The Glasgow Central by-election, in the Glasgow Central

Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow Central is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . In its current form, the constituency was first used in the general election of 2005, but there was also a Glasgow Central constituency from 1885 to 1997.- Boundaries :The Redistribution of Seats Act...

 constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, was held on 15 June 1989. It was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for the constituency, Robert McTaggart

Robert McTaggart

Robert McTaggart, known as Bob McTaggart was a Scottish shipbuilder and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Glasgow Central, representing the Labour Party. McTaggart was on the left of his party, and took up issues of unemployment and poor housing which affected his constituency...

.

The Scottish National Party

Scottish National Party

The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....

 (SNP) had high hopes of repeating their victory from the previous year at the by-election

Glasgow Govan by-election, 1988

The Glasgow Govan by-election, in the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Govan, Scotland, was held on 10 November 1988. It was caused by the resignation of Bruce Millan as Member of Parliament for the constituency....

 for the Glasgow Govan

Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow Govan was a parliamentary constituency in the Govan district of Glasgow. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until 2005, returning one Member of Parliament elected by the first-past-the-post system.The area which the constituency...

 seat, and they chose as their candidate a close associate of their Govan victor, Jim Sillars

Jim Sillars

Jim Sillars is a Scottish politician. He is married to current member of the Scottish Parliament, Margo MacDonald.-Early life:...

 in Alex Neil. However, the hoped for victory did not transpire for the SNP, as Mike Watson

Mike Watson

Michael Goodall Watson, Baron Watson of Invergowrie, known as Mike Watson, is a former British Labour Party politician...

 retained the seat for the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 with a 6,462 majority, despite a 20.3% rise in the SNP share of the votes cast.

The Liberal Democrats fell to fifth place, the worst position achieved by a major party in any British by-election since the Walsall North by-election, 1976

Walsall North by-election, 1976

The Walsall North by-election on 4 November 1976 was held after the resignation of sitting Member of Parliament John Stonehouse. Elected as a Labour candidate, Stonehouse was a member of the English National Party when he resigned, after an interlude in which he faked his own death...

. This was surpassed in the Glasgow North East by-election of 2009, when the Liberal Democrats came in Sixth Place.

This was also the only parliamentary contest engaged in by the Scottish Socialist Party

Scottish Socialist Party (1987-1990)

The Scottish Socialist Party was a small political party operating in Scotland. It was primarily a left-wing breakaway from the Scottish National Party although it succeeded in recruiting a number of Labour Party members, including the former Labour Group leader in Edinburgh council, Alex Wood...

 that existed at the time (which should not be confused with the present day Scottish Socialist Party

Scottish Socialist Party

The Scottish Socialist Party is a left-wing Scottish political party. Positioning itself significantly to the left of Scotland's centre-left parties, the SSP campaigns on a socialist economic platform and for Scottish independence....

). Their candidate was Bill Kidd.

Results

See also

• Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)
  Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)
  Glasgow Central is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . In its current form, the constituency was first used in the general election of 2005, but there was also a Glasgow Central constituency from 1885 to 1997.- Boundaries :The Redistribution of Seats Act...
  
  
• Elections in Scotland
  Elections in Scotland
  Scotland has elections to several bodies: the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, the European Parliament, local councils and community councils.-Scottish Parliament:...
  
  
• List of United Kingdom by-elections