1989 Glasgow Central by-election

Last updated
1989 Glasgow Central by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  1987 15 June 1989 1992  

Constituency of Glasgow Central
Turnout52.9% (Decrease2.svg 12.7%)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Official portrait of Lord Watson of Invergowrie (3x4 crop).jpg Alex Neil, Minister for Housing and Communities (3x4 crop).jpg
Con
Candidate Mike Watson Alex Neil Allan Hogarth
Party Labour SNP Conservative
Popular vote14,4808,0182,028
Percentage54.6%30.2%7.6%
SwingDecrease2.svg 9.9%Increase2.svg 20.3%Decrease2.svg 5.4%

MP before election

Bob McTaggart
Labour

Subsequent MP

Mike Watson
Labour

The Glasgow Central by-election, in the Glasgow Central constituency, was held on 15 June 1989. It was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Bob McTaggart.

Contents

The Scottish National Party had high hopes of repeating their victory from the previous year at the by-election for the Glasgow Govan seat, where Jim Sillars gained the seat from Labour. For Glasgow Central, the SNP chose a close associate of their Govan victor Alex Neil. However, the hope for victory did not transpire for the SNP, as Mike Watson retained the seat for the Labour Party with a 6,462 majority, despite a 20.3% rise in the SNP share of the votes cast. The day after the election, The Glasgow Herald described the result as "the revenge" Labour sought for their by-election defeat in Govan a few months earlier. [1] The SNP blamed opinion polls in the latter stages of the election campaign which showed them trailing Labour, arguing these stalled their momentum. [1] Winner Mike Watson argued that the result showed that "The SNP bandwagon is off the rails", although SNP spokesman Chris McLean denied that the result was a setback, pointing out that they had significantly increased their vote share. [1]

The Liberal Democrats fell to fifth place, the worst position achieved by a major party at any British by-election since the 1976 Walsall North by-election. This was equalled in the Henley by-election in 2008, when Labour also fell to fifth, and surpassed in the Glasgow North East by-election in 2009, when the Liberal Democrats came sixth. Their 1.6% vote share remained the lowest percentage vote for the Liberal Democrats until they entered the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition in 2010, and in fact was not beaten until the South Shields by-election three years into their time in government.

This was also the only parliamentary contest engaged in by the Scottish Socialist Party that existed at the time (which should not be confused with the present day Scottish Socialist Party). Their candidate was Bill Kidd.

Results

Glasgow Central by-election, 1989 [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Mike Watson 14,480 54.6 -9.9
SNP Alex Neil 8,01830.2+20.3
Conservative Allan Hogarth2,0287.6-5.4
Green Irene Brandt1,0193.8+2.9
Liberal Democrats Robert McCreadie4111.5-9.0
SDP Peter Kerr2531.0N/A
Revolutionary Communist Linda Murdoch1410.5N/A
Scottish Socialist Bill Kidd 1370.5N/A
Workers Revolutionary David Lettice480.2N/A
Majority6,46224.4-27.1
Turnout 26,53552.9-12.7
Labour hold Swing -15.1
General Election 1987: Glasgow Central
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Bob McTaggart 21,619 64.5 N/A
Conservative B. Jenkin4,36613.0N/A
Liberal J. Bryden3,52810.5N/A
SNP A. Wilson3,33910.0N/A
Green A. Brooks2900.9N/A
Communist J. McGoldrick2650.8N/A
Red Front D. Owen1260.4N/A
Majority17,25351.5N/A
Turnout 33,53365.6N/A
Labour hold Swing

Related Research Articles

2003 Scottish Parliament election Parliamentary election held in Scotland

The 2003 Scottish Parliament election, was the second election of members to the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive. Jack McConnell, the Labour Party MSP, remained in office as First Minister for a second term and the Executive continued as a Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition. As of 2021, it remains the last Scottish Parliament election victory for the Scottish Labour Party.

In Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP) is a Scottish Nationalist, centre 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. Its current leader, Nicola Sturgeon, is the First Minister of Scotland.

Glasgow North East (UK Parliament constituency) Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was first contested at the 2005 general election. The current Member of Parliament (MP) is Anne McLaughlin of the SNP who won the seat back from Labour's Paul Sweeney at the 2019 general election.

Scottish Labour is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From a high of holding 56 of the 129 seats at the first Scottish parliament election in 1999, the Party has declined each election until getting just 22 MSPs elected at the 2021 election. The party currently holds one of 59 Scottish seats in the UK House of Commons.

The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was held on 9 February 2006, following the death of the sitting Labour MP Rachel Squire, on 6 January. The by-election was the first seat to change hands in the 2005 Parliament, when Willie Rennie won the seat for the Liberal Democrats, gaining it from Labour by 1,800 votes. The BBC reported a swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats of 16.24%.

1980 Glasgow Central by-election

The 1980 Glasgow Central by-election was a by-election held on 26 June 1980 for the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Central, following the death of its sitting MP, Thomas McMillan.

1973 Glasgow Govan by-election

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.

2011 Scottish Parliament election Parliamentary election held in Scotland

The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.

2007 Scottish Parliament election Parliamentary election held in Scotland

The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fell on the same day.

1982 Glasgow Hillhead by-election

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.

The 2008 Glasgow East by-election was a by-election for the UK Parliamentary constituency of Glasgow East which was held on 24 July 2008. The election was triggered when, on 30 June 2008, the sitting MP David Marshall stood down due to ill health.

1982 Glasgow Queens Park by-election

The Glasgow Queen's Park by-election, 1982 was a parliamentary by-election held on 2 December 1982 for the House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Queen's Park.

2008 Glenrothes by-election

The 2008 Glenrothes by-election was a by-election held in Scotland on 6 November 2008 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for the House of Commons constituency of Glenrothes in Fife, Scotland.

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 Glasgow Gorbals by-election, 1969 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.

2010 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

These are the results of the 2010 United Kingdom general election in Scotland. The election was held on 6 May 2010 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested. The election result in Scotland was unusual in that there wasn't any change of seats from the 2005 general election, although the Labour Party took back two seats that it had lost in by-elections. This was the last general election at which the Labour Party won a majority of seats and plurality of votes in Scotland.

2021 Scottish Parliament election General election in Scotland

The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Senedd election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.

2015 United Kingdom general election in Scotland List of election results

The 2015 United Kingdom general election in Scotland was held on 7 May 2015 and all 59 seats were contested under the first-past-the-post electoral system. Unlike the 2010 general election, where no seats changed party, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won all but three seats in Scotland in an unprecedented landslide victory, gaining a total of 56 seats and taking the largest share of the Scottish vote in sixty years, at exactly 50 per cent. The Labour Party suffered its worst ever election defeat in Scotland, losing 40 of the 41 seats they were defending, including the seats of Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy and the then Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander. The Liberal Democrats lost ten of the eleven seats they were defending, with the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and former leader Charles Kennedy losing their seats. The election also saw the worst performance by the Conservative Party, which received its lowest share of the vote since its creation in 1965, although it retained the one seat that it previously held. In all, 50 of the 59 seats changed party, 49 of them being won by first-time MPs.

2017 United Kingdom general election in Scotland United Kingdom general election held in Scotland

The 2017 United Kingdom general election in Scotland was held on Thursday 8 June 2017; all 59 seats were contested under the first-past-the-post electoral system.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Clark, William; Henderson, Connie (16 June 1989). "Central heads night of poll joy for Labour". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  2. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1987–92 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 1 October 2015.

See also