1906 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

1906 United Kingdom general election

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All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party Third party   Leader Henry Campbell-Bannerman Arthur Balfour Keir Hardie Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Labour Repr. Cmte. Last election 34 [a] 38 [a] [b] 0 Seats won 58 10 2 Seat change 24 26 2 Popular vote 336,400 [c] 225,802 [c] 16,897 Percentage 56.4% 37.8% 2.8% Swing 6.2 pp 11.2 pp New
Results of the 1906 election in Scotland for the county and burgh seats   Liberal   Conservative   Liberal Unionist   Labour

Main article: 1906 United Kingdom general election

The 1906 United Kingdom general election was held between 12 January and 8 February 1906, and members were returned for all Scottish seats. ^[1] Scotland was allocated 72 seats in total, with 70 territorial seats, comprising 32 burgh constituencies and 37 county constituencies. ^[d] There were also two university constituencies, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities. As voters in university constituencies voted in addition to their territorial vote, the results are compiled separately.

In Scotland the opposition Liberals under Henry Campbell-Bannerman won a crushing victory, winning 56.4% of vote and 58 out of Scotland's 72 seats. The figure of 56.4% has not been surpassed by any single party in any election since, although the coalition of parties forming the National Government would secure 64.0% at the 1931 election. When combined with results from across the United Kingdom the result was a landslide victory for the Liberals against a bewildered Conservative Party, whose leader, Arthur Balfour, lost his seat; the party won the lowest number of seats it ever had in its history, a nadir unsurpassed until 2024. The primary reason given by historians for the Conservatives' weakness resulted from the party's split over the issue of free trade (Joseph Chamberlain had resigned from government in September 1903 in order to campaign for Tariff Reform, which would allow "preferential tariffs"). Many working-class people at the time saw this as a threat to the price of food, hence the debate was nicknamed "Big Loaf, Little Loaf". The Liberals' landslide victory of 125 seats over all other parties led to the passing of social legislation known as the Liberal reforms. ^{[2] [3]}

The Scottish Workers' Representation Committee (SWRC) stood five candidates: John Robertson in North East Lanarkshire, Joseph Sullivan in North West Lanarkshire, David Gilmour in Falkirk Burghs, James Brown in North Ayrshire, and Robert Smillie in Paisley. The candidates altogether won a total of 14,877 votes, but all failed to win a single seat. ^[4] The Labour Representation Committee (which after the election would be renamed the Labour Party) was more successful, picking up 2 Scottish seats (George Barnes in Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown and Alexander Wilkie in Dundee), alongside a total of 29 seats across the UK. Following the SWRC's failure to secure representation, the organisation decided to align itself more closely with the new Labour Party, ^[5] eventually becoming the party's Scottish section.

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	Liberal		58	34	24
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist (Total)		12	38	26
		Conservative	7	20	13
		Liberal Unionist	5	18	13
	Labour Representation Committee		2	0	2
Total			72	72

Burgh & County constituencies

Main article: 1906 United Kingdom general election

Party			Seats [1]	Seats change	Votes [1]	%	% Change
	Liberal		58	24	336,400	56.4	6.2
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist		10	26	225,802	37.8	11.2
	Labour Representation Committee		2	2	16,897	2.8	New
	Scottish Workers' Representation Committee		0		14,877	2.5	1.9
	Other		0		2,938	0.5
Total			70		596,914	100

University constituencies

The two university constituencies each elected an additional member to the house. Both seats were uncontested at the previous election, with the winning candidates having been elected unopposed.

General election 1906: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Batty Tuke	4,893	67.9	N/A
	Free Trader	John Strachey	2,310	32.1	N/A
Majority			2,583	35.8	N/A
Turnout			7,203	64.7	N/A
Registered electors			11,131
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1906: Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Craik	3,543	49.0	N/A
	Liberal	Alexander Murison	2,450	33.9	New
	Free Trader	W.R. Smith	1,240	17.1	N/A
Majority			1,093	15.1	N/A
Turnout			7,233	68.6	N/A
Registered electors			10,545
	Conservative hold		Swing	N/A

Votes summary

Popular vote [c] Liberal   56.4% Conservative and Liberal Unionist [b]   38.2% Labour   2.3%

Parliamentary seats [a] Liberal   80.6% Conservative   9.7% Liberal Unionist   6.9% Labour   2.8%

Notes

1. Combined results for burgh, county and university seats
2. The seat and vote count figures given here combines the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists.
3. Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only
4. One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.

References

1. Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 17. ISBN   978-1-907278-03-7.
2. BBC NEWS – Programmes – BBC Parliament – 1906: The Liberal landslide, 9 February 2006
3. "UK general election results live: Rishi Sunak to resign as Conservative Party leader after crushing election defeat". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
4. Frank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900-1906, p.296
5. Knox, William (1987). James Maxton. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 7. ISBN   0719021529.
6. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
7. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.