1931 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

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1931 United Kingdom general election
Flag of Scotland.svg
  1929 27 October 1931 1935  

All 74 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
 First partySecond party
  Stanley Baldwin ggbain.35233.jpg Gws samuel 01.jpg
Leader Stanley Baldwin Herbert Samuel
Party Unionist Liberal
Leader since23 October 1922October 1931
Seats before2013
Seats won508
Seat changeIncrease2.svg28Decrease2.svg6
Popular vote1,056,768205,384
Percentage49.5%8.6%
SwingIncrease2.svg13.6%Decrease2.svg9.5%

 Third partyFourth party
  Portrait of John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon.jpg Arthurhenderson.jpg
Leader Sir John Simon Arthur Henderson
Party National Liberal Labour
Leader since5 October 19311 September 1931
Last election36 seats
Seats beforeNew party
Seats won87
Seat changeIncrease2.svg8Decrease2.svg29
Popular vote101,430696,248
Percentage4.9%32.6%
SwingNew partyDecrease2.svg9.7%

United Kingdom general election 1931 in Scotland.svg
Results of the 1931 election in Scotland

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, 27 October 1931. Of the 74 seats representing Scotland, 71 seats represented burgh and county constituencies contested under the First-Past-The-Post electoral system, and 3 represented the Combined Scottish Universities multi-member University constituency.

Contents

The election saw massive gains for the Unionists across the country, with the party winning nearly 70% of all Scottish seats. The parties forming the National Government together won 64% of the vote, and 86% of the seats. In contrast the Labour Party, which had been the largest party in Scotland following the 1929 general election (where it had won 42% of the Scottish vote), was relegated into fourth place within just two years.

Following the election, with Labour appearing to teeter on the edge of the electoral abyss in Scotland, the Independent Labour Party increasingly moved apart from Labour, ultimately dissociating from the party in March 1932. The ILP had dominated the Labour movement in Scotland since 1918, dominating community based activism, and essentially forming the Labour Party in Scotland. This had ultimately served to undermine the organisational growth of the Labour Party in Scotland. [1]

Results

Burgh & County constituencies

PartySeatsSeats changeVotes % % Change
  National Government (Total)641,385,38564.0
  Unionist 48Increase2.svg281,056,76849.5Increase2.svg13.6
  National Liberal & Conservative 8New101,4304.9New
  Liberal 7Decrease2.svg6205,3848.6Decrease2.svg9.5
  National Labour 1New21,8031.0New
  Labour Party 7Decrease2.svg29696,24832.6Decrease2.svg9.7
  Communist 0Steady2.svg35,6181.4Increase2.svg0.3
  National Party of Scotland 0Steady2.svg20,9541.0Increase2.svg0.8
  New Party 0New3,8950.2New
 Other032,2290.8
Total712,174,329100

University constituencies

General election, November 1931: Combined Scottish Universities
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist John Buchan unopposed
Liberal Dugald McCoig Cowan unopposed
Unionist Archibald Noel Skelton unopposed

Votes summary

Popular vote
Unionist
49.50%
Labour
32.60%
Liberal
8.60%
National Liberal
4.90%
Communist
1.40%
National Labour
1.00%
NPS
1.00%
New Party
0.20%
Other
0.80%
Parliament seats
Unionist
70.42%
Liberal
11.27%
National Liberal
11.27%
Labour
9.86%
National Labour
1.41%

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References

  1. William Kenefick (2007). Red Scotland!: The Rise and Fall of the Radical Left, C. 1872–1932. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 202–203. ISBN   978-0-7486-2517-8.