Westminster By-elections

'As victories go, this was not one of which the Scottish Labour Party could be immensely proud, and it had been met with relief rather than joy. It was bad enough that Labour had come within 1,640 votes of losing John Smith's seat - the party's fourth safest in Scotland - to the SNP. What made it harder to take was that the greatest damage to the Labour cause in the final few days had been wreaked not by the Nationalists but by two of the Scottish Labour Party's own MPs.' Monklands fallout by Kenny Farquharson, Political Correspondent in the Scotsman, 3 rd July 1994.

Westminster By-elections 1950 - present

Winnie Ewing won Hamilton for the Scottish National Party in 1967

• 23 rd February 1950 - 25 th October 1951
  (Labour government under Clement Atlee)
  
  
• 25 th October 1951 - 26 th May 1955
  (Conservative government under Sir Winston Churchill)
  
  
• 26 th May 1955 - 8 th October 1959
  (Conservative government under Anthony Eden and Harold MacMillan)
  
  
• 8 th October 1959 - 15 th October 1964
  (Conservative government under Harold MacMillan and Sir Alex Douglas-Home)
  
  
• 15 th October 1964 - 31 st March 1966
  (Labour government under Harold Wilson)
  
  
• 31 st March 1966 - 18 th June 1970
  (Labour government under Harold Wilson)
  
  
• 18 th June 1970 - 28 th February 1974
  (Conservative government under Edward Heath)
  
  
• 28 th February 1974 - 10 th October 1974 No By-elections
  (Labour government under Harold Wilson)
  
  
• 10 th October 1974 - 4 th May 1979
  (Labour government under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan)
  
  
• 4 th May 1979 - 9 th June 1983
  (Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher)
  
  
• 9 th June 1983 - 11 th June 1987 No By-elections
  (Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher)
  
  
• 11 th June 1987 - 9 th April 1992
  (Conservative government under Margaret Thatcher and John Major)
  
  
• 9 th April 1992 - 1 st May 1997
  (Conservative government under John Major)
  
  
• 1 st May 1997 - 7 th June 2001
  (Labour government under Anthony Charles Lynton Blair)
  
  
• 7 th June 2001 - 5 th May 2005 No by-elections
  (Labour government under Anthony Charles Lynton Blair)
  
  
• 5 th May 2005-
  (Labour government under Anthony Charles Lynton Blair and Dr James Gordon Brown)
  
  

Analysis

• Seats changing hands in by-elections 1945 - present
  
  
• Change in % vote in by-elections 1959 - 2000
  
  

Seats vacant at dissolutions 1886 - present

• 1922: Roxburghshire & Selkirkshire
  
  
• 1923: Kilmarnock, Glasgow Central
  
  
• 1935: Roxburghshire & Selkirkshire
  
  
• 1955: Glasgox Pollok
  
  
• 1959: West Lothian
  
  
• 1964: Edinburgh Pentlands, West Renfrewshire
  
  
• 1987: Kirkcaldy