Glasgow Cathcart (UK Parliament constituency)

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Glasgow Cathcart
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of ScotlandGlasgow City
19182005
SeatsOne
Created fromMid Lanarkshire
Replaced byGlasgow South

Glasgow Cathcart was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 2005, when it was replaced by the larger Glasgow South constituency.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries[edit]

1950–1974: The County of the City of Glasgow wards of Cathcart and Langside, and part of Govanhill ward.

1974–1983: The County of the City of Glasgow ward of Cathcart, and part of Langside ward.

1983–1997: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of King's Park/Aitkenhead, Linn Park/Castlemilk, and Pollokshaws/Newlands.

1997–2005: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of Battlefield/Croftfoot, Carnwadric/Newlands, and Castlemilk/Carmunnock.

History[edit]

For generations, Glasgow Cathcart was an extremely safe Conservative seat and for fifty-six years, the constituency always returned a Conservative MP. The area was the wealthiest part of the city and was mainly inhabited by "well to do" business families and contained large detached houses. It was Glasgow's equivalent of Kensington and Chelsea in London. However, when Labour won the general election in 1964, Glasgow had a lot of slum clearance and a lot of council housing was built in the Cathcart area, and areas which had previously been fields now housed the families from the old slums. These families naturally voted Labour and time and time, again the Conservative majorities dwindled. In 1966, the Conservative majority fell to a record low of 1,200 votes.

In 1970, the Conservatives increased their majority to around 5,000 but at the next two general elections in 1974 it soon fell again. In 1979, when Margaret Thatcher took office, the Conservatives lost the seat to Labour, against the national trend where there was a large swing to the Conservatives. After redrawn boundaries were made in 1983, the seat was notionally Conservative but like 1979 the seat went against the national trend and the Labour MP increased his majority. From 1983 to 1997, the Conservatives lost more ground time after time except for a small improvement in 1992 (inline with the national trend in Scotland, which ran counter to that across the United Kingdom). In 1997, Labour won a landslide victory in which the Conservatives lost all their seats in Scotland, and the seat became a safe Labour seat.

Since then, the Conservatives had fallen into third and fourth place. The seat still has more Conservative voters than any other Glasgow constituency, but only 5,000 at the last election when it was replaced by Glasgow South.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election Member[1] Party
1918 John Pratt Coalition Liberal
1922 John Primrose Hay Labour
1923 Robert MacDonald Unionist
1929 Sir John Train Unionist
1942 by-election Francis Beattie Unionist
1946 by-election John Henderson Unionist
1964 Teddy Taylor Unionist
Conservative
1979 John Maxton Labour
2001 Thomas Harris Labour

Election results[edit]

Elections in the 1910s[edit]

General election 1918: Glasgow Cathcart[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
C Liberal John Pratt 16,310 76.9
Labour Gavin Brown Clark 4,899 23.1
Majority 11,411 53.8
Turnout 21,209 61.8
Registered electors 34,293
Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s[edit]

General election 1922: Glasgow Cathcart [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Primrose Hay 9,137 34.0 +10.9
National Liberal Andrew Rae Duncan 9,104 33.8 −43.1
Unionist Robert MacDonald 8,661 32.2 New
Majority 33 0.2 N/A
Turnout 26,902 81.0 +19.2
Registered electors 33,198
Labour gain from Liberal Swing +27.0
General election 1923: Glasgow Cathcart [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Robert MacDonald 10,817 42.3 +10.1
Labour John Primrose Hay 8,884 34.7 +0.7
Liberal Thomas Graham Robertson 5,894 23.0 −10.8
Majority 1,933 7.6 N/A
Turnout 25,595 77.5 −3.5
Registered electors 33,040
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +4.7
General election 1924: Glasgow Cathcart[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Robert MacDonald 18,440 65.0 +22.7
Labour John Primrose Hay 9,915 35.0 +0.3
Majority 8,525 30.0 +22.4
Turnout 28,355 80.8 +3.3
Registered electors 35,076
Unionist hold Swing +11.2
General election 1929: Glasgow Cathcart [6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Train 15,435 43.1 −21.9
Labour John Primrose Hay 12,983 36.3 +1.3
Liberal James Gray 7,388 20.6 New
Majority 2,452 6.8 −23.2
Turnout 35,806 78.6 −2.2
Registered electors 45,545
Unionist hold Swing −11.6

Elections in the 1930s[edit]

General election 1931: Glasgow Cathcart[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Train 26,642 73.8 +30.7
Labour A. L. Ritchie 8,919 24.7 -11.6
New Party J. Mellick 529 1.5 New
Majority 17,723 49.1 +42.3
Turnout 36,090 79.5 +0.9
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1935: Glasgow Cathcart[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Train 21,331 62.1 −11.7
Labour Alasdair Alpin MacGregor 12,995 37.9 +13.2
Majority 8,336 24.2 -24.9
Turnout 34,326 74.3 −5.2
Unionist hold Swing −12.5

Elections in the 1940s[edit]

By-election 1942: Glasgow Cathcart[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Francis Beattie 10,786 59.6 −2.5
Independent Progressive William Douglas-Home 3,807 21.0 New
Ind. Labour Party James Carmichael 2,493 13.8 New
SNP William Whyte 1,000 5.5 New
Majority 6,979 38.6 +14.4
Turnout 18,086
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1945: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Francis Beattie 18,472 58.8 −3.3
Labour N. Jackson 12,923 41.2 +3.3
Majority 5,549 17.6 -6.6
Turnout 31,395 67.7 −6.6
Unionist hold Swing −3.3
By-election 1946: Glasgow Cathcart[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Henderson 13,695 52.5 −6.3
Labour A. B. Mackay 9,689 37.2 −4.0
SNP William Taylor 2,700 10.4 New
Majority 4,006 15.3 -2.3
Turnout 26,084
Unionist hold Swing −1.2

Elections in the 1950s[edit]

General election 1950: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Henderson 24,341 64.8 +6.0
Labour Ian Rosslyn Mitchell 10,269 27.3 −13.9
Liberal Malcolm I Shields 2,984 7.9 New
Majority 14,072 37.5 +19.9
Turnout 37,594 83.8 +16.1
Unionist hold Swing +10.0
General election 1951: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Henderson 26,125 70.5 +5.7
Labour Agnes M. Patrick 10,912 29.5 +2.2
Majority 15,213 41.0 +3.5
Turnout 37,037 82.5 −1.3
Unionist hold Swing +1.8
General election 1955: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Henderson 25,265 72.6 +2.1
Labour L.P. Thomas 9,514 27.4 −2.1
Majority 15,751 45.2 +4.2
Turnout 34,779 75.7 −6.8
Unionist hold Swing +2.1
General election 1959: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist John Henderson 30,743 59.2 −13.4
Labour James Jarvie 21,169 40.8 +13.4
Majority 9,574 18.4 -26.8
Turnout 51,912 80.3 +4.6
Unionist hold Swing −13.4

Elections in the 1960s[edit]

General election 1964: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Unionist Teddy Taylor 27,299 52.9 −6.3
Labour Ellen McCulloch 24,294 47.1 +6.3
Majority 3,005 5.8 -12.6
Turnout 51,593 79.3 −1.0
Unionist hold Swing −6.3
General election 1966: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Teddy Taylor 26,549 50.7 −2.2
Labour Frederick L Forrester 25,330 48.4 +1.3
Anti-Vivisection Gabriel A Barlow 516 1.0 New
Majority 1,219 2.3 -3.5
Turnout 52,395 79.7 +0.4
Conservative hold Swing −1.8

Elections in the 1970s[edit]

General election 1970: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Teddy Taylor 29,093 54.2 +3.5
Labour Donald C.H. Mackay 24,188 45.0 −3.4
Independent Joseph McDonagh 419 0.8 New
Majority 4,905 9.2 +6.9
Turnout 53,700 74.4 −5.3
Conservative hold Swing +3.5
General election February 1974: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Teddy Taylor 18,247 45.8 −8.4
Labour P.T. McCann 16,152 40.6 −4.4
SNP Alex Ewing 5,410 13.6 New
Majority 2,095 5.2 -4.0
Turnout 39,809 80.7 +6.3
Conservative hold Swing −2.0
General election October 1974: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Teddy Taylor 16,301 42.7 −3.1
Labour J.E. Carnegie 14,544 38.1 −2.5
SNP Alex Ewing 6,292 16.5 +2.9
Liberal Henry Wills 1,058 2.8 New
Majority 1,757 4.6 -0.6
Turnout 38,195 76.7 −4.0
Conservative hold Swing −0.3
General election 1979: Glasgow Cathcart
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Maxton 17,550 45.9 +7.8
Conservative Teddy Taylor 15,950 41.8 −0.9
SNP Alex Ewing 2,653 6.9 −9.6
Liberal Henry Wills 2,042 5.4 +2.6
Majority 1,600 4.1 N/A
Turnout 38,105 78.6 +1.9
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +4.4

Elections in the 1980s[edit]

General election 1983: Glasgow Cathcart[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Maxton 16,037 41.4 −0.7
Conservative Douglas J. May 11,807 30.5 −15.8
SDP Keir Bloomer 8,710 22.5 +16.8
SNP William Steven 2,151 5.6 -1.3
Majority 4,230 10.9 +6.7
Turnout 38,705 75.8 −2.8
Labour hold Swing
General election 1987: Glasgow Cathcart[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Maxton 19,623 52.1 +10.7
Conservative William Harvey 8,420 22.4 −8.1
SDP Moira Craig 5,722 15.2 −7.3
SNP William Steven 3,883 10.3 +4.7
Majority 11,203 29.7 +18.8
Turnout 37,648 76.4 +0.6
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s[edit]

General election 1992: Glasgow Cathcart[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Maxton 16,265 48.3 −3.8
Conservative John Young 8,264 24.5 +2.1
SNP William Steven 6,107 18.1 +7.8
Liberal Democrats George C. Dick 2,614 7.8 −7.4
Scottish Green Kay M. Allan 441 1.3 New
Majority 8,001 23.8 -5.9
Turnout 33,691 75.2 −1.2
Labour hold Swing

The boundaries of the seat were significantly re-drawn between 1992 and 1997.

General election 1997: Glasgow Cathcart[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Maxton 19,158 57.4
SNP Maire Whitehead 6,913 18.5
Conservative Alistair J. Muir 4,248 12.4
Liberal Democrats Callan Dick 2,302 6.9
ProLife Alliance Zofia Indyk 687 2.0
Scottish Socialist James Stevenson 458 1.3
Referendum Strang Haldane 344 1.0
Majority 12,965 38.9
Turnout 33,390 67.6
Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 2000s[edit]

General election 2001: Glasgow Cathcart[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tom Harris 14,902 54.4 −3.0
SNP Josephine U. Docherty 4,086 14.9 −3.6
Conservative Richard Cook 3,662 13.4 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Tom Henery 3,006 11.0 +4.1
Scottish Socialist James Stevenson 1,730 6.3 New
Majority 10,816 39.5 +0.6
Turnout 27,386 52.6 −15.0
Labour hold Swing

References[edit]

  1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
  2. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  3. ^ The Times, 16 November 1922
  4. ^ The Times, 8 December 1923
  5. ^ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
  6. ^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
  7. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  8. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  9. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
  10. ^ "1946 by Elections". Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  15. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.