 | 'Gordon Jackson Lab, Glasgow Govan: Has found the transition from senior member of one profession, as a top QC, to a relatively junior member of another, politics, a hard one. Has made weighty contributions in committees. Nicknamed 'Crackerjack' for his arrival just before 5pm for voting.' Murray Ritchie, Robbie Dinwoodie and Frances Horsburgh in the Herald, 15 th December 1999. |  |
 |
Nicola Sturgeon MSP |  |
Gordon Jackson, QC MSP |
 | Faisal Butt |  |
Paul Graham |
 |
Jimmy Scott |  |
Asif Nasir |
 |
John Foster | Ind | Abdul Dean |
Glasgow Govan is a seat where a full second term is almost unknown for an MP. While the Western Isles have had only three different MPs since 1935, Glasgow Govan have had no less than eight MPs since 1973.
The present Glasgow Govan seat is radically different from the seat which the Scottish National Party's Margo Macdonald won from Labour in the 1973 by-election. The seat which she once represented forms only a small part of the present constituency which includes areas of the old Central, Craigton, Queen's Park and Pollok seats. Even the Govan which Margo MacDonald's husband Jim Sillars won for the SNP in the 1988 contest has seen large boundary changes, with many of those who voted for Sillars now in the Pollok constituency. Yet, the name remains and Govan continues to be a rallying cry for the SNP which is more relevant to the present day than ancient battles like Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge. Labour must be wishing that the boundary commission had conveyed the name to the scrap heap of Glasgow constituency names along with Blackfriars, Bridgeton, Camlachie, Central, Craigton, Garscadden, Gorbals, Hillhead, Kelvingrove, Partick, Provan, Queen's Park, St Rollox, Scotstoun, Tradeston and Woodside. And indeed, Labour may get their wish as the Boundary Comission propose to split the Westminster constituency with Drumoyne, Govan and Ibrox going to the new Glasgow South West; Kingston and Pollokshields East to Glasgow Central; and Maxwell Park and Pollokshaws to the Glasgow South seat. Glasgow Govan, will however, live on as a Scottish Parliamentary constituency of Govan will remain unaffected by these Westminster boundary changes.
Glasgow Govan has been Scotland's most newsworthy constituency with two SNP by-election victories, a vicious battle over the 1997 Labour nomination between Mohammad Sarwar and Jim (now Lord) Watson, Mohammad Sarwar's recent court case for electoral fraud and bribery, and in April 1999, Kvaerner Govan's announcement that it was to close the largest merchant shipping yard in the UK, with the loss of 1,200 jobs.
Govan has been responsible for two Labour U turns on devolution. Margo Macdonald won a famous SNP by-election victory here in 1973 and although Labour regained the seat at the General election, the SNP's major advances in the February and October General elections of 1974 panicked Labour into their first Devolution Debacle.
Govan in 1973, like Hamilton in 1967, was one of Labour's safest seats and it appeared inconceivable that people there would vote for anything other than Labour. The Labour candidate was Harry Selby, an elderly barber who controlled Labour in Govan. He was selected as Labour candidate in a meeting of 13 people by seven votes to six. No less than seven of the people present had the surname of Selby. Selby has been described as an 'unreconstructed Marxist, whose tunnel-vision blamed all social ills on the 'boss class''. In his book, The Case for Optimism Jim Sillars wrote about his experiences while campaigning for Labour: 'Harry's family and close friends, had controlled the Govan constituency Labour Party for years and had sewn up the candidature'
Sillars found that Govan was 'a community of slums, poverty, degradation, and despair - a seat in a city under a Labour Corporation, where voters had voted Red for a generation, and whose misery endured.' He spoke to mothers in Teucherhill who dared not put babies out in prams to the closes, for fear of the rats who swarmed everywhere. He saw a flooded back close where, to hang washing on the line, women had to construct a bridge of old bricks. The streets were piled high with rubbish, uncollected; by one corner lay a burned-out car. Sillars cornered Selby, told him of the squalor of Teucherhill, and pressed him at least to remove the car. Selby refused. 'I know about that car. We use it to stand on when drumming up support for rent demonstrations.'
On polling day itself, hours before voting closed, Sillars and company packed in their canvassing when a Labour loudspeaker van whizzed by with Willie Ross booming 'Noo's the day and noo's the hour for Govan to boot out Tory power'. Sillars commented 'It was ludicrous. Labour controlled the area and the city of Glasgow. It was Labour power and what was done with it that lay at the heart of the by-election.'
The elderly barber Harry Selby met more than his match in the young and energetic Margo Macdonald. The SNP's J.M.T. Grieve had come third with 2,294 votes (10.3 %) in 1970 and Selby was confident that he would win easily with the Conservatives in second place. Margo Macdonald was campaigning on the slogan 'It's Scotland's Oil', and despite all the attempts of her future husband to stop her, when the results were announced, Margo had taken 6,360 votes to 5,789 for Harry Selby with the Conservatives and Liberals trailing. By a margin of 571 votes the SNP had won another historic victory and the names of Govan and Margo Macdonald were to go down in Scottish political history.
The general election was four months later in February 1974. In those four months the Labour party had freed itself from the lethargy trap into which it had fallen and underwent a dramatic transformation which paid a dividend at the February election. The tables were turned and Margo Macdonald's 571 vote majority for the SNP was turned into a 543 majority for Harry Selby and Labour.
This was still not the kind of result which would allow Labour to label Govan as a safe seat and at the October 1974 election Labour poured enormous resources into Govan. While Margo Macdonald's vote dropped by 300 to 9,440, Selby's increased by over 1,000 to 11,392 giving him a majority of 1,952.
Although Labour had regained Govan, the damage had been done elsewhere with the SNP winning seven seats in the February election and eleven in October. Although the Wilson government had an overall majority, it was so slight that devolution was to dominate the years up to 1979.
Selby had never been forgiven for allowing such a safe seat to fall to the SNP and after an undistinguished career at Westminster, he 'retired' in 1979 after being ousted in a bloody coup. His replacement was Andy McMahon who had represented Govan on Glasgow District Council since 1973. The SNP vote collapsed in that election with McMahon being elected with a 8,488 majority over Conservative Jack Walker and the SNP's Tom Wilson trailing with 2,340 votes.
The boundary changes in 1983 were dramatic in Glasgow with the number of seats being reduced from 13 to 11. Andy McMahon retired and Govan adopted the ex Secretary of State for Scotland, Bruce Millan, previously MP for Glasgow Craigton. Although the seat was called Govan, only 41 % of the electorate hailed from the old Govan seat with 59 % coming from Bruce Millan's Craigton. The constituency now covered the areas of Govan, Shieldhall, Cardonald, Bellahouston, Crookston and Mosspark. Millan took 20,370 votes, while the Conservatives and SDP battled for second place with 7,313 and 7,180 votes respectively with the SNP trailing on 2,207. Govan had reverted to type - a safe Labour seat.
In 1987 there was a massive swing to Labour from the Tories and Alliance in Scotland and Mr Millan increased his percentage of the vote by 9.9 % to 64.8 %. The other three parties were almost neck and neck with only 711 votes separating the SDP, Conservatives and SNP. In 1988, Mr Millan appeared to be frustrated at leading the largest party in Scotland with 50 out of the 72 MPs while being in a tiny minority in the UK. He abandoned Govan for a job as European Community Commissioner leaving a solid 19,509 majority to his successor, a long way from Harry Selby's 543 majority in February 1974.
The 1988 by-election was almost a re-run of 1973, with Labour appearing to have learned no lessons. While the SNP chose an extremely able candidate, ex-Labour and Scottish Labour MP Jim Sillars, the Labour party chose Bob Gillespie, a trade union official who was clearly totally out of his depth in the by-election campaign. His most memorable performance was on a TV debate with Sillars when he was forced to concede 'Eh, what was the question again?'. Contrary to popular myth, Gillespie was not really a below average Labour candidate, he merely had the misfortune to get out of his depth while under pressure. As the noble Lord Robertson of Port Ellen could testify, this can happen to even Labour's crème de la crème when he participated in the Great Debate. Despite Gillespie's gaffes, Labour appeared to be set to win the campaign with an opinion poll three days before the election putting Labour at 53 % and the SNP at 33 %. however, in the final few days of the campaign, there was an avalanche of support to the SNP and Jim Sillars came from fourth place to win by 3,554 votes.
The result was an electoral earthquake the likes of which had not been seen since Govan itself 15 years earlier. This had been Labour's 19 th safest seat in the whole of the United Kingdom and it had fallen in the middle of an unpopular and remote Tory Government when Labour should have been soaring in the polls. Labour support had slumped by 28 % while the SNP's had increased by 38 %. Margo Macdonald, referring to her 571 majority in 1973 said 'Anything I can do, he can do better!'
At the count George Galloway, MP for Glasgow Hillhead commented 'The Labour party has fallen short. It has not taken up the Scottish question. We fought this as if it was a British by-election. It is a Scottish election. .... Labour is just not responding in a way which the Scottish people find credible.' Indeed, the humiliating loss of Govan to the SNP panicked Labour into a rethink of their opposition to devolution for Scotland. Without the SNP victory and threat to Labour's heartlands there would have probably been no 1997 referendum and no Scottish elections in May 1999.
1992 was a disappointing election for the SNP. Although their vote increased dramatically throughout the country, they failed to win a single new seat and lost Govan. Another Glasgow Councillor, Ian Davidson, regained Govan for Labour in an reversal of the by election result - 49 % for Labour and 37 % for the SNP's Jim Sillars. Davidson was elected with a majority of 4,125.
In the months before the 1997 General Election, Glasgow Govan was seldom out of the news as a result of the Govan Labour party's tempestuous and extremely damaging selection wars. Labour then held all 11 Glasgow seats. Although Glasgow Central was to be abolished, the late Jimmy Dunnachie of Glasgow Pollok was to retire and it was assumed that Labour's Glasgow MPs would simply shuffle around.
Govan MP Ian Davidson decided that a move to Dunnachie's safer seat of Glasgow Pollok would be desirable and he was selected unopposed. With Davidson vacating Govan, this then became notionally free for Mike Watson whose Glasgow Central seat was to be abolished. However, in a surprise move, Jimmy Dunnachie decided to stand for selection in Govan against Mike Watson and the Labour party was obliged to hold an election to select their candidate. This opened the door for millionaire businessman Mohammad Sarwar, Councillor for Pollokshields and one of Labour's biggest contributors to add his name to the list. Once Sarwar's name had been added, Dunnachie withdrew his application, claiming ill health, leaving Sarwar and Watson to fight it out. After one of the most bitter selection battles which Scotland has ever seen, Watson was selected as Labour candidate by one vote. No sooner was campaign over than allegations of improper proceedings began to circulate. Eventually the election was rerun with another damaging campaign which ended in Mohammad Sarwar being selected. Sources close to Mike Watson claimed he was considering resigning Glasgow Central in order to force a by election, which would almost certainly be won by the SNP. Although he did not resign, Watson promised to reveal his side of the selection battle in a book after the 1997 General Election. The Labour Party immediately decided that Mike Watson was an estimable chap and he was created Lord Watson of Invergowrie. Amazingly, the elevation of Mike Watson to the dizzy heights of nobility and Lordship appears to have been too much for him. It appears to have caused an inexplicable loss of memory and severely inhibited his writing ability and we are therefore still awaiting his promised Book of Revelations. Don't hold your breath! Watson was rewarded for his loyalty by being selected as Labour candidate for Glasgow Cathcart and is now an MSP on the mound.
Ex Govan MP Ian Davidson also hit the news when his hopes of becoming an MSP were sabotaged when Rosemary McKenna's Network cabal decided that neither he, Michael Connarty (Falkirk east) nor Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) were 'good enough' to become MSPs. Many asked the obvious question that if they were not good enough for the Scottish Parliament how could they be good enough for Westminster? Michael Connarty quietly resigned when it was leaked that he had failed his interviews. While Ian Davidson protested, Dennis Canavan went even further, standing as an Independent for the Scottish parliament and being elected with the biggest majority in Scotland, being expelled by Labour in the process.
The 1997 Govan seat was radically different from that which Jim Sillars had won with only 20,000 of the original voters remaining. A large part of the constituency was transferred to neighbouring Pollok (including Ian Davidson) political topography of Govan was beginning to alter. Govan now includes Shawlands and Pollokshields which is the Asian quarter from the Pollok seat, and the Queen's Park area of the Mike Watson's abolished Central seat.
In their Almanac of British Politics Waller and Criddle commented 'These swaps will not hurt Labour; indeed the presence of thousands of voters who were not in Govan in 1992 and therefore not affected by the by-election and the candidature of Jim Sillars actually boosts Labour's notional majority. This seat is likely to produce a large Labour lead at the next election.'
Throughout the most of the country there were large swings to Labour and they swept to a historic landslide majority. However, in Govan, where the notional majority in the seat which Jim Sillars had contested was 5,609, Mohammad Sarwar obtained only a 2,904 majority over the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon.
Following the election, Mohammad Sarwar was accused of electoral irregularities and after a long investigation he was arrested. His trial took place in early 1999 and resulted in Mr Sarwar being declared innocent on all charges. However, sundry revelations that the MP travelled around with a plastic carrier bag stuffed full of £5,000 worth of used notes have done little to improve Mr Sarwar's standing as a man of integrity and honesty. While many had predicted that Mohammad Sarwar would be retired to the House of Lords, he was the very first Labour MP to be reselected. In the 2001 general election, he increased his majority over the SNP's Karen Neary, from 2,914 to 6,400.
The civil war in the Govan Labour party continued throughout the run-up to the 1999 Scottish general election with Sarwar being accused by newspapers of attempting to 'curry favour' with the London leadership when he gave his backing to their preferred candidate for the Scottish Parliament, Gordon Jackson QC. There were new accusations of electoral irregularities concerning the election of the candidate. Several prominent party members, including a party chairman resigned in protest at the leadership's refusal to investigate their complaints. Gordon Jackson himself was not believed to be involved in the alleged vote rigging. For their part, the leadership are insisting that no allegations of irregularities have been made. Several more members of the Govan Labour party could have headed for the House of Lords but the scandal did not reach the same proportions as the Sarwar/Watson one.
In the Scottish Election, Govan was once more a result to watch out for. The SNP candidate was once again Nicola Sturgeon who joined the SNP in 1986 at the age of 16. She was then a member of the SNP's National Executive Committee, Vice-Convenor for Publicity and as the party's Education Spokesperson had a place in the SNP Scottish Cabinet. In 1992 she was the youngest candidate in the election and contested Glasgow Shettleston where she increased the SNP vote by 6.3 % and took second place from a resurgent Tory party.
Many expected that the SNP would win Glasgow Govan from Labour in 1999. However, while in Baillieston, there was a 16.8 % swing from Labour to the SNP, the nationalists' vote appeared to have reached a plateau in Glasgow Govan where the swing to them was just 1.2 %. This allowed Gordon Jackson QC to be elected with a majority of 1,756 (6.7 %) over Nicola Sturgeon. Although clearly disappointed about not winning in Govan, Nicola Sturgeon was elected to the Scottish Parliament as Glasgow's first list MSP.
The Tory candidate for Govan in 1999 and number two on their list, Tasmina Ahmed-Seikh has since become disillusioned with the William Hague's stumble to the right. In June 2000 she defected to the SNP saying 'I'm afraid that Rory Bremner's depiction of Mr Hague as a right-wing bovver-boy reflects too closely the reality of Mr Hague's politics. I want what is best for my children's future and for Scotland's future and I'm convinced that independence offers the best hope for that future.'. She added 'I was happy to be the new face of Scottish Conservatism, but it turned out there was no new Scottish Conservatism to be the face of.' The new face of Scottish Conservatism in Glasgow Govan is Faisal Butt.
Gordon Jackson was born in 1948 in Saltcoats. He was educated at Ardrossan Academy and graduated with an LLB from St Andrew's University. A member of the Faculty of Advocates, Mr Jackson is believed to be one of the highest paid Queen's Counsel's in Scotland. Despite being elected as an MSP, Gordon Jackson has continued his legal work and has even taken time off for certain cases. Scottish Parliament votes are taken at 5 pm, and one of the most damaging spectacles is the seeing the chamber filling up with MSPs who have not attended the debate but who will vote whatever way their whips demand. Jackson is one of the worst offenders and has been nicknamed 'Crackerjack' after the children's programme which always started with the cry of 'It's Friday, it's five to five and it's Crackerjack'.
Nicola Sturgeon was born in 1970 in Irvine and educated at Greenwood Academy. She graduated with an LLB from Glasgow University. Ms Sturgeon was a solicitor until her election in May 1999. Her first electoral contest was at the age of 21 when she took second place with 191. % of the vote in Glasgow Shettleston. In 1997 she contested Glasgow Govan, taking 35.1 % and reducing the Labour majority to 2,914, before taking 36.7 % in 1999 and being elected as a Glasgow region MSP. She was Shadow Minister for Children & Education from May 1999 until September 2000 and since then has been Shadow Minister for Health & Community Care.
The Lib Dem candidate is Paul Graham, while the SSP have selected Jimmy Scott. Asif Nasir is standing for the Scottish Peoples Allaince, John Foster as Communist Party Peace Democracy Socialism, and Abdul Dean as an Independent.
Assessment:
Rank on Scottish National Party hit list: 5
Swing required for Scottish National Party gain: 3.33 % from Labour to Scottish National Party
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Gordon Jackson, QC | 11,421 | 43.31 % | - 0.78 % |
|
Scottish National Party | Nicola Sturgeon | 9,665 | 36.65 % | + 1.60 % |
| Conservative | Tasmina Ahmed-Seikh | 2,343 | 8.88 % | + 0.07 % |
|
Liberal Democrat | Mohammed Aslam Khan | 1,479 | 5.61 % | - 0.33 % |
|
Scottish Socialist Party | Charlie McCarthy | 1,275 | 4.83 % | + 2.49 % |
|
Communist Party of Britain | John Foster | 190 | 0.72 % | + 0.72 % |
|
Lab win | Lab majority | 1,756 | 6.66 % | - 2.38 % |
| Logo | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | 10,140 | 38.39 % |
|
Scottish National Party | 7,555 | 28.60 % |
|
Conservative & Unionist Party | 2,863 | 10.84 % |
|
Scottish Socialist Party | 1,945 | 7.36 % |
|
Liberal Democrats | 1,775 | 6.72 % |
 |
Scottish Green Party | 1,293 | 4.90 % |
 |
Pro Life Alliance | 216 | 0.82 % |
 |
Scottish Unionist Party | 183 | 0.69 % |
 |
Socialist Labour Party | 176 | 0.67 % |
|
Communist Party of Britain | 103 | 0.39 % |
| Humanist Party | 60 | 0.23 % | |
 |
Natural Law Party | 53 | 0.20 % |
| Socialist Party of Great Britain | 30 | 0.11 % | |
| Bridget McGeechan, The People Choice | 21 | 0.08 % | |
|
Lab maj | 2,585 | 9.79 % |
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | Cllr Mohammad Sarwar | 14,216 | 44.09% |
|
Scottish National Party | Nicola Sturgeon | 11,302 | 35.05% |
| Conservative | William Thomas | 2,839 | 8.81% |
|
Liberal Democrat | Bob Stewart | 1,915 | 5.94% |
|
Scottish Socialist Alliance | Alan McCombes | 755 | 2.34% |
| Independent | Peter Paton | 325 | 1.01% | |
| Independent Labour | Islam Badar | 319 | 0.99% | |
| Independent Conservative | Zahid Abbasi | 221 | 0.69% | |
 |
Referendum | Kenneth MacDonald | 201 | 0.62% |
| BNP | Jim White | 149 | 0.46% | |
|
Lab hold | Lab majority | 2,914 | 9.04% |
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