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| Turnout | 50.7% ( 0.9%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1946 was a by-election held from 22 to 27 November 1946 for the Combined Scottish Universities , a university constituency of the British House of Commons.
It was the last election for a university constituency of the UK Parliament; the Combined Scottish Universities was abolished along with the other university seats for the 1950 general election.
The seat had become vacant on 16 October 1946 when the independent Member of Parliament (MP) Sir John Boyd Orr had resigned by the procedural device of accepting the post of Steward and Bailiff of the Chiltern Hundreds, a notional 'office of profit under the crown' which is used as a procedural device to enable MPs to resign from the Commons. After his resignation, Boyd took up the position of Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He had held the seat he was first elected at a by-election in 1945.
Five candidates contested the by-election, none of whom had stood in 1945.
The Unionist candidate was Walter Elliot, who had been MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove for more than 20 years, until his narrow defeat at the 1945 general election. He had been Secretary of State for Scotland from 1936 to 1938.
The Labour Party candidate was the philosopher and broadcaster C. E. M. Joad. The Liberal Party fielded J. M. Bannerman, who had contested Argyll in 1945, and the National Liberals nominated Dr R. S. Stevenson, who had stood in West Fife in 1945.
The fifth candidate was J. G. Jameson, a member of the Federal Union who stood as an advocate of the policies of the Federal Union, although the union did not endorse his candidacy.
The result was a clear victory for the Unionist candidate, Walter Elliot, who won over 68% of the votes, and a majority of more than 50% over the second-placed Labour candidate. Elliot held the seat until the university constituencies were abolished for the 1950 general election.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Walter Elliot | 22,152 | 68.2 | +64.0 | |
| Labour | C. E. M. Joad | 3,731 | 11.5 | +2.8 | |
| Liberal | John Bannerman | 2,593 | 8.0 | +2.3 | |
| Independent | J. G. Jameson | 2,080 | 6.4 | New | |
| Liberal National | R. S. Stevenson | 1,938 | 5.9 | New | |
| Majority | 18,421 | 56.7 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 32,494 | 50.7 | −0.9 | ||
| Unionist gain from National | Swing | N/A | |||
A university constituency is a constituency, used in elections to a legislature, that represents the members of one or more universities rather than residents of a geographical area. These may or may not involve plural voting, in which voters are eligible to vote in or as part of this entity and their home area's geographical constituency.
The Unionist Party was the main centre-right political party in Scotland between 1912 and 1965.
The 1950 United Kingdom general election was the first general election ever to be held after a full term of Labour government. The election was held on Thursday 23 February 1950, and was the first held following the abolition of plural voting and university constituencies. The government's 1945 lead over the Conservative Party shrank dramatically, and Labour was returned to power but with an overall majority reduced from 146 to just 5. There was a 5.8% national swing towards the Conservatives, who gained 90 seats. Labour called another general election in 1951, which the Conservative Party won.
Colonel Walter Elliot Elliot was a British politician of Scotland's Unionist Party prominent in the interwar period. He was elected to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1918, and besides an interval of months in 1923–24 and 1945-46, remained in parliament until his death. His Cabinet roles were as the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in the National Government (1931–1935) of Ramsay MacDonald; as the Secretary of State for Scotland in the National Government (1935–1937) of Stanley Baldwin; and as Minister of Health in Neville Chamberlain's National Government (1937–1939) and the short-lived Chamberlain war ministry.
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The Scottish Conservatives, officially the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in Scotland. It is the second-largest party in the Scottish Parliament and Scottish local government. The party has the second largest number of Scottish MPs in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.
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The Glasgow Camlachie by-election was held on Wednesday 28 January 1948, following the death of the sitting Member of Parliament, Campbell Stephen.
The Glasgow Bridgeton by-election was held on 29 August 1946, following the death of Independent Labour Party (ILP) Member of Parliament for Glasgow Bridgeton, James Maxton.
The Kilmarnock by-election, 1929 was a by-election held on 27 September 1929 for the British House of Commons constituency of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.
The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1935 was a by-election held from 17 to 22 June 1935 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.
The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1938 was a by-election held from 21 to 25 February 1938 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.
The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1936 was a by-election held from 27 to 31 January 1936 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.
The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1945 was a by-election held from 9 to 13 April 1945 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.
The Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 1927 was a by-election held from 26 to 29 April 1927 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.
The Kilmarnock by-election, 1946 was a by-election held on 5 December 1946 for the British House of Commons constituency of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.
The Kilmarnock by-election, 1933 was a by-election held on 2 November 1933 for the British House of Commons constituency of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire.
The Down by-election was held on 6 June 1946, following the death of James Little, the independent Unionist Member of Parliament for Down.
