Paisley South

'Workers in rival parties privately agreed that a low turnout and general voter apathy could cut Labour's general election majority of 12,750 to 5,000 or even less.'
Press Association report after close of polls.

Labour held the Paisley South by-election with a 2,731 majority over the Scottish National Party, down from 12,750 at the general election on 1 st May. The result represented an 11.25 % swing from Labour to the Scottish National Party. The turnout was 42.9 % - the third lowest in a Scottish by-election since 1945.

Paisley South By-election 6 th November 1997

Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Labour	Douglas Alexander	10,346	44.15 (-13.36 %)
Scottish National Party	Ian Blackford	7,615	32.49 % (+9.11 %)
Liberal Democrat	Cllr Eileen McCartin	2,582	11.02 % (+1.65 %)
Conservative	Shiela Lawson	1,643	7.01 % (-1.64 %)
Pro Life Alliance	John Deighan	578*	2.47 %
Scottish Socialist Alliance	Frances Curran	306*	1.31 % (+0.92 %)
Scottish Independent Labour, Justified and Ancient	Charles McLauchlan	155*	0.66 %
Socialist Labour	Chris Herriot	153*	0.65 %
Natural Law Party	Kenneth Blair	57	0.24 %
Lab hold	Lab majority	2,731	11.65 % (-22.48 %)

General Election 1 st May 1997

Party	Candidate	Votes	%
Labour	Gordon McMaster	21,482	57.51%
Scottish National Party	Cllr Bill Martin	8,732	23.38%
Liberal Democrat	Cllr Eileen McCartin	3,500	9.37%
Conservative	Robert Reid	3,237	8.67%
Referendum	James Lardner	254	0.68%
Scottish Socialist Alliance	Sean Clerkin	146	0.39%
Lab hold	Lab majority	12,750	34.13%

Notional 1992 result

	Labour	20,268	50.80%
	Scottish National Party	9,799	24.56%
	Conservative	6,129	15.36%
	Liberal Democrat	3,548	8.89%
	Others	150	0.37%
Labour win	Lab majority	10,469	26.24%

Return to home page