1950 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

none November 2024 November 2024 1950 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 23 February 1950 Scotland parliamentary no 1945 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1945 List of MPs elected in the 1945 United Kingdom general election 1951 United Kingdom general election in Scotland 1951 All 71 Scottish seats to the House of Commons List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1950–1951) 80.9% (11.9 pp) Clement Attlee (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Clement Attlee 25 October 1935 Labour Party (UK) 37 seats, 47.9% Walthamstow West 37 1,259,410 46.2% 1.7 pp Churchill in 1944 (cropped 3x4).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Winston Churchill 9 October 1940 Unionist Party (Scotland) Conservative Woodford 28 seats,Includes 1 Unionist seat in the abolished Combined Scottish Universities constituency. 40.3% 31efn1 The seat and vote count figures for the Unionists given here include the National Liberals. 3 1,222,010 44.8% 4.5 pp Clement Davies (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Clement Davies 2 August 1945 Scottish Liberal Party Liberal Montgomeryshire 0 seats, 5.6% 2 2 180,270 6.6% 1.0 pp File:1950 general Election in Scotland, showing Ross and Cromarty coloured light yellow.png On 23 February 1950, the 1950 United Kingdom general election was held in Scotland, to elect all 625 members of the House of Commons, with 71 constituencies being in Scotland.Commons results report https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-information-office/m07.pdf live https://web.archive.org/web/20201112032602/https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/commons-information-office/m07.pdf 12 November 2020 British Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006 35 This was also the first election to be held after a full 5-year term of a Labour government in office. The turnout registered nationally in this election remains the highest for any election in the post-war era. Boundary review Prior to the election, the Representation of the People Act 1948 and House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 passed. These Acts removed plurality voting and redistributed the seats in Scotland to the House of Commons that had been in use between the 1918 to 1945 general elections. The Combined Scottish Universities constituency was abolished, and the number of territorial county and borough constituencies remained unchanged but with boundary changes. Dundee, Scotland's only multi-member plurality seat, was also split between Dundee East and Dundee West. This arrangement of boundaries in Scotland, however, was temporary and would be changed again in 1955 following the official implementation of the First periodic review of Westminster constituencies. Candidates Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1950 general election in Scotland.https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7529/CBP-7529.pdf UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections Cracknell Richard Uberoi Elise Burton Matthew 9 August 2023 House of Commons Library 23 8 August 2026https://api.parliament.uk/uk-general-elections/general-elections/29 UK General Elections Results 1832-2019 12 August 2026 Affiliation CandidatesLabour Party 71Unionist Party 57Liberal Party 41Communist Party of Great Britain 16National Liberal Party 11Scottish National Party 3Irish Anti-Partition League 3Independent Labour Party 2The candidates that stood were Robert Duncan in Glasgow Bridgeton and James W. Graham in Glasgow Shettleston.Scottish Home Rule 2The candidates that stood were M S McP Holt in Argyllshire and David Murray in Western Isles.Independent Liberal 1Candidate John MacLeod stood in Ross and Cromarty.Scottish Self-Government 1Candidate Maxwell Hynd stood in West Lothian.Independent Labour 1Candidate John S. Thomson stood in Greenock.Independent 1Candidate Hugh MacDiarmid stood in Glasgow Kelvingrove.United Socialist Movement 1Founder and Leader of the United Socialist Movement Guy Aldred stood in Glasgow Central.Independent Scottish Nationalist 1Candidate Hume Sleigh stood in Edinburgh Central.Total 212 Analysis Labour Party The Labour Party won a plurality of votes and a majority of seats within Scotland. When combined with results from across the UK the Labour government of Clement Attlee was returned to power with a slim majority of only 5. This proved unworkable, and a further election was held the following year. In Scotland, the Labour party had not overall change in terms of seats. Labour gained Glasgow Camlachie, Glasgow Bridgeton and Glasgow Shettleston from the Independent Labour Party. As a result, the Independent Labour Party held no seats in Scotland, and would never do so again. In Glasgow Camlachie, the sitting Independent Labour Party MP, Campbell Stephen, died causing the 1948 Glasgow Camlachie by-election wherein the Unionist Party candidate Charles McFarlane won the seat. However, in this election, Labour candidate William Reid won the seat from the Unionists. He would remain in Parliament until his retirement in 1964. Similarly, in Glasgow Bridgeton, sitting Member of Parliament and Leader of the Independent Labour Party James Maxton died, causing the 1946 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election wherein Independent Labour Party candidate James Carmichael won the seat. This was last victory for an ILP candidate in Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole; however, Carmichael stood as an official Labour candidate in this election, retaining the seat. This was a gain from the ILP. Lastly, John McGovern in Glasgow Shettleston, who had been an ILP Member of Parliament, had resigned from the party following the death of Maxton, and rejoined the Labour Party. His re-election was also a gain from the ILP for the Labour Party. The Labour Party also gained West Fife from the Communist Party of Great Britain. Long-time Communist MP, Willie Gallacher, lost his seat to Labour's Willie Hamilton. This was the last time in which the Communists would hold a seat in Scotland in Westminster, and following the defeat of another communist in England, the last time the party would hold seats in the United Kingdom at all. The Labour Party also won Glasgow Central from the Unionist Party. It also won the new seat of Central Ayrshire. However, the Labour party also lost six seats to the Unionist Party and National Liberals in Scotland, including the abolished Glasgow St Rollox. William Leonard, the sitting MP for St Rollox, contested the new seat of Glasgow Woodside, though lost to the Unionist Party. Labour came out with no change in terms of seats, although with a minor decrease in vote share. Unionist Party and National Liberals The Unionist Party, which had a national affiliation with the Conservative Party, along with the national constituency alliance with the renamed National Liberal Party gained an overall of four seats at this election. The Unionist Party won Edinburgh North, Glasgow Govan, Lanark and Glasgow Kelvingrove from Labour. In the seat of Lanark, future Prime Minister Alec Douglas-Home returned to Parliament after having held the seat from 1929 and losing it in 1945. In Glasgow Kelvingrove, long-time MP Walter Elliot also returned to Parliament. The Party also won the new seat of Glasgow Scotstoun wherein Sir Arthur Young won the seat after having represented the abolished Glasgow Partick since 1935. He would hold the seat until his death, following which the Unionist Party would retain the seat at the 1950 Glasgow Scotstoun by-election. The Unionist won the new seat of Glasgow Woodside. John Mackie in Galloway, who had won the seat in the previous election as an Independent Unionist, won the seat again as an official Unionist candidate. The retention represented a gain for the Unionist Party. The Unionists won Inverness, which was a gain from Independent Liberal Murdoch Macdonald. Macdonald did not re-contest the seat at this election. However, the Unionists also lost six seats. Amongst some losses to Labour, it also lost two seats to the Liberal Party as well as losing the abolished seat of Forfarshire and two seats to its constituency ally, the National Liberal Party. The Unionist Party, therefore, gained an overall two seats at this election. The National Liberal Party held Dumfriesshire, and held East Fife, with the MP being the former Chair of the National Liberal Party James Henderson-Stewart. It gained the new seat of South Angus, which replaced Montrose Burghs and Forfarshire. It also won the new seat of North Angus and Mearns, which had also partly replaced Montrose Burghs and some rearranged borders in Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire. The chairman of the National Liberals, John Maclay, won West Renfrewshire from the Labour Party, after having represented the abolished Montrose Burghs. Overall, the party gained two seats in Scotland in comparison to the last election. Liberal Party and Independent Liberal The Liberals gained two seats in Scotland, having been unrepresented north of the border in the previous parliament. It regained Roxburgh and Selkirk and Orkney and Shetland from the Unionist Party, after lost these seats in 1945 to the party. Future Leader of the Liberal Party Jo Grimond entered Parliament in Orkney and Shetland, and would hold the seat until 1983. Independent Liberal John MacLeod was returned in Ross and Cromarty, although would join the National Liberals and Unionists before the 1951 general election. Combined Scottish Universities Following the boundaries reviews and abolition of the plurality voting constituencies, the non-territorial Combined Scottish Universities constituency was abolished. As such, the Unionist Party lost its single seat in the constituency, with MP John Graham Kerr not contesting any seat at the election. Similarly, John Anderson, who had won a seat as a National MP in support of the National Government since 1938 and Churchill Caretaker Ministry in 1945, left Parliament and did not re-contest any seat. Independent John Boyd Orr also left Parliament, and did not re-contest any seat. Results +PartyBritish Electoral Facts Colin Rallings Micheal Thrasher Total Politics 978-1-907278-03-7 2006SeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%)   Labour Party 37 6 6 52.1 1,259,410 46.2 1.7   Unionist (Total) 31 10 6 4 43.7 1,222,010 44.8 4.5 Unionist Party (Scotland) 26 8 6 2 36.6 1,013,909 37.2 0.5 National Liberal Party (UK, 1931) 5 2 0 2 7.0 208,101 7.6 4.0   Liberal 2 2 0 2 2.8 180,270 6.6 1.0   Communist 0 0 1 1 — 27,559 1.0 0.4   Independent Liberal 1John MacLeod in Ross and Cromarty. 0 1 1 1.4 10,912 0.4 0.5   SNP 0 0 0 — 9,708 0.4 0.9   Independent Labour 0 colspan=3 Did not stand in 1945 — 6,458 0.2   Anti-Partition 0 colspan=3 New — 3,992 0.2 New   Independent Labour Party 0 0 3 3 — 3,005 0.1 1.6   Self-Government 0 colspan=3 New — 1,039 0.0 New   Home Rule 0 colspan=3 New — 915 0.0 New   Independent 0 0 0 — 639 0.0   United Socialist Movement 0 0 0 — 485 0.0   Independent Scottish Nationalist 0 0 0 — 283 0.0   Other 0 colspan=2 1John Mackie retained Galloway, though stood as an official candidate for the Unionist Party. — 0 0.0 Total 71 100.0 2,726,684 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 3,370,190 80.9https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7529/CBP-7529.pdf UK Election Statistics: 1918-2023, A Century of Elections Cracknell Richard Uberoi Elise Burton Matthew 9 August 2023 House of Commons Library 29 8 August 2026 11.9 Popular voteefn1 #ddd 600px 410px Labour Scottish Labour Party 46.2 Unionist Unionist Party (Scotland) 44.8 Liberal Scottish Liberal Party 6.6 Liberal Communist Party of Great Britain 1.0 Other #777777 1.4 Parliamentary seatsefn1 #ddd 600px 410px Labour Scottish Labour Party 52.1 Unionist Unionist Party (Scotland) 43.7 Liberal Scottish Liberal Party darkgray 2.8 Ind. Liberal #FFFFAA 1.4 Notes See also 1950 United Kingdom general election in England 1950 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1950 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1950–1951) References Politics Scotland United Kingdom Category:1950s elections in Scotland Category:General elections in Scotland to the Parliament of the United Kingdom Category:1950 in Scotland Category:1950 United Kingdom general election