The 1955 Greenock by-election was a parliamentary by-election held on 8 December 1955 for the British House of Commons constituency of Greenock in

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

, Scotland. The vacancy had been created by the death of the incumbent

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 ...

Hector McNeil Hector McNeil (10 March 1907 – 11 October 1955) was a Scottish Labour politician. McNeil was educated at Woodside School and the University of Glasgow, trained as an engineer and worked as a journalist on a Scottish national newspaper. He ...

, and the seat was won by the future Labour Minister

Dickson Mabon Jesse Dickson Mabon (1 November 1925 – 10 April 2008), sometimes known as Dick Mabon, was a Scottish politician, physician and business executive. He was the founder of The Manifesto Group of Labour MPs, an alliance of moderate MPs who foug ...

Candidates

Labour selected Mabon, who at only thirty would become the youngest Labour MP. He had served as a

Bevin Boy Bevin Boys were young British men conscripted to work in coal mines between December 1943 and March 1948, to increase the rate of coal production, which had declined through the early years of World War II. The programme was named after Ern ...

and in the army. He had been chairman of the Labour Club (1948–50), then chairman of the National Association of Labour Students in 1949–1950, and finally president of

Glasgow University Union Glasgow University Union (GUU) is one of the largest and oldest students' unions in the UK, serving students and alumni of the University of Glasgow since 1885. The GUU organises social affairs for its members, provides catering and entertainm ...

in 1951–52, and of the

Scottish Union of Students The National Union of Students Scotland ( gd, Aonadh Nàiseanta na Oileanaich na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Union o Collegianers Scotland) is an autonomous body within the National Union of Students. It is the national representative body of aro ...

, 1954–55. The Unionist candidate was Ian MacArthur, who was also thirty, and who worked as an associate director of a marketing and advertising company; he had also contested the seat at the general election earlier that year.

Previous result

By-election result

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenock by-election, 1955 1955 elections in the United Kingdom 1955 in Scotland 1950s elections in Scotland December 1955 events in the United Kingdom By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies