December 1910 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

December 1910 United Kingdom general election

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All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party Third party   Leader H. H. Asquith Arthur Balfour George Barnes Party Liberal Conservative and Liberal Unionist Labour Last election 58 11 [a] 2 Seats won 57 12 [a] 3 Seat change 1 1 [a] 1 Popular vote 306,378 244,785 [a] 24,633 Percentage 53.6% 42.6% [a] 3.6% Swing 0.6% 3.0% [a] 1.5%
Results of the 1910 election in Scotland for the county and burgh seats   Liberal   Conservative   Liberal Unionist   Labour

Main article: December 1910 United Kingdom general election

A general election was held in the United Kingdom over the period of 3-19 December 1910, ^[b] and members were returned for all 72 seats in Scotland. The election was held less than a year after the January general election in which the Liberals and the Irish Parliamentary Party gained a majority in the House of Commons. The Liberal government called the election in order to gain a mandate for the Parliament Act 1911, which would prevent the House of Lords from permanently blocking legislation linked to money bills ever again, and to obtain King George V's agreement to threaten to create sufficient Liberal peers to pass that act (in the event this did not prove necessary, as the Lords voted to curtail their own powers). ^[2] The election saw little change in the political make-up of Scotland, with no party registering a net change of more than a single seat.

Scotland was allocated 72 seats in total, with 70 territorial seats, comprising 32 burgh constituencies and 37 county constituencies. ^[c] There were also two university constituencies, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities and Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities. As voters in university constituencies voted in addition to their territorial vote, the results are compiled separately.

All of the three main party leaders had Scottish links: Liberal leader Asquith had represented East Fife since 1886; ^[3] Tory leader Arthur Balfour was born in East Lothian; ^[4] whilst Labour leader George Barnes was born in Dundee and also represented the seat of Glasgow Blackfriars and Hutchesontown. ^[3]

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	Liberal		57	58	1
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist (Total)		12	11	1
		Conservative	8	9	1
		Liberal Unionist	3	3
	Labour		3	2	1
	Other		0	1	1
Total			72	72

Burgh & County constituencies

Party			Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Liberal		57	1	306,378	53.6	0.6
	Conservative and Liberal Unionist [a]		10	1	244,785	42.6	3.0
	Labour Party		3	1	24,633	3.6	1.5
	Other		0	1	1,947	0.2	0.9
Total			70		577,743	100

University constituencies

The two university constituencies each elected an additional member to the house. In this election both seats were uncontested, with the sitting members being returned unopposed.

General election December 1910: Edinburgh & St Andrews Universities ^{[5] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Finlay	Unopposed
	Liberal Unionist hold

General election December 1910: Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities ^{[5] [3]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Henry Craik	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Votes summary

Popular vote Liberal   53.6% Conservative and Liberal Unionist [a]   42.6% Labour   3.6% Other   0.2%

Parliamentary seats Liberal   57 seats Conservative and Liberal Unionist [a]   12 seats Labour   3 seats

Notes

1. The seat and vote count figures given here combines the Conservatives and the Liberal Unionists.
2. This was the last general election to be held over several days ^[1]
3. One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.

References

1. "General Election Dates 1832–2005" (PDF), parliament.uk
2. Somervell, D. C. (1936), The Reign of King George V
3. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN   9781349022984.
4. Mackay, Ruddock; Mathew, H. C. G. "Balfour, Arthur James, first earl of Balfour (1848–1930)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30553.(Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
5. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1916