1959 Galloway by-election
The Galloway by-election of 9 April 1959 was held after the death of Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) John Mackie:[1]
The seat was safe, having been won by the Unionists at the 1955 general election by 8,014 votes[2]
Result of the previous general election[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | John Mackie | 15,893 | 66.86 | ||
Labour | W S Gray | 7,879 | 33.14 | ||
Majority | 8,014 | 33.72 | - | ||
Turnout | 23,772 | ||||
Unionist hold | Swing |
Result of the by-election[]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unionist | John Brewis | 13,204 | 49.93 | -16.41 | |
Liberal | Simon Mackay | 6,721 | 25.42 | New | |
Labour | W Cross | 6,520 | 24.65 | -9.26 | |
Majority | 6,483 | 24.51 | -9.21 | ||
Turnout | 26,445 | ||||
Unionist hold | Swing |
Aftermath[]
The Glasgow Herald stated that the initial reaction to the result among the political parties was "Government satisfaction, Liberal jubilation, and Labour despondency."[4] However, the same newspaper also noted that Conservatives would be happy to have held the seat with a "substantial majority", the Liberal performance would worry them. The result indicated that the Liberals were maintaining their recent trend of polling well in by-elections. The Conservatives were reported to fear that if this trend in Liberal candidates taking votes from their party continued, it could allow Labour to win the next general election, if the Liberals fielded 200 candidates.[4]
References[]
- ^ Full results Archived 10 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ [1] Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
- ^ "1959 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ^ a b "Government Satisfaction at Galloway Result". The Glasgow Herald. 11 April 1959. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
- 1959 in Scotland
- 1950s elections in Scotland
- Politics of Dumfries and Galloway
- History of Galloway
- 1959 elections in the United Kingdom
- April 1959 events in the United Kingdom
- By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituencies
- By-elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom in Scottish constituency stubs