The 1980 Glasgow Central by-election was a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

held on 26 June 1980 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 Central, following the death of its sitting MP, Thomas McMillan. On a turnout of 48%, the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Party held the seat.

Background

Labour had held the seat for 30 years, having won it at the 1950 general election. McMillan had been the MP for the seat since

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Candidates

This was the last parliamentary by-election in England, Scotland or Wales not contested by an official candidate of either the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, the SDP, or their successor party the Liberal Democrats; until the

2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election The 2008 Haltemprice and Howden by-election was a by-election held in the United Kingdom on 10 July 2008 to elect a new Member of Parliament (MP) for constituency of Haltemprice and Howden. The by-election was triggered by the surprise and contr ...

. The Social Democrat candidate had no connection to the SDP (which wasn't created until 1981) and achieved the lowest vote for any candidate in a Parliamentary election under universal suffrage, a record later surpassed by the five votes obtained by independent campaigner

Bill Boaks Lieutenant Commander William George Boaks (25 May 1904 – 4 April 1986) was a British Royal Navy officer who became a political campaigner for road safety. A pioneer of British eccentric political campaigning, he jointly held the record for t ...

in the Glasgow Hillhead by-election of March 1982. Because there was no official candidate, Liberal Party member

Graham Watson Sir Graham Robert Watson (born 23 March 1956) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South West England from 1994 to 2014. Watson was the chairman of the Parliament's committee on ci ...

offered himself as a candidate sponsored by the Scottish Young Liberals. He later became a

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

and leader of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

group in the European Parliament. As a seat considered safe for Labour, there was little surprise when its candidate

Bob McTaggart Robert McTaggart (2 November 1945 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish politician who served as a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency), Glasgow Central, representing the L ...

was declared victor, with 60.8% of the votes cast. Both of his closest rivals were later elected to sit in British parliaments:

Gil Paterson Gilbert Martin Paterson (born in Springburn, Glasgow, 1942) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician, who served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Clydebank and Milngavie, from 2011 to 2021. Previously he had been an MSP ...

, 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 ...

, was elected as a delegate for Central Scotland in the first sitting of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

in 1999, while

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 ...

Anna McCurley Anna Anderson McCurley ( Gemmell; 18 January 1943 – 31 October 2022) was a Scottish politician. Early life and education Anna Gemmell was born in Glasgow on 18 January 1943. Her parents ran a small business, and she was educated at the fee- ...

won the Renfrew West and Inverclyde seat in the general election of 1983. McCurley was at the time a member of

Strathclyde Regional Council Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. ...

, to which she had been elected in 1978, and had unsuccessfully contested

West Stirlingshire West Stirlingshire was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, to which it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post electoral system. The constituency was created for the 1 ...

for the Conservatives at the previous general election. While Labour won, the good performance of the SNP was described by ''

The Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'' as the "surprise of the night" and the newspaper argued it marked their return "to the political stage" and that "both the major parties... were shaken" by the SNP's share of the vote.

Votes

1979 general election result

References

1980 in Scotland 1980s elections in Scotland 1980 elections in the United Kingdom June 1980 events in the United Kingdom

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

1980s in Glasgow {{Glasgow-stub

Background

Candidates

Votes

1979 general election result

See also

References