Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow Govan
Former Burgh constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	City of Glasgow
Major settlements	Govan
1885–2005
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Glasgow Central Glasgow South Glasgow South West

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 (MP) elected by the first-past-the-post system.

It was a Conservative-Liberal marginal seat for the first three decades of its existence, before being won by the Labour Party in 1918. It remained a Labour seat for the next 55 years, except for a five-year Conservative interlude from 1950 to 1955, before being seized by the SNP at a 1973 by-election, only to be regained by Labour the following year. The SNP regained the seat at a 1988 by-election, only to lose it again to Labour in 1992. It remained a Labour seat until its abolition 13 years later.

The area which the constituency represented is now covered by Glasgow Central, Glasgow South and Glasgow South West.

Boundaries

1885-1918: "That part of the parish of Govan which lies south of the Clyde beyond the boundary of the Municipal Burgh of Glasgow".^[1]

1918-1945: "That portion of the city which is bounded by a line commencing at a point on the municipal boundary at the centre of the River Clyde in line with the continuation of the centre line of Balmoral Street, thence eastward along the centre line of the River Clyde to a point in line with the continuation of the centre line of the portion of Govan Road to the west of Princes Dock, thence southward to and along the centre line of the said portion of Govan Road, Whitefield Road, Church Road and continuation thereof to the centre, of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway, thence westward along the centre line of the said Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway to the municipal boundary, thence north-westward, northward, and eastward along the municipal boundary to the point of commencement."

1945-1974: The Glasgow wards of Govan, Kinning Park, part of Fairfield, and part of Kingston.

1974-1983: The Glasgow wards of Fairfield, Govan, Kingston, and Kinning Park.

1983-1997: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of Drumoyne/Govan, Mosspark/Bellahouston, and Penilee/Cardonald.

1997-2005: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of Govan/Drumoyne, Kingston/Pollokshields, and Langside/Shawlands.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir William Pearce	Conservative
	1889	John Wilson	Liberal
	1900	Robert Hunter Craig	Liberal
	1906	Robert Duncan	Unionist
	1910	William Hunter	Liberal
	1911	Daniel Turner Holmes	Liberal
	1918	Neil Maclean	Labour and Independent Labour Party
	1931[2]		Labour
	1950	Jack Browne	Unionist
	1955	John Rankin	Labour Co-operative
	1973 by-election	Margo MacDonald	SNP
	Feb 1974	Harry Selby	Labour
	1979	Andy McMahon	Labour
	1983	Bruce Millan	Labour
	1988 by-election	Jim Sillars	SNP
	1992	Ian Davidson	Labour Co-operative
	1997	Mohammad Sarwar	Labour
	1997		Independent[3]
	1999		Labour
	2005	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2001: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammad Sarwar	12,464	49.3	+5.2
	SNP	Karen Neary	6,064	24.0	-11.1
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Stewart	2,815	11.1	+5.2
	Conservative	Mark Menzies	2,167	8.6	-0.2
	Scottish Socialist	Wullie McGartland	1,531	6.1	N/A
	Communist	John Foster	174	0.7	N/A
	Independent	Badar Mirza	69	0.3	N/A
Majority			6,400	25.3
Turnout			25,284	46.8	-17.7
	Labour hold		Swing	8.2

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammad Sarwar	14,216	44.1	N/A
	SNP	Nicola Sturgeon	11,302	35.1	N/A
	Conservative	William Thomas	2,839	8.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Stewart	1,918	5.9	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Alan McCombes	755	2.3	N/A
	Independent	Peter Paton	325	1.0	N/A
	Independent	Islam Badar	319	1.0	N/A
	Independent	Zahid Jamil Abbasi	221	0.7	N/A
	Referendum	Kenneth MacDonald	201	0.6	N/A
	BNP	James White	149	0.5	N/A
Majority			2,914	9.0	N/A
Turnout			32,245	64.5	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General Election 1992: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Davidson	17,051	49.0	N/A
	SNP	Jim Sillars	12,926	37.1	N/A
	Conservative	James Alan Donnelly	3,458	9.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Bob Stewart	1,227	3.5	N/A
	Scottish Green	David Spaven	181	0.5	N/A
Majority			4,125	11.8	N/A
Turnout			34,843	75.9	N/A
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1980s

Glasgow Govan by-election, 1988
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Jim Sillars	14,677	48.8	+38.4
	Labour	Bob Gillespie	11,123	36.9	-27.8
	Conservative	Graeme Hamilton	2,207	7.3	-4.6
	Social and Liberal Democrats	Bernard Ponsonby	1,246	4.1	-8.2
	Green	George Campbell	345	1.1	N/A
	Communist	Douglas Chalmers	281	0.9	+0.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Lord Sutch	174	0.6
	Independent	Fraser Clark	51	0.2
Majority			3,554	11.8
Turnout			30,104	60.2
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+33.1

General Election 1987: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bruce Millan	24,071	64.8	+9.8
	Social Democratic	Alasdair Ferguson	4,562	12.3	-7.4
	Conservative	Mrs Janet Ruth Girsman	4,411	11.9	-7.5
	SNP	Felix McCabe	3,851	10.4	+4.5
	Communist	Douglas Chalmers	237	0.6	N/A
Majority			19,509	52.5
Turnout			37,132	73.4
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

General Election 1983: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bruce Millan	20,370	55.0	-12.9
	Social Democratic	I. Mcdonald	7,313	19.7
	Conservative	A. McKenzie	7,180	19.4	+0.9
	SNP	P.M. Kindlen	2,207	5.9	-7.7
Majority			13,057	35.3
Turnout			37, 070	71.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andy McMahon	11,676	67.9
	Conservative	John Harrison Walker	3,188	18.5
	SNP	Thomas Wilson	2,340	13.6
Majority			8,488	49.3
Turnout				75.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Glasgow Govan[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Selby	11,392	49.50
	SNP	Margo MacDonald	9,440	41.02
	Conservative	M Todd	1,623	7.05
	Liberal	E Mason	444	1.93
	National Front	MA Brooks	86	0.37
	Independent	T Clyde	27	0.12
Majority			1,952	8.48
Turnout			23,011	71.70
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Glasgow Govan[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Selby	10,326	43.17
	SNP	Margo MacDonald	9,783	40.90
	Conservative	J Mair	3,049	12.75
	Liberal	P McMillan	763	3.19
Majority			543	2.27
Turnout			23,920	74.92
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing

Glasgow Govan by-election, 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Margo MacDonald	6,360	41.5	+31.2
	Labour	Harry Selby	5,789	38.2	-21.9
	Conservative	John Mair	1,780	11.7	-16.5
	Liberal	Peter McMillan	1,239	8.2
Majority			571	3.5
Turnout			15,168
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	26.7

General Election 1970: Glasgow Govan
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Rankin	13,443	60.1
	Conservative	G.F. Belton	6,301	28.2
	SNP	Michael Grieve	2,294	10.3
	Communist	T. Biggam	326	1.5
Majority			7,142	31.9
Turnout			22,364	63.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Glasgow Govan[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Rankin	18,533	67.8
	Conservative	P Breuer	7,677	28.1
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,103	4.0
Majority			10,856	39.75
Turnout				67.47
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Glasgow Govan[7][8][9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Rankin	20,326	64.99
	Unionist	Peter Breuer	9,571	30.60
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,378	4.41
Majority			10,755	34.39
Turnout			31,275	70.25
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Glasgow Govan[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Rankin	23,139	60.4
	Unionist	AG Hutton	13,319	34.7
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,869	4.9
Majority			9,820	25.62
Turnout				75.03
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Glasgow Govan[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Rankin	24,818	62.0
	Unionist	AG Hutton	15,216	38.0
Majority			9,602	23.98
Turnout				71.82
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

• the boundaries of the seat were heavily redrawn and much of the 1950-55 version of Govan ended up in the new Craigton seat

General Election 1951: Glasgow Govan[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Jack Browne	20,936	50.3
	Labour	J Davis	20,695	49.7
Majority			241	0.58
Turnout				84.92
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Glasgow Govan[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Jack Browne	19,267	46.6
	Labour	J Davis	18,894	45.7
	Liberal	Thomas Ronald Leslie Fraser	1,628	3.9
	Communist	William Lauchlan	1,547	3.8
Majority			373	0.90
Turnout				84.03
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Glasgow Govan[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	18,668	66.1
	Unionist	Jack Browne	9,586	33.9
Majority			9,082	32.14
Turnout				64.08
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Glasgow Govan[15] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,791	51.0
	Unionist	Alexander McClure	10,211	33.0
	Ind. Labour Party	Thomas Johnston Taylor	4,959	16.0
Majority			5,580	18.0
Turnout				74.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Glasgow Govan[16] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,047	51.0
	Unionist	Alexander McClure	14,442	49.0
Majority			605	2.0
Turnout				75.4
	Labour hold		Swing

• Maclean had been expelled by the ILP but was endorsed by Labour Party HQ.

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Glasgow Govan[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Labour	Neil Maclean	17,384	57.7
	Unionist	Marquess of Clydesdale	12,738	42.3
Majority			4,646	15.4
Turnout			30,122
	Independent Labour hold		Swing

• candidature not endorsed by Labour Party HQ

General Election 1924: Glasgow Govan[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,132
	Unionist	H. Stanley	8,815
Majority			6,317
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1923: Glasgow Govan [19]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	13,987
	Liberal	Henry Anderson Watt	7,095
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Helen Fraser

1922 General Election: Glasgow Govan[20]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,441	62.3	+14.5
	National Liberal	Helen Fraser	9,336	37.7	+29.3
Majority			6,105	24.6	+20.6
Turnout			24,777	78.3
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.4

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Glasgow Govan[21] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	9,577	47.8	n/a
	Unionist	Alexander McClure	8,762	43.8
	Liberal	Daniel Turner Holmes	1,678	8.4
Majority
Turnout
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Glasgow Govan by-election, 1911[22] Electorate 18,395
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Turner Holmes	7,508	53.5	-3.4
	Conservative	George Balfour	6,522	46.5	+3.4
Majority				7.0	-6.8
Turnout				76.3	-3.6
	Liberal hold		Swing	-3.4

General Election Dec 1910: Glasgow Govan[23] Electorate 18,504
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hunter	8,409	56.9
	Conservative	George Balfour	6,369	43.1
Majority			2,040	13.8
Turnout				79.9
	Liberal hold		Swing

At a by-election on 28 April 1910, following his appointment as Solicitor General for Scotland, William Hunter was returned unopposed.

General Election Jan 1910: Glasgow Govan[24] Electorate 17,994
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hunter	6,556	43.0
	Conservative	Robert Duncan	5,127	33.7
	Labour	James Thomas Brownlie	3,545	23.3
Majority			1,429	9.3
Turnout				84.6
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1900s

John Hill

General Election 1906: Glasgow Govan[25] Electorate
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Duncan	5,224	35.9
	Liberal	H. S. Murray	5,096	35.1
	Ind. Labour Party	John Hill	4,212	29.0	n/a
Majority
Turnout
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing

General Election 1900: Glasgow Govan[26] Electorate 14,807
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Hunter Craig	5,744	50.7	+1.7
	Liberal Unionist	Robert Duncan	5,580	49.3	+3.2
Majority				1.4	-1.5
Turnout				76.5	-0.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.7

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1895: Glasgow Govan[27]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	4,290
	Liberal Unionist	George Ferguson	4,029
	Ind. Labour Party	Alexander Haddow	430

General Election 1892: Glasgow Govan[28]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	44,829
	Conservative	Nathaniel Spens	3,829

Elections in the 1880s

Govan by-election, 18 January 1889
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	4,420	56.9
	Liberal Unionist	Sir John Pender	3,349	43.1
Majority			1,071	13.8
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General Election 1886: Glasgow Govan[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Pearce	3,574	52.7
	Liberal	T. A. Dickson	3,212	47.3
Majority			362	5.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

General Election 1885: Glasgow Govan[29]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Pearce	3,677
	Liberal	Bennet Burleigh	3,522
	Liberal	David George Hoey	11

Notes and references

1. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
2. Neil Maclean was elected at the 1918 general election as a member of both the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Party. He was expelled from the ILP for deviancy from the party line in 1931.
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/news/06/0625/sarwar.shtml
4. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74b/i09.htm
5. http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge74a/i09.htm
6. Whitaker's Almanack, 1966
7. Whitaker's Almanack, 1964
8. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
10. Whitaker's Almanack, 1959
11. Whitaker's Almanack, 1955
12. Whitaker's Almanack, 1951
13. Whitaker's Almanack, 1950
14. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
15. The Times House of Commons, 1935
16. The Times House of Commons, 1931
17. The Times House of Commons, 1929
18. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
19. The Times, 8 December 1923
20. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
21. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
22. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
23. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
24. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
25. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
26. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
27. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
28. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
29. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)