1912 Glasgow St Rollox by-election

The Glasgow St Rollox by-election was a Parliamentary by-election. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

Previous result

General election December 1910: Glasgow St Rollox Electorate 19,918

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	McKinnon Wood	9,291	55.8
	Liberal Unionist	Arthur Robert Chamberlayne	7,374	44.2
Majority			1,917	11.6
Turnout			16,665
	Liberal hold		Swing

Campaign

The British Socialist Party who were unable to organise themselves a candidate to contest the election, decided nevertheless to campaign in the constituency. They issued a leaflet and toured the various works, lecturing the voters. They were critical of the electoral alliance between the Liberal and Labour parties and called on the electors to vote for the Unionist Party candidate.[1]

Result

By-Election 26 February 1912: Glasgow St Rollox Electorate 19,581

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	McKinnon Wood	8,530	51.4	-4.4
	Conservative	Frederick Alexander Macquisten	8,061	48.6	+4.4
Majority			469	2.8	-8.8
Turnout			16,591	84.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.4

Aftermath

A General Election was due to take place by the end of 1915. By the autumn of 1914, the following candidates had been adopted to contest that election. Due to the outbreak of war, the election never took place.

General Election 1914/15: Glasgow St Rollox Electorate 24,387

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	McKinnon Wood
	Unionist

General election 14 December 1918: Glasgow St Rollox Electorate 38,439

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	*Gideon Murray	10,844	58.6
	Labour	James Stewart	6,147	27.8	New
	Liberal	McKinnon Wood	1,521	14.6
Majority			4,697	30.8	N/A
Turnout			18,512
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

• Murray was the endorsed candidate of the Coalition Government.

References

1. John MacLean's Scottish Notes, Justice, 24 February 1912, page 2.

• Craig, F. W. S. (1974). British parliamentary election results 1885-1918 (1 ed.). London: Macmillan.
• Who's Who: www.ukwhoswho.com
• Debrett's House of Commons 1916