1946 Glasgow Bridgeton by-election

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 constituency had been held by Maxton since the 1922 general election. Until 1931, he had contested the seat as a member of the Labour Party, and although the two parties had then split, Maxton had not had to contest his seat against a Labour candidate. Maxton also had a considerable personal vote as the most prominent member of the ILP.

The ILP had been in a gradual decline since leaving the Labour Party, and the death of Maxton opened the potential of a rupture in the ILP, many members of which were keen to rejoin Labour. The ILP had only two other members of parliament, so it attached a high importance to holding the seat. The party eventually nominated their Scottish Organising Secretary James Carmichael, a member of Glasgow City Council, for the seat.

Labour hoped to gain the seat and stood John Wheatley, a local lawyer who had served during World War II – in contrast, the ILP had opposed the war.

The Unionist Party had little chance of taking the seat, a strongly working class area, but the possibility of a split left vote could perhaps improve their hopes. The Scottish National Party, with little background in the constituency, stood a candidate in Wendy Wood.

Guy Aldred, a well-known local anarcho-communist standing on an abstentionist platform, completed the candidates.

The Liberal Party were particularly weak in Glasgow, and opted not to contest the by-election.

Results

The ILP narrowly held the seat, but suffered a collapse in their majority. In this era of many two- and three-party by-elections, to win with only 34.3% of the votes cast was exceptional – the lowest winning percentage share since the 1930 Bromley by-election. Much of the ILP vote transferred to the Labour candidate, who came a close second. With the left vote split, the Unionists were able to place a strong third with 21.6%, while the Scottish National Party also picked up votes in fourth place, collecting 13.9%. Even Aldred was able to claim one of his best results, taking 2.2% and last position.

The ILP victory only briefly delayed the party's decline. The following year, Carmichael followed the party's two other MPs into the Labour Party, and by the 1950 general election, the ILP was able to take only 5.8% of the vote in Bridgeton. Carmichael held the seat in his new party colours until his retirement in 1961, while Wheatley was elected in Edinburgh East the following year.

Glasgow Bridgeton by-election, 1946[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Labour Party	James Carmichael	6,351	34.3	–32.1
	Labour	John Wheatley	5,180	28.0	New
	Unionist	V. Warren	3,987	21.6	-15.0
	SNP	Wendy Wood	2,575	13.9	New
	United Socialist Movement	Guy Aldred	405	2.2	New
Majority			1,171	6.3	-26.5
Turnout			18,498
	Ind. Labour Party hold		Swing	N/A

References

"1946 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2015.

« 37th Parliament « By-elections to the 38th Parliament of the United Kingdom » 39th Parliament »
1945	October: Smethwick Ashton-under-Lyne Edinburgh East Monmouth City of London November: Bromley Bournemouth Kensington South December: Tottenham North
1946	January: Preston February: South Ayrshire Glasgow Cathcart Heywood and Radcliffe Hemsworth March: Combined English Universities June: Ogmore Down July: Bexley Pontypool Battersea North August: Glasgow Bridgeton November: Rotherhithe Paddington North Aberdeen South Combined Scottish Universities December: Aberdare Kilmarnock
1947	February: Normanton May: Jarrow September: Liverpool Edge Hill September: Islington West November: Gravesend Edinburgh East Howdenshire December: Epsom
1948	January: Glasgow Camlachie February: Paisley March: Wigan Armagh Croydon North Brigg April: Southwark Central September: Glasgow Gorbals October: Stirling and Falkirk November: Edmonton Glasgow Hillhead
1949	February: Batley and Morley Hammersmith South March: St Pancras North Sowerby July: Leeds West December: Bradford South
Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present Northern Ireland Hereditary peers

« 1868–1899 « By-elections in Scotland to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom 1900–1949 » 1950–present »
1900s	May 1900: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities September 1901: North East Lanarkshire November 1902: Orkney and Shetland February 1903: East Perthshire August 1903: Argyllshire September 1903: St Andrews Burghs January 1904: Ayr Burghs August 1904: North East Lanarkshire March 1905: Buteshire September 1905: Elgin Burghs February 1906: East Aberdeenshire February 1907: Aberdeen South Banffshire Perth April 1908: Kincardineshire May 1908: Dundee Stirling Burghs Montrose Burghs February 1909: Forfarshire March 1909: Glasgow Central Edinburgh South Hawick Burghs April 1909: Edinburgh East May 1909: Edinburgh West July 1909: Dumfries Burghs
1910s	April 1910: Govan Edinburgh South March 1911: North East Lanarkshire June 1911: Ross and Cromarty July 1911: Glasgow Tradeston September 1911: Kilmarnock Burghs December 1911: North Ayrshire Govan February 1912: Edinburgh East Glasgow St Rollox September 1912: Midlothian November 1913: Linlithgowshire December 1913: Wick Burghs South Lanarkshire February 1914: Leith Burghs April 1914: East Fife February 1915: Wigtownshire May 1915: Kilmarnock Burghs July 1916: Berwickshire October 1916: North Ayrshire December 1916: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities January 1917: Inverness-shire February 1917: West Perthshire April 1917: Aberdeen South May 1917: Edinburgh South July 1917: Dundee August 1917: Edinburgh and St Andrews Universities May 1918: Elgin Burghs April 1919: Aberdeenshire and Kincardineshire Central
1920s	February 1920: Paisley March 1920: Argyll April 1920: Edinburgh North Edinburgh South March 1921: Kirkcaldy Burghs April 1921: Glasgow Pollok May 1921: Orkney and Shetland March 1922: Inverness June 1922: Moray and Nairn May 1924: Glasgow Kelvingrove December 1924: Dundee June 1925: Ayr Burghs November 1925: Galloway January 1926: Dunbartonshire East Renfrewshire March 1927: Leith April 1927: Combined Scottish Universities April 1928: Linlithgowshire August 1928: Aberdeen North January 1929: Midlothian and Peebles Northern September 1929: Kilmarnock
1930s	June 1930: Glasgow Shettleston November 1930: East Renfrewshire May 1931: Glasgow St Rollox Rutherglen March 1932: Dunbartonshire June 1932: Montrose Burghs February 1933: East Fife November 1933: Kilmarnock March 1934: Combined Scottish Universities April 1935: Perth May 1935: Edinburgh West Aberdeen South June 1935: Combined Scottish Universities September 1935: Dumfriesshire January 1936: Combined Scottish Universities February 1936: Ross and Cromarty March 1936: Dunbartonshire November 1937: Greenock June 1937: Glasgow Hillhead September 1937: Glasgow Springburn February 1938: Combined Scottish Universities December 1938: Kinross and Western Perthshire March 1939: Kincardineshire and Western Aberdeenshire April 1939: South Ayrshire October 1939: Clackmannanshire and East Stirlingshire
1940s	April 1940: Argyllshire Glasgow Pollok May 1940: East Renfrewshire July 1940: Montrose Burghs February 1941: Dunbartonshire July 1941: Greenock Edinburgh West December 1941: Edinburgh Central April 1942: Glasgow Cathcart January 1943: Hamilton February 1943: Midlothian and Peebles Northern February 1944: Kirkcaldy Burghs April 1945: Motherwell Combined Scottish Universities October 1945: Edinburgh East February 1946: South Ayrshire Glasgow Cathcart August 1946: Glasgow Bridgeton November 1946: Aberdeen South Combined Scottish Universities December 1946: Kilmarnock November 1947: Edinburgh East January 1948: Glasgow Camlachie February 1948: Paisley September 1948: Glasgow Gorbals October 1948: Stirling and Falkirk November 1948: Glasgow Hillhead
Lists of UK by-elections 1801–1806 1806–1818 1818–1832 1832–1847 1847–1857 1857–1868 1868–1885 1885–1900 1900–1918 1918–1931 1931–1950 1950–1979 1979–2010 2010–present Northern Ireland Hereditary peers

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.