, 1818, 1820, 1826, 1830 and 1831.
For the 1832 general election, Scottish Westminster constituencies were redefined by the Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832.