1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election

1978 UK parliamentary by-election November 2020 November 2013 1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election parliamentary United Kingdom Constituency of Berwick and East Lothian no October 1974 United Kingdom general election Oct. 1974 1979 United Kingdom general election 1979 26 October 1978 John Home Robertson x160px Labour Party (UK) 20,530 47.4% 4.1% Margaret Marshall x160px Conservative Party (UK) 17,418 40.2% 2.6% Isobel Lindsay x160px Scottish National Party 3,799 8.8% 4.4% MP John Mackintosh Labour Party (UK) John Home Robertson Labour Party (UK) The 1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election was a by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Berwick and East Lothian in Scotland on 26 October 1978. It was one of two UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day, and was won by the Labour Party candidate John Home Robertson. Vacancy The seat had become vacant when the Labour Member of Parliament (MP), John Mackintosh had died at the age of 48 on 30 July 1978. He had held the seat since the October 1974 general election,October 1974 general election results https://web.archive.org/web/20060925034657/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74b/i02.htm 25 September 2006 at Richard Kimber's political science resources having previously been MP for the seat between 1966 and the February 1974 election.February 1974 general election results https://web.archive.org/web/20060925033537/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i02.htm 25 September 2006 at Richard Kimber's political science resources Candidates The Labour candidate was 29-year-old John Home Robertson, a farmer who had been a member of Berwickshire District Council since 1974. The Conservative Party candidate was Margaret Marshall. The Liberals selected Tam Glen. The Scottish National Party (SNP) fielded Isobel Lindsay. The SNP national leadership chose her as the candidate, which party rules entitled them to do, but tension arose locally from the choice not to endorse the person who the local SNP organisation had selected to fight the next general election. On the eve of the poll the Conservatives, including Margaret Marshall, reportedly had high hopes of victory and the Glasgow Herald predicted that failure to win the seat would be 'seen as in many quarters as an unmitigated disaster' for the Conservative Party in Scotland.Clark William Tories get scent of a 'famous victory' https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19781026&printsec=frontpage&hl=en 8 January 2018 The Glasgow Herald 26 October 1978 Labour however felt the SNP vote would be reduced with many SNP voters switching to them. John Home Robertson talked of making the seat safe for Labour, but others in the party were described as being 'wary of their chances'. Isobel Lindsay expected to increase the SNP vote, while Tam Glen also was confident that the Liberal vote would rise. Result The result was a victory for Robertson, with an increased majority of 3,112 votes. This was well against the general trend of by-elections in the 1974-79 Parliament, which had been against Labour. It also saw a decline in the SNP vote, continuing a trend at a few other elections earlier in the year. Lindsay and Glen lost their deposits. Robertson held the seat until its abolition for the 1983 general election, when he was returned for the new East Lothian constituency. He went on to represent the Scottish Parliament constituency of East Lothian. Votes Berwick and East Lothian by-election, 1978http://by-elections.co.uk/78.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120314034520/http://by-elections.co.uk/78.html 1978 By Election Results 2012-03-14 dead 2015-09-17 Labour Party (UK) John Home Robertson 20,530 47.4 +4.1 Conservative Party (UK) Margaret Marshall 17,418 40.2 +2.6 Scottish National Party Isobel Lindsay 3,799 8.8 −4.4 Liberal Party (UK) Tam Glen 1,543 3.6 −2.3 3,112 7.2 +1.5 43,290 Labour Party (UK) +0.8 Previous election General election October 1974: Berwick and East Lothian Labour Party (UK) John Mackintosh 20,682 43.3 +1.0 Conservative Party (UK) Michael Ancram 17,942 37.6 -5.8 Scottish National Party R. Macleod 6,323 13.2 -1.0 Liberal Party (UK) C.F. Lawson 2,811 5.9 New 2,740 5.7 N/A 47,758 80.8 -5.0 Labour Party (UK) Conservative Party (UK) +3.4 See also Berwick and East Lothian constituency List of United Kingdom by-elections (1950–1979) 1978 Pontefract and Castleford by-election References Category:By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies Berwick and East Lothian by-election Category:1970s elections in Scotland Berwick and East Lothian by-election Category:Politics of East Lothian Category:Politics of the Scottish Borders Berwick and East Lothian by-election