1989 Glasgow Central by-election

The Glasgow Central by-election, in the Glasgow Central constituency, Scotland, was held on 15 June 1989. It was caused by the death of the sitting Member of Parliament for the constituency, Bob McTaggart.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) had high hopes of repeating their victory from the previous year at the by-election for the Glasgow Govan seat, and they chose as their candidate a close associate of their Govan victor, Jim Sillars in Alex Neil. However, the hoped for victory did not transpire for the SNP, as Mike Watson retained the seat for the Labour Party with a 6,462 majority, despite a 20.3% rise in the SNP share of the votes cast.

The Liberal Democrats fell to fifth place, the worst position achieved by a major party in any British by-election since the Walsall North by-election, 1976. This was equaled in the Henley by-election in 2008, when Labour also fell to fifth, and surpassed in the Glasgow North East by-election in 2009, when the Liberal Democrats came sixth. Their 1.6% vote share remained the lowest percentage vote for the Liberal Democrats until they entered the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition in 2010, and in fact was not beaten until the South Shields by-election three years in to their time in government.

This was also the only parliamentary contest engaged in by the Scottish Socialist Party that existed at the time (which should not be confused with the present day Scottish Socialist Party). Their candidate was Bill Kidd.

Results

Glasgow Central by-election, 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Watson	14,480	54.6	−9.9
	SNP	Alex Neil	8,018	30.2	+20.3
	Conservative	Allan Hogarth	2,028	7.6	−5.4
	Green	Irene Brandt	1,019	3.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Robert McCreadie	411	1.5	−9.0
	SDP	Peter Kerr	253	1.0	N/A
	Revolutionary Communist	Linda Murdoch	141	0.5	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Bill Kidd	137	0.5	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	David Lettice	48	0.2	N/A
Majority			6,462	24.4
Turnout			26,535	52.9	−12.7
	Labour hold		Swing	-15.1

General Election 1987: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob McTaggart	21,619	64.5
	Conservative	B. Jenkin	4,366	13.0
	Liberal	J. Bryden	3,528	10.5
	SNP	A. Wilson	3,339	10.0
	Green	A. Brooks	290	0.9	N/A
	Communist	J. McGoldrick	265	0.8
	Red Front	D. Owen	126	0.4	N/A
Majority			17,253	51.5
Turnout				65.6
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)
• Elections in Scotland
• List of United Kingdom by-elections