1971 Stirling and Falkirk by-election

Last updated

The Stirling and Falkirk by-election of 16 September 1971 was held following the death of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Malcolm MacPherson. The seat was retained by Labour.

Contents

On the day of polling it was reported that Labour were confident of holding the seat and believed that they would have a swing of 10% or more towards them with the Conservatives in second place. The SNP reportedly thought they would win 38% of the vote and the Conservatives would lose their deposit. In contrast the Conservatives claimed that the SNP would take votes from Labour and allow them to win. [1]

Results

Stirling and Falkirk by-Election, 1971 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Harry Ewing 17,536 46.47 -4.26
SNP Robert McIntyre 13,04834.58+20.08
Conservative David R. Anderson7,14918.95-15.82
Majority4,48811.89-4.07
Turnout 37,733
Labour hold Swing -12.17
General election 1970: Stirling and Falkirk [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Malcolm MacPherson 22,984 50.73 -1.92
Conservative David R. Anderson15,75434.77+3.55
SNP I Murray6,57114.50+0.12
Majority7,23015.96-5.47
Turnout 45,30972.58-4.52
Labour hold Swing -2.74

Outcome and aftermath

Labour's victorious candidate Harry Ewing claimed that the result represented a "complete rejection" of the policies of the Heath Government, particularly "their policy on the Common Market." [4] Ewing also conceded that his "majority was less than we expected". Journalist William Clark writing in The Glasgow Herald reported that Labour supporters were surprised by the size of the SNP vote, and himself described the level support for McIntyre as being a "major upset". McIntyre said the result showed that "the SNP are on the march again." [4] The defeated Conservative, Alloa Solicitor David Anderson, said that he did not think the result was "an anti-Common Market vote", but was probably a protest against the Government. He also said that he thought that it was significant that Labour had not performed as well as they had expected. [4]

An editorial in the Glasgow Evening Times the day after the election headed "One in the eye for Ted" said the real story of the result was the poor Conservative performance standing "there can be no doubt that the figures are indicative of the low standing of the Conservatives in Scotland." In attacking Prime Minister Edward Heath and the Conservatives it particularly highlighted what it saw as his Government's poor handling of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders crisis. [5]

Related Research Articles

Winifred Margaret Ewing was a Scottish politician, lawyer and figure within the independence movement who served as President of the Scottish National Party from 1987 to 2005. Ewing was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Highlands and Islands from 1999 to 2003 and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the equivalent seat from 1979 to 1999. She was also a member of the British House of Commons for Hamilton from a 1967 by-election until 1970, and for Moray and Nairn from 1974 to 1979.

Robert Douglas McIntyre was a Scottish physician and a Scottish National Party politician and Member of Parliament.

Margaret Anne Ewing was a Scottish politician and journalist. She served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for East Dunbartonshire from 1974 to 1979 and Moray from 1987 to 2001, and was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Moray from 1999 until 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annabelle Ewing</span> Scottish National Party politician

Annabelle Janet Ewing is a Scottish politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, alongside Liam McArthur, since May 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Cowdenbeath constituency since 2016, having previously been an MSP for the Mid Scotland and Fife region from 2011 to 2016.

Douglas Henderson was a Scottish politician. He was Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 1971 to 1973 and from 1979 to 1981. He served as a Scottish National Party Member of Parliament (MP) for East Aberdeenshire from 1974 to 1979, and held virtually every national office in the SNP, short of party leader. His political style has been described as "no-nonsense" and "very blunt and forthright". He was also known for his forceful public speaking, which former SNP leader Alex Salmond described as "messianic".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Matheson (politician)</span> Scottish NHS Recovery, Health & Social Care Secretary

Michael Stephen Matheson is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care since 2023. He previously served in Nicola Sturgeon's cabinet as Cabinet Secretary for Justice from 2014 to 2018 and as Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport from 2018 to 2023.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a left social democratic political party which campaigns for Scottish independence. The SNP has controlled Scotland's devolved legislature since the 2007 election as a minority government, and were a majority government from the 2011 election and have been a minority government, since the 2016 election.

The Hamilton by-election in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, was held on 2 November 1967. It was called after the former Labour MP, Tom Fraser, resigned in order to take up the position as head of the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board. The constituency had been a safe seat for Labour, who had taken over two-thirds of the vote there in every general election from 1945 to 1966, when only the Conservatives had stood against them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 Glasgow Govan by-election</span>

The Glasgow Govan by-election was held on 8 November 1973, following the death of John Rankin, Labour Party Member of Parliament for the Glasgow Govan constituency. Rankin had died one month earlier, on 8 October 1973. Rankin had held the seat since 1955. With the exception of a narrow Conservative victory in 1950, the seat had been solidly Labour-held since 1918. For the by-election the Labour Party nominated Harry Selby, a veteran activist in Glasgow and a former Trotskyist. It was later reported that Selby's selection had been controversial with some Labour members who felt that at the age of 61 he was too old to be starting a parliamentary career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Glasgow Hillhead by-election</span>

A Glasgow Hillhead by-election was held on 25 March 1982. The by-election was caused by the death of the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead Tam Galbraith on 2 January 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1982 Coatbridge and Airdrie by-election</span>

The 1982 Coatbridge and Airdrie by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 24 June 1982 for the British House of Commons constituency of Coatbridge and Airdrie.

There was a by-election for Dundee East, in Scotland, on 1 March 1973. It was one of three UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day. It was caused by the appointment of George Thomson as a European commissioner. George Machin retained the seat for Labour, but only narrowly. There was a strong showing by the Scottish National Party, which prefigured their serious breakthrough at the Govan by-election later in the year, and the two general elections of 1974.

A by-election for the House of Commons of the UK Parliament took place in Edinburgh North on 8 November 1973. Alexander Fletcher retained the seat for the Conservatives, after his predecessor became Duke of Buccleuch.

The 1969 Glasgow Gorbals by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 30 October 1969 for the House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Gorbals in Glasgow. It was one of five UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day.

George Andrew Leslie was a Scottish politician and veterinary surgeon. He was the Scottish National Party (SNP)'s Senior Vice-Chairman from 1969 to 1971.

The 1980 City of Glasgow District Council election took place on 1 May 1980, alongside elections to the councils of Scotland's various other districts. This was the third election to the City of Glasgow District Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1987 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span>

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday, 11 June 1987 and all 72 seats in Scotland were contested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1979 United Kingdom general election in Scotland</span>

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 3 May 1979 and all 71 seats in Scotland were contested.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Glasgow City Council election</span> Glasgow City Council election

Elections to Glasgow City Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

References

  1. ↑ "Voting today in Stirling and Falkirk". The Glasgow Herald. 16 September 1971. p. 18. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "1970 -71 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "Result from previous election". Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 Clark, William (17 September 1971). "Labour Hold Stirling". The Glasgow Herald. p. 1. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "The "Times" Says... One in the eye for Ted". Evening Times. 17 September 1971. p. 4. Retrieved 26 August 2020.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.