West Lothian by-election, 1962

The West Lothian by-election, 1962 was a British parliamentary by-election held for the constituency of West Lothian in Scotland on 14 June 1962, following the death of its MP, John Taylor. It was important for two reasons: firstly, it saw the election of Tam Dalyell, who went on to become a long-standing and controversial MP; secondly, it saw a surprisingly strong showing by the Scottish National Party. The SNP candidate, William Wolfe, became their leader for several years.^[1]

Candidates from the Liberal and Conservative parties both lost their deposits. It was the first deposit lost by the Conservatives in Scotland since 1920.

Election

West Lothian by-election, 1962[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tam Dalyell	21,266	50.82
	SNP	William Wolfe	9,750	23.30
	Conservative	W. I. Stewart	4,784	11.43
	Liberal	D. Bryce	4,537	10.84
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,511	3.61
Majority			11,516	27.5
Turnout			41,848

References

1. "Veteran nationalist Billy Wolfe dies at the age of 86". 19 March 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
2. "1962 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2015-08-17.