Glasgow Central by-election, 1980

The Glasgow Central by-election, 1980 was a by-election held on 26 June 1980 for the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Central, following the death of its sitting MP, Thomas McMillan.

On a turnout of 48%, the Labour Party held the seat.

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 SDP, or their successor party the Liberal Democrats; until the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008. 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 in the Glasgow Hillhead by-election of March 1982 .

Because there was no official candidate, Liberal Party member Graham Watson offered himself as a candidate sponsored by the Scottish Young Liberals. He later became a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament.

As a seat considered safe for Labour, there was little surprise when its candidate Robert McTaggart 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, representing the Scottish National Party, was elected as a delegate for Central Scotland in the first sitting of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, while Conservative Anna McCurley won the Renfrew West and Inverclyde seat in the General Election of 1983.

Votes

Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Robert McTaggart
votes = 4,902
percentage = 60.8
change = -11.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Gil Paterson
votes = 2,122
percentage = 26.3
change = +16.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Anna McCurley
votes = 707
percentage = 8.8
change = -7.6Election box candidate with party link
party = National Front (UK)
candidate = John MacKenzie
votes = 148
percentage = 1.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate
party = Scottish Young Liberal
candidate = Graham Watson
votes = 134
percentage = 1.7
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Ecology Party
candidate = David Mellor
votes = 45
percentage = 0.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate
party = Social Democrat (1979)
candidate = Donald Kean
votes = 10
percentage = 0.1
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 2,780
percentage =
change = Election box turnout
votes = 8,062
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing =

1979 general election result

Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Thomas McMillan
votes = 8,542
percentage = 72.5
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = F. Saleem
votes = 1,937
percentage = 16.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = S. Bird
votes = 1,308
percentage = 11.1
change = Election box majority
votes = 6,605
percentage = 56.0
change = Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 59.5
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Labour Party (UK)
swing =

ee also

* Glasgow Central - the 2005 re-creation of the historic constituency
* List of United Kingdom by-elections
* United Kingdom by-election records
* Elections in Scotland