1997 Paisley South by-election

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1997 Paisley South by-election
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
  May 1997 6 November 1997 2001  
 First partySecond party
  Douglas Alexander at the India Economic Summit 2008.jpg Official portrait of Ian Blackford crop 2.jpg
Candidate Douglas Alexander Ian Blackford
Party Labour SNP
Popular vote10,3467,615
Percentage44.1%32.5%
SwingDecrease2.svg13.4%Increase2.svg9.1%

 Third partyFourth party
 
CandidateEileen McCartinSheila Laidlaw
Party Liberal Democrats Conservative
Popular vote2,5821,643
Percentage11.0%7.0%
SwingIncrease2.svg1.6%Decrease2.svg1.6%

MP before election

Gordon McMaster
Labour

Elected MP

Douglas Alexander
Labour

The previous UK Member of Parliament for Paisley South, Gordon McMaster, of the Labour Party; died on 28 July 1997.

Contents

The 1997 Paisley South by-election was held on 6 November 1997. It was a safe Labour seat, and despite a swing of 11% to the Scottish National Party; they did not win the constituency.

Result

1997 Paisley South by-election [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Douglas Alexander 10,346 44.1 −13.4
SNP Ian Blackford 7,61532.5+9.1
Liberal Democrats Eileen McCartin2,58211.0+1.6
Conservative Sheila Laidlaw1,6437.0−1.6
ProLife Alliance John Deighan5782.5New
Scottish Socialist Frances Curran 3061.3+0.9
Independent C. McLauchlan1550.7New
Socialist Labour Christopher Herriot1530.7New
Natural Law Kenneth Blair570.2New
Majority2,73111.7−22.4
Turnout 23,43542.9−26.2
Labour hold Swing -11.3

General Election result, 1997

General Election 1997: Paisley South
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon McMaster 21,482 57.5 +6.8
SNP William Martin8,73223.4−0.7
Liberal Democrats Eileen McCartin3,5009.4+0.3
Conservative Robin Reid3,2378.6−7.3
Referendum James Lardner2540.7New
Scottish Socialist Sean Clerkin 1460.4New
Majority12,75034.1+7.5
Turnout 37,35169.1−5.9
Labour hold Swing

See also

References

  1. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1997-2002 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 5 October 2015.