The SNP Vote 1929-2005

'The Scottish people had delivered their verdict in the proper way, through the ballot box. What more were they expected to do? March on London with billhooks?' Andrew Marr takes Conservative Secretary for Scotland, Ian Lang, to task in The Battle for Scotland Penguin.

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 elections

General Election	Candidates	MPs elected	Lost Deposits	Total Votes	Average Votes	Average % vote	% of total Scots vote
1929	2	0	2	3,313	1,657	5.1	0.2
1931	5	0	2	20,954	4,191	12.4	1.0
1935	8	0	5	29,517	3,690	10.3	1.3
1945	8	0	6	30,595	3,824	7.6	1.2
1950	3	0	3	9,708	3,236	7.4	0.4
1951	2	0	1	7,299	3,650	12.2	0.3
1955	2	0	1	12,112	6,056	14.5	0.5
1959	5	0	3	21,738	4,348	10.7	0.8
1964	15	0	12	64,044	4,270	10.9	2.4
1966	23	0	10	128,474	5,586	14.3	5.0
1970	65	1	43	306,802	4.720	12.2	11.4
1974 Feb	70	7	7	633,180	9,045	22.1	21.9
1974 Oct	71	11	0	839,617	11,826	30.4	30.4
1979	71	2	29	504,259	7,102	17.3	17.3
1983	72	2	53	331,975	4,611	11.8	11.8
1987	71	3	1	416,873	5,866	14.1	14.0
1992	72	3	0	629,552	8,744	21.5	21.5
1997	72	6	0	617,260	8,573	21.9	21.9
2001	72	5	0	464,314	6,449	21.1	21.1
2005	59	6	0	412,267	6,988	17.6	17.6

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.