United Kingdom general election, 1931 (Scotland)

United Kingdom general election, 1931

27 October 1931

All 74 Scottish seats to the House of Commons   First party Second party   Leader Stanley Baldwin Sir John Simon Party Unionist Liberal National Leader since 23 October 1922 5 October 1931 Last election 20 New Seats won 50 8 Seat change 28 Popular vote 1,056,768 101,430 Percentage 49.5% 4.9% Swing 13.6% New   Third party Fourth party   Leader Herbert Samuel Arthur Henderson Party Liberal Labour Leader since October 1931 1 September 1931 Last election 13 seats 36 seats Seats won 8 7 Seat change 6 29 Popular vote 205,384 696,248 Percentage 8.6% 32.6% Swing 9.5% 9.7%

PM before election David Lloyd George National Subsequent PM Andrew Bonar Law Conservative

The 1931 United Kingdom general election in Scotland was held on 27 October 1931. Of the 74 seats representing Scotland, 71 seats represented burgh and county constituencies contested under the First past the post electoral system, and 3 represented the Combined Scottish Universities multi-member University constituency.

The election saw massive gains for the Unionists across the country, with the party winning nearly 70% of all Scottish seats. The parties forming the National Government together won 64% of the vote, and 86% of the seats. In contrast the Labour party, which had been the largest party in Scotland following the 1929 election (where it had won 42% of the Scottish vote), was relegated into fourth place.

Following the election, with Labour appearing to teeter on the edge of the electoral abyss in Scotland, the Independent Labour Party increasingly moved apart from Labour, ultimately dissociating from the party in March 1932. The ILP had dominated the Labour movement in Scotland since 1918, dominating community based activism, and essentially forming the Labour party in Scotland. This had ultimately served to undermine the organizational growth of the Labour party in Scotland.^[1]

Results

Burgh & County Constituencies

Party			Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	National Government (Total)		64		1,385,385	64.0
		Unionist	48	28	1,056,768	49.5	13.6
		National Liberal & Conservative	8	New	101,430	4.9	New
		Liberal	7	6	205,384	8.6	9.5
		National Labour	1	New	21,803	1.0	New
	Labour Party		7	29	696,248	32.6	9.7
	Communist		0		35,618	1.4	0.3
	National Party of Scotland		0		20,954	1.0	0.8
	New Party		0	New	3,895	0.2	New
	Other		0		32,229	0.8
Total			71		2,174,329	100

University Constituency

General Election, November 1931: Combined Scottish Universities

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	John Buchan	unopposed
	Liberal	Dugald McCoig Cowan	unopposed
	Unionist	Archibald Noel Skelton	unopposed

References

1. p.202-203