1931 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

Main article: 1931 United Kingdom general election

1931 United Kingdom general election

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All 74 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party   Leader Stanley Baldwin Herbert Samuel Party Unionist Liberal Leader since 23 October 1922 October 1931 Seats before 22 [a] 14 [a] Seats won 50 [a] 8 [a] Seat change 28 [a] 6 [a] Popular vote 1,056,768 [b] 205,384 [b] Percentage 49.5% [b] 8.6% [b] Swing 14.2% [b] 9.5% [b]   Third party Fourth party   Leader Sir John Simon Arthur Henderson Party National Liberal Labour Leader since 5 October 1931 1 September 1931 Last election 36 seats [a] Seats before New party Seats won 8 [a] 7 [a] Seat change 8 30 [a] Popular vote 101,430 [b] 696,248 [b] Percentage 4.9% [b] 32.6% [b] Swing New party 9.2% [b]
Results of the 1931 election in Scotland   Unionist   Liberal   National Liberal   Labour   National Labour

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, 27 October 1931. ^[1] Scotland was allocated 74 seats in the House of Commons, of which 71 were territorial seats comprising 32 burgh constituencies and 38 county constituencies. ^[c] There was also one university constituency, which elected an additional 3 members using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method. ^[2] As voters in university constituencies voted under a different system, and in addition to their territorial vote, the results are compiled separately.

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. ^[3]

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	National Government (Total)		67	New
		Unionist	50	22	28
		National Liberal & Conservative	8	New	8
		Liberal	8	14	6
		National Labour	1	New	1
	Labour Party		7	36	29
	Other		0	2	2
Total			74	74

Burgh & County constituencies

Party			Seats [1]	Seats change	Votes [1]	%	% Change
	National Government (Total)		64		1,385,385	64.0	N/A
		Unionist	48	28	1,056,768	49.5	14.2
		National Liberal & Conservative	8	New	101,430	4.9	New
		Liberal	7	6	205,384	8.6	9.5
		National Labour	1	New	21,803	1.0	New
	Labour Party		7	29	696,248	32.6	9.2
	Communist		0		35,618	1.4	0.2
	National Party of Scotland		0		20,954	1.0	0.9
	New Party		0	New	3,895	0.2	New
	Other		0		32,229	0.8
Total			71		2,174,329	100

University constituencies

General election, November 1931: Combined Scottish Universities

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Buchan	Unopposed
	Liberal	Dugald McCoig Cowan	Unopposed
	Unionist	Archibald Noel Skelton	Unopposed

Votes summary

Popular vote [b] 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%

Parliamentary seats [a] Unionist   67.6% Liberal   10.8% National Liberal   10.8% Labour   9.5% National Labour   1.4%

Notes

1. Combined results for burgh, county and university seats
2. Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only
3. One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.

References

1. Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 29. ISBN   978-1-907278-03-7.
2. "Research Briefing: Voting systems in the UK". Library of the House of Commons. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
3. 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.