Westminster Parliamentary By-elections 1997-2001

Westminster Parliamentary By-Elections 1997-2001

'Ian Blackford, the SNP candidate in Paisley South, said yesterday of his Labour opponent, the invisible Douglas Alexander: 'He can run but he can't hide.'
Talk about hostages to fortune. Students of by-election lore might like to store that one away, at least until the early hours of Friday when Mr Alexander is favourite to become the first phantom ever elected to Westminster from Scotland.
If Mr Blackford is wrong, then Thursday will be a bad day for democracy, a day on which the party machines discover it really is possible for politicians to win without ever subjecting themselves to public scrutiny.
If Mr Blackford is right then Labour will have suffered a condign punishment in which they pay the price of shamelessly trying to sneak their man into Parliament by the back door.'
Murray Ritchie in the Herald, 4 th November 1997.

Paisley South: 6 th November 1997

Candidate	Party	Vote	%	% change since GE
Douglas Alexander	Labour	10,346	44.1 %	- 13.4 %
Ian Blackford	Scottish National Party	7,615	32.5 %	+ 9.1 %
Cllr Eileen McCartin	Liberal Democrat	2,582	11.0 %	+ 1.6 %
Shiela Lawson	Conservative & Unionist	1,643	7.0 %	- 1.7 %
John Deighan	Pro Life Alliance	578*	2.5 %	(+ 2.5 %)
Frances Curran	Scottish Socialist Alliance	306*	1.3 %	+ 0.9 %
Charles McLauchlan	Scottish Independent Labour, Justified and Ancient	155*	0.7 %	(+ 0.7 %)
Chris Herriot	Socialist Labour Party	153*	0.7 %	( + 0.7 %)
Kenneth Blair	Natural Law Party	57*	0.2 %	(+ 0.2 %)
Labour hold	Labour majority	2,731	11.6 %	- 22.5 %

Hamilton South By-election 23 rd September 1999

Candidate	Party	Vote	%	% change since GE
Bill Tynan	Lab	7,172	36.87 %	- 28.73%
Annabelle Ewing	SNP	6,616	34.01 %	+ 16.39 %
Shareen Blackall	Scottish Socialist Party	1,847	9.49 %	(+ 9.49%)
Charles Ferguson	Conservative & Unionist	1,406	7.23 %	- 1.41 %
Stephen Mungall	Hamilton Accies Home - Watson Away	1,075	5.53 %	(+ 5.53 %)
Marilyne MacLaren	Liberal Democrat	634*	3.26 %	- 1.86 %
Monica Burns	Pro Life Alliance	257*	1.32 %	- 0.75 %
Tom Dewar	Socialist Labour Party	238*	1.22 %	(+ 1.22 %)
James Reid	Scottish Unionist Party	113*	0.58 %	(+0.58 %)
Alistair McConnachie	UKIP	61*	0.31 %	(+ 0.31 %)
George Stidolph	NLP	18*	0.09 %	(+0.09 %)
Drummond Murray	Status Quo	17*	0.09 %	(+0.09 %)
Labour hold	Labour majority	556	2.86 %	- 45.12 %

Glasgow Anniesland Westminster Parliament By-election 23 rd November 2000

Candidate	Logo	Party	Vote	%	% change since GE
John Robertson		Labour	10,539	52.14 %	- 9.70 %
Grant Thoms		Scottish National Party	4,202	20.79 %	+ 3.68 %
Dorothy Luckhurst		Conservative & Unionist	2,188	10.83 %	-0.63 %
Christopher McGinty		Liberal Democrat	1,630	8.06 %	+ 0.82 %
Charlie McCarthy		Scottish Socialist Party	1,441	7.13 %	+ 6.45 %
William Lynden		Family Action Movement	212*	1.05 %	(+ 1.05 %)
	Labour hold	Labour majority	6,337	31.35 %	- 12.38 %

Falkirk West Westminster Parliament By-election 21 st December 2000

Candidate	Logo	Party	Vote	%	% change since GE
Major Eric Joyce		Labour	8,492	43.54 %	- 15.81 %
David Kerr		Scottish National Party	7,787	39.93 %	+ 16.50 %
Craig Stevenson		Conservative & Unionist	1,621	8.31 %	- 3.78 %
Iain Hunter		Scottish Socialist Party	989	5.07 %	(+ 5.07 %)
Hugh O'Donnell		Liberal Democrat	615*	3.15 %	- 0.65 %
	Labour gain from Independent (Notional Labour hold)	Labour majority	705	3.61 %	- 32.31 %

Total votes cast in Scottish by elections 1997-2001

Logo	Votes	%	Change	Candidates	MPs elected
Labour	36,548	44.25 %	- 16.59 %	4	4
Scottish National Party	26,230	31.74 %	+ 11.08 %	4	0
Conservative & Unionist	6,858	8.30 %	- 1.93 %	4	0
Liberal Democrat	5,461	6.61 %	-0.12 %	4	0
Scottish Socialist Party	4,583	5.55 %	+ 5.29 %	4 (+ 2)	0
Hamilton Accies Home-Watson Away	1,075	1.30 %	+ 1.30 %	1 (+ 1)	0
Pro Life Alliance	835	1.01 %	+ 0.27 %	2	0
Socialist Labour Party	391	0.47 %	+ 0.47 %	2 (+ 2)	0
Family Action Movement	212	0.26 %	+ 0.26	1 (+ 1)	0
Scottish Independent Labour, Justified and Ancient	155	0.19 %	+ 0.19 %	1 (+ 1)	0
Scottish Unionist Party	113	0.14 %	+ 0.14 %	1 (+ 1)	0
Natural Law Party	75	0.09 %	+ 0.07	2 (+ 1)	0
UK Independence Party	61	0.07 %	+ 0.01 %	1	0
Status Quo	17	0.02 %	+ 0.02	1 (+ 1)	0

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