Country Scotland Chapman code BUT | County town Rothesay Area 582.7 km² | |
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The County of Bute (Scottish Gaelic: Siorrachd Bhòid), also known as Buteshire, is one of the registration counties of Scotland.
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Buteshire was also a local government county of Scotland with its own elected county council from 1890 to 1975. The council area comprised a number of islands in the Firth of Clyde, between the local government counties of Argyll and Ayrshire, the principal islands being Bute, Arran, Great Cumbrae and Little Cumbrae. The county town was Rothesay, located on the Isle of Bute.
Local government councils
Bute had its own elected local government council from 1890 to 1975. However, in 1975 this system was superseded and Buteshire was divided between the Argyll and Cunninghame districts of the Strathclyde Region. The island of Bute itself became part of Argyll whilst Arran and the Cumbraes became part of Cunninghame.
In 1996 as a result of local government council reorganisation when unitary council areas were superseded and new councils created, Bute became part of Argyll and Bute, and the other islands are now within North Ayrshire.
Parliamentary constituency
There was a Buteshire constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1918. Between 1708 and 1832 it was an alternating constituency with Caithness: one constituency elected a Member of Parliament (MP) to one parliament then the other elected an MP to the next. Between 1832 and 1918 it was a separate constituency, electing an MP to every parliament.
In 1918 the constituency was combined with the Ayrshire North constituency to form the Bute and Northern Ayrshire constituency, a constituency which straddled the boundary between the local government counties of Bute and Ayrshire.
In 1983, eight years after Scottish local government counties had been abolished, the Bute and Northern Ayrshire constituency was divided between the Argyll and Bute constituency and the Cunninghame North constituency.
In 2005, both constituencies were enlarged as part of the Fifth Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. The name "Argyll and Bute" was retained, while the enlarged Cunningham North was named North Ayrshire and Arran.
Constituencies with similar boundaries to the pre-2005 constituencies, and also called Argyll and Bute and Cunninghame North, are used by the Scottish Parliament.
Civil parishes
List of places
Towns and places in Bute include: