1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election

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.

1978 Berwick and East Lothian by-election
26 October 1978
Constituency of Berwick and East Lothian
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate John Home Robertson Margaret Marshall Isobel Lindsay
Party Labour Conservative SNP
Popular vote 20,530 17,418 6,323
Percentage 47.4% 40.2% 13.2%
Swing Increase4.1% Increase2.6% Decrease4.4%
MP before election

John Mackintosh
Labour

 Elected MP

John Home Robertson
Labour

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,[1] having previously been MP for the seat between 1966 and the February 1974 election.[2]

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.[3] 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'.[3] Isobel Lindsay expected to increase the SNP vote, while Tam Glen also was confident that the Liberal vote would rise.[3]

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.

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, 1978[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Home Robertson 20,530 47.4 +4.1
Conservative Margaret Marshall 17,418 40.2 +2.6
SNP Isobel Lindsay 3,799 8.8 −4.4
Liberal Tam Glen 1,543 3.6 −2.3
Majority 3,112 7.2 +1.5
Turnout 43,290
Labour hold Swing +0.8
General election October 1974: Berwick and East Lothian
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Mackintosh 20,682 43.3 +1.0
Conservative Michael Ancram 17,942 37.6 -5.8
SNP R. Macleod 6,323 13.2 -1.0
Liberal C.F. Lawson 2,811 5.9 New
Majority 2,740 5.7 N/A
Turnout 47,758 80.8 -5.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +3.4

See also

References
  1. October 1974 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
  2. February 1974 general election results at Richard Kimber's political science resources
  3. Clark William (26 October 1978). "Tories get scent of a 'famous victory'". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
  4. "1978 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
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