1948 Glasgow Hillhead by-election

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A by-election for the constituency of Glasgow Hillhead in the House of Commons was held on 25 November 1948, caused by the appointment as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary of the incumbent Unionist MP James Reid. The result was a hold for the Unionist Party, with their candidate Tam Galbraith.

Contents

Result

Glasgow Hillhead by-election, 1948 [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Tam Galbraith 16,060 68.4 +9.8
Labour T A MacNair7,41931.6-2.0
Majority8,64136.8+11.8
Turnout 23,479
Unionist hold Swing

Despite a clear victory for their party some Scottish Unionist MPs were reportedly disappointed by the result given that the recent Edmonton by-election had seen the Conservative Party's vote substantially increased while Labour's vote fell greatly. Commenting on the by-election, an editorial in The Glasgow Herald rejected and criticised this assessment, noting that there was a lower turnout and opining that it was a "a notable achievement" that Galbraith had increased the Unionist Party's majority by a third, given that, in the newspaper's view, he was "a young candidate succeeding one of the outstanding Unionist members of recent years." [2]

Previous election

General election 1945: Glasgow Hillhead [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist James Reid 14,909 58.6 -9.6
Labour HT MacCalman8,54533.6+1.8
Liberal John Gray Wilson 2,0037.8New
Majority6,36425.0-11.4
Turnout 25,45766.0-7.2
Unionist hold Swing

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References

  1. "1948 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  2. "Editorial - Hillhead". The Glasgow Herald. 27 November 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  3. "Politics Resources". Election 1945. Politics Resources. 5 July 1945. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 8 November 2011.