Argyllshire by-election, 1940

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The Argyllshire by-election, 1940 was a parliamentary by-election for the British House of Commons constituency of Argyllshire, on 10 April 1940.

By-elections, also spelled bye-elections, are used to fill elected offices that have become vacant between general elections.

Argyllshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1800 and of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1983. The constituency was named Argyll from 1950. The constituency was replaced in 1983 with Argyll and Bute.

Contents

Vacancy

The by-election was caused by the death of the sitting Unionist MP, Frederick Alexander Macquisten on 29 February 1940 at the age of 69. He had been MP here since gaining the seat in 1924.

The Unionist Party was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965.

Election history

Argyllshire had been won by the Unionists at every election since 1924 but was a marginal seat in which the Liberal Party had continued to challenge strongly. The result at the last General election was as follows;

1935 General Election : Argyllshire [1]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Unionist Frederick Alexander Macquisten 13,260 53.6 n/a
Liberal Basil Andrew Murray 11,486 46.4 n/a
Majority 1,774 7.2 n/a
Turnout 56.6 n/a
Unionist hold Swing n/a

Candidates

Sir Duncan McCallum was a Scottish Unionist Party politician. He was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Argyllshire at a 1940 by-election. McCallum remained as MP for the seat until his death in 1958.

Bulgaria country in Southeast Europe

Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, and the Black Sea to the east. The capital and largest city is Sofia; other major cities are Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas. With a territory of 110,994 square kilometres (42,855 sq mi), Bulgaria is Europe's 16th-largest country.

Egypt Country spanning North Africa and Southwest Asia

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, across the Red Sea lies Saudi Arabia, and across the Mediterranean lie Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, although none share a land border with Egypt.

At the outbreak of war, the Conservative, Liberal and Labour parties had agreed an electoral truce which meant that when a by-election occurred, the party that was defending the seat would not be opposed by an official candidate from the other two parties. Approaches were made by the Liberals to the Unionists for them to support Bannerman being returned rather than their own candidate. However, with the Liberal Party sitting in opposition to the Chamberlain led Government, this was never likely to happen. Both Bannerman and Weir duly withdrew.

On the 8 March, the largely insignificant Scottish National Party chose to intervene. On 12 March, they chose as their candidate, 66-year-old William Power who was from Glasgow. [2]

The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social-democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence. It is the second-largest political party by membership in the United Kingdom, behind the Labour Party and ahead of the Conservative Party, it is the third-largest by overall representation in the House of Commons, behind the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, and it is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 35 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has served as First Minister of Scotland since November 2014.

William Power was a Scottish author, journalist, and politician. He was the leader of the Scottish National Party from 1940 to 1942, and served as President of the Scottish Convention between 1942 and 1951.

Campaign

Polling day was set for 10 April 1940. When nominations closed, it was to reveal a two horse race, between McCallum for the Unionists and Power, for the Nationalists.

McCallum was in Egypt at the time of the death of Macquisten and remained there until returning to Scotland after his first campaign meeting on 26 March 1940, more than two weeks after he knew he would be opposed.

Half of the constituency was in a restricted area, and candidates and speakers were required to obtain permits to pass in and out. The authorities rejected the permit applications of the Nationalist candidate, effectively restricting his movements.

The SNP campaign sought to highlight government neglect of the Highlands. Power chose not to disagree with the government's foreign policy.

Neville Chamberlain sent a message to McCallum stating, We are fighting for just and durable peace which will restore freedom and security to Europe and rid us of the perpetual menace of war. The Premier expressed the hope that "the electors of Argyllshire will send you to Parliament by such a majority as will provide convincing evidence of the national unity of purpose in the prosecution of the war."

Neville Chamberlain Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Arthur Neville Chamberlain was a British Conservative Party statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his foreign policy of appeasement, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the German-speaking Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Germany. When Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, the UK declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, and Chamberlain led Britain through the first eight months of the Second World War.

Result

As expected the Unionists held the seat. The SNP managed to poll over 7,000 votes, [3] the vast majority of which were believed to be from the 11,000 people who voted Liberal last time.

Argyllshire by-election, 1940 [3] [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Unionist Duncan McCallum 12,317 62.8 +9.2
SNP William Power 7,308 37.2 n/a
Majority 5,009 25.6
Turnout 47.9 -8.7
Unionist hold Swing

Aftermath

McCallum took his seat on the benches behind Neville Chamberlain, but within a month, Chamberlain had been replaced by Winston Churchill. This result catapulted Power into the leadership of the SNP. However, it did not represent any progression for the SNP in Argyll as the party did not contest the seat at the following General election. Instead both Liberal and Labour candidates who had withdrawn from the by-election came forward to challenge McCallum; The result at the following General election;

General Election 1945: Argyllshire [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Unionist Duncan McCallum 15,791 56.6
Labour A MacNeill Weir 8,889 31.9
Liberal John MacDonald Bannerman 3,228 11.6
Majority 6,902 24.7
Turnout 63.9
Unionist hold Swing

See also

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References

  1. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  2. "Scottish Nationalist to contest Argyll. Mr William Power Adopted as Candidate". The Glasgow Herald. 13 March 1940. p. 9. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Government win in Argyll. Major McCallum returned. Majority of 5009 in reduced poll. Scottish Nationalist's 7308 Votes". The Glasgow Herald. 13 April 1940. p. 7. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  4. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
  5. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949