1929 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

Main article: 1929 United Kingdom general election

1929 United Kingdom general election in Scotland
30 May 1929
All 74 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ramsay MacDonald Stanley Baldwin David Lloyd George
Party Labour Unionist Liberal
Leader since 22 November 1922 23 October 1922 14 October 1926
Seats before 26 seats[a] 38[a] 9[a]
Seats won 36[a][b] 22[a] 14[a]
Seat change 10[a] 16[a] 5[a]
Popular vote 937,300[c] 792,063[c] 407,081[c]
Percentage 41.8%[c] 35.3%[c] 18.1%[c]
Swing 0.7 pp[c] 5.4 pp[c] 1.5 pp[c]
Results of the 1929 election in Scotland
  Unionist
  Labour
  Liberal
  Independent Labour
  Scottish Prohibition Party

The 1929 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 30 May 1929,[1] and all 74 seats in Scotland were contested and resulted in a hung parliament. It stands as the fourth of six instances under the secret ballot, and the first of three under universal suffrage, in which a party has lost on the popular vote but won the highest number (known as "a plurality") of seats versus all other parties – others are 1874, January 1910, December 1910, 1951 and February 1974. In 1929, Ramsay MacDonald's Labour Party won the most seats in the House of Commons for the first time. The Liberal Party once again led by ex-Prime Minister David Lloyd George regained some ground lost at the 1924 general election and held the balance of power. The election results in Scotland saw a dramatic swing towards the Labour Party led by Scottish leader Ramsay MacDonald (although at the time he represented a seat in London). These results followed a general swing towards Labour at this election.[2]

The general election was the first in which women aged 21–29 had the right to vote (owing to the Representation of the People Act 1928). Women over 30, with some property qualifications, had been able to vote since the 1918 general election, but the 1929 poll was the first general election with universal suffrage for adults over 21, which was then the age of majority.

Scotland was allocated 74 seats in the House of Commons, with 71 territorial seats (32 burgh constituencies and 38 county constituencies).[d] There was also one university constituency, which elected an additional 3 members using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method.[3] As voters in university constituencies voted under a different system, and in addition to their territorial vote, the results are compiled separately.

Neil Maclean was elected as member for Glasgow Govan standing under the "Independent Labour" label, but would subsequently go on to take the Labour whip in Parliament.[4] Edwin Scrymgeour, standing for the Scottish Prohibition Party, retained his Dundee seat with an increased majority. All other seats were won by official candidates for the three major parties. The election was the first general election in which the National Party of Scotland (a forerunner of the Scottish National Party) stood candidates.

Results

Seats summary

Main article: 1929 United Kingdom general election
Party Seats Last Election Seats change
  Labour Party 36[b] 26 10
  Unionist 22 38 16
  Liberal 14 9 5
  Scottish Prohibition 1 1
  Independent Labour Party 1 0 1
Total 74 74

Burgh & County constituencies

Party Seats[1] Seats change Votes[1] % % Change
Labour 36[b] 10 937,300 41.8 0.7
Unionist 20 16 792,063 35.3 5.4
Liberal 13 5 407,081 18.1 1.5
Scottish Prohibition 1 50,073 2.2
Communist 0 27,114 1.2 0.5
National Party of Scotland 0 3,313 0.1 New
Other 1[e] 1 25,997 1.2
Total 71 2,242,941 100.0

University constituency

The Combined Scottish Universities elected an additional 3 members to the house using the STV voting method.

General election 1929: Combined Scottish Universities (3 seats) [5]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Unionist John Buchan 39.7 9,959  
Liberal Dugald Cowan 26.7 6,698  
Unionist George Berry 22.9 5,755 9,262
Labour James Kerr 10.7 2,691 2,867
Electorate: 43,192   Valid: 25,103   Quota: 6,276   Turnout: 25,103  

Votes summary

Popular vote[c]
Labour
 
 41.8%
Unionist
 
 35.3%
Liberal
 
 18.1%
Scottish Prohibition
 
 2.2%
Communist
 
 1.2%
NPS
 
 0.2%
Other
 
 1.2%
Parliamentary seats[a]
Labour
 
 48.6%
Unionist
 
 29.7%
Liberal
 
 18.9%
Scottish Prohibition
 
 1.4%
Independent Labour
 
 1.4%

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Combined results for burgh, county and university seats
  2. ^ a b c Neil Maclean, who was not officially endorsed by Labour but would subsequently take the Labour whip in Parliament, is not counted as a Labour candidate for the purposes of these results.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Total and percentage votes given here are for territorial constituencies only
  4. ^ One burgh seat, Dundee, was represented by two members of parliament.
  5. ^ Neil Maclean

References

  1. ^ a b c Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
  2. ^ William Kenefick (2007). Red Scotland!: The Rise and Fall of the Radical Left, C. 1872–1932. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 202–203. ISBN 978-0-7486-2517-8.
  3. ^ "Research Briefing: Voting systems in the UK". Library of the House of Commons. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  4. ^ Colin Rallings; Micheal Thrasher (2006). British Electoral Facts. Total Politics. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-907278-03-7.
  5. ^ The Times, 11 June 1929
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