1958 Glasgow Kelvingrove by-election

The Glasgow Kelvingrove by-election of 13 March 1958 was held after the death of Conservative MP (MP) Walter Elliot.

The seat was marginal, having been won by the Conservatives at the 1955 United Kingdom general election by just short of 3,000 votes.[1] Elliot's widow Katharine Elliot stood to replace her husband as a Unionist, but she was defeated by Labour's Mary McAlister.

Background

A former cabinet minister, Walter Elliot had first been elected for the seat in 1924, having previously been MP for Lanark. He had lost the seat in the Labour landslide of 1945, but after sitting as an MP for the Scottish Universities, had fought it again in 1950 and regained it.[2]

David Murray, who stood as a 'Liberal Home-ruler' was not officially endorsed by the Liberal Party, but Scottish Liberal chairman J. M. Bannerman spoke in his favour "as an individual".[3]

Result of the previous general election

General election 1955: Glasgow Kelvingrove
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Walter Elliot 14,854 55.38 +3.0
Labour John Williams 11,966 44.62 −3.0
Majority 2,888 10.76 +6.0
Turnout 26,820
Conservative hold Swing

Result of the by-election

By-election 1958: Glasgow Kelvingrove[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Mary McAlister 10,210 48.00 +3.38
Conservative Katharine Elliot 8,850 41.61 −13.77
Independent Liberal David Murray 1,622 7.63 New
Ind. Labour Party William C. Park 587 2.76 New
Majority 1,360 6.39 N/A
Turnout 21,269
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +8.67

References

  1. ^ [1] Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
  2. ^ The Times House of Commons 1951. London. 1951. p. 190. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ "Kelvingrove Vote Today". The Glasgow Herald. 13 March 1958. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  4. ^ "1958 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2015.


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