SNP By-election Votes 1924-Present

'The by-election in Hamilton in 1967 was the next major watershed in Scotland. Only then did many people in the Labour Party - apart from myself and a few others who had actually experienced SNP campaigning - take the nationalist threat seriously.' Tam Dalyell in Devolution: the End of Britain?

SNP MSPS after the October 1974 election
From left to right: Douglas Crawford (Perth & East Perthshire), George Reid (Clackmannan & East Stirlingshire), Gordon Wilson (Dundee East), Douglas Henderson (East Aberdeenshire), Winifred Ewing (Moray & Nairn), Donald Stewart (Western Isles), Margaret Bain (East Dunbartonshire), Hamish Watt (Banff), Ian MacCormick (Argyll), Andrew Welsh (South Angus) and George Thomson (Galloway).

SNP votes cast in Westminster parliamentary by-elections

Dates	By-Elections	Candidates	MPs elected	Lost Deposits	Total Votes	Average Votes	Average % vote	% of total Scots vote
1924-29	5	1	0	1	842	842	4.5	0.8
1929-31	4	3	0	1	10,866	3,622	12.9	9.3
1931-35	7	4	0	2	14,355	3,589	11.8	7.4
1935-45	14	7	1	2	44,111	6,302	24.7	12.2
1945-50	9	4	0	4	10,145	2,536	7.7	4.0
1950-51	2	0	0	-	-	-	-	-
1951-55	5	1	0	1	2,931	2,931	7.4	1.9
1955-59	6	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
1959-64	10	6	0	4	24,948	4,158	12.9	7.6
1964-66	1	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966-70	4	4	1	0	40,737	10,184	31.0	31.0
1970-74F	4	4	1	0	36,204	9,051	31.3	31.3
1974F-74O	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974O-79	3	3	0	1	28,142	9,381	24.1	24.1
1979-83	4	4	0	2	12,347	3,087	13.9	13.9
1983-87	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
1987-92	5	5	1	0	42,438	8,488	27.9	27.9
1992-97	2	2	1	0	32,251	16,126	42.4	42.4
1997-2001	4	4	0	0	26,220	6,555	31.7	31.7
2001-05	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005-	2	2	0	0	16,900	8,450	26.4	26.4

NB From 1929 to 1983, there were 71 seats, thereafter 72 until 2005 when the number of seats was reduced to 59.

Until 1984, in all elections, the criteria was that the deposit was lost if the candidate did not poll one eighth or 12.5% of the poll. In subsequent elections, this was changed to one twentieth or 5% of the poll.

From April 1928 to April 1934, seats were contested by the National Party of Scotland. From April 1934, the NPS joined with the Scottish Party to form the Scottish National Party. The November 1933 by-election saw a candidate jointly sponsored by the NPS and the SP.

Until 1966 the Scottish National Party did not contest all by-elections. The figure in paretheses prior to this date in the Candidates column indicates the number of by-elections during that period. Only official candidates have been included, no entries have been made for Independent Nationalists. There were no by-elections in the period between the Parliamentary Elections of February and October 1974 and between 1983 and 1987.

Note that prior to 1929, the franchise did not extend to all women.

Adapted and expanded from: A Chronology of the SNP's Electoral Results in Elections to Parliament. Printed and published by Jim McGregor of Armadale SNP.