The 1978 Glasgow Garscadden by-election was a
parliamentary by-election held on 13 April 1978 for the
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
of
Glasgow Garscadden
Glasgow Garscadden was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1974 until 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Boundaries
This ...
, in the north west periphery of the City of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
.
It was won by
Donald Dewar
Donald Campbell Dewar (21 August 1937 – 11 October 2000) was a Scottish politician who served as the inaugural First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland from 1999 until his death in 2000. He previously served as ...
of the Labour Party. It was important in that it was widely seen as halting the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
(SNP) tide in the 1970s.
Previous Member of Parliament
The by-election was caused by the death of
William Watson Small (19 October 1909 – 18 January 1978) who was a
Labour Party politician from
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
.
Small was an engineer. He was an
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine and it borders the counties of Re ...
County Council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.
Ireland
The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...
lor from 1945 to 1951 and an active member of the
Amalgamated Engineering Union
The Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU) was a major United Kingdom, British trade union. It merged with the Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union to form the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in 1992.
History
...
, serving on its national committee from 1955 to 1957 and as president of the union's West Ayrshire district.
At the
1959 general election, he was elected as
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for
Glasgow Scotstoun. At the
February 1974 election he was elected for Glasgow Garscadden which was largely the same constituency under a new name. He held that seat until his death.
Small never held ministerial office, but served as
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to the
Minister of Power from 1964.
Candidates
Six candidates were nominated for the by-election.
The Labour candidate was Donald Campbell Dewar. He had worked as a
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
in Glasgow before being elected at the age of 28 in the
1966 general election to Westminster to represent the marginal constituency of
Aberdeen South. In his maiden speech in the Commons Dewar railed against a proposed increase on potato tax. This was his first notable success - the tax was repealed in 1967. That year he was made
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
to the
Education Secretary Anthony Crosland
Charles Anthony Raven Crosland (29 August 191819 February 1977) was a British Labour Party politician and author. A social democrat on the right wing of the Labour Party, he was a prominent socialist intellectual. His influential book ''The ...
, who Dewar later confessed to never really establishing a rapport with. He held that position until 1969. In April 1968 he was proposed for a
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
position by
Roy Jenkins
Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead, (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Lab ...
but nothing came of it. He lost his seat to
Iain Sproat
Iain MacDonald Sproat (8 November 1938 – 29 September 2011) was a British Conservative Member of Parliament (MP). He was educated at Winchester College and Magdalen College, Oxford. He worked as a publisher and journalist.
Parliamentary caree ...
at the
1970 general election.
Dewar later went on to become
Secretary of State for Scotland
The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the Unit ...
, and the first
First Minister of Scotland
The first minister of Scotland ( sco, heid meinister o Scotland; gd, prìomh mhinistear na h-Alba ) is the head of the Scottish Government and keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. The first minister chairs ...
.
Representing the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
(SNP) was Keith S. Bovey. He had previously contested the neighbouring seat of
Glasgow Hillhead in February 1974 and Garscadden in the October 1974 general election. In that contest the SNP replaced the Conservative Party as the runners up to Labour in Glasgow Garscadden. He was also a senior figure in
CND
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucle ...
.
Bovey went on to contest Glasgow Hillhead in 1983, as well as
Monklands West in the 1987 and 1992 general elections.
The
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
nominee was Iain M. Lawson. He contested
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
for the Conservatives in 1983. Later he was the SNP candidate for
Stirling
Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...
in 1987 and for
Paisley South in the
1990 Paisley South by-election and the 1992 general election.
Mrs Shiona Farrell represented the
Scottish Labour Party
Scottish Labour ( gd, Pàrtaidh Làbarach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Labour Pairty; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak o ...
, which was a short lived breakaway party from the Labour Party. She did not contest any other parliamentary election.
Sammy Barr
Samuel Alexander Barr (20 December 1931 – 7 May 2012) was a British shipyard worker, trade unionist, and Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) work-in veteran. Barr was an "inspiring speaker" and organiser who was a "widely respected shop steward ...
was the Communist candidate. He contested Glasgow Garscadden in February 1974, 1979 and 1983, as well as at this by-election.
The
Socialist Workers Party stood Peter Porteous, who did not contest any other parliamentary election.
Votes
* ''Death of William Small 18 January 1978''
Political context
The by-election was important as it was the first Westminster by-election in Scotland to take place since the
October 1974 general election, a lengthy gap. The SNP was widely seen as being on a rise, doing well at the 1977 district council elections.
Although the by-election saw a significant swing from Labour to SNP, because the SNP failed to take the seat it was seen as a defeat for them. Labour did even better, and the SNP worse, shortly after this, in the 1978 regional elections, and Westminster by-elections in
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
and
Berwick and East Lothian.
See also
*
Glasgow Garscadden constituency
*
List of United Kingdom by-elections (1950–1979)
This is a list of parliamentary by-elections in the United Kingdom, with the names of the incumbent and victor and their respective parties. Where seats changed political party at the election, the result is highlighted: red for a Labour gain, ...
References
* ''British Parliamentary Election Results 1974-1983'', compiled and edited by F.W.S. Craig (Parliamentary Research Services 1984)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasgow Garscadden By-Election, 1978
By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Glasgow constituencies
1978 in Scotland
1970s elections in Scotland
1978 elections in the United Kingdom
1970s in Glasgow
April 1978 events in the United Kingdom