Glasgow Govan (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Glasgow Govan (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Glasgow Govan was a parliamentary constituency in the Govan district of Glasgow. It was represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for 120 years; from 1885 until 2005, returning one Member of Parliament (MP) elected by the first-past-the-post system.

Glasgow Govan
Former burgh constituency for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Glasgow City
Major settlements	Govan
1885–2005
Seats	One
Created from	North Lanarkshire
Replaced by	Glasgow Central Glasgow South Glasgow South West

It was a Conservative-Liberal marginal seat for the first three decades of its existence, before breaking this trend when the Labour Party won the seat in 1918. It remained a Labour-controlled seat for the next fifty-five years, except for a five-year Conservative interlude between 1950 and 1955, until being seized by the Scottish National Party at a by-election in 1973, only to be regained by Labour the following year. The SNP regained the seat at a 1988 by-election, only to lose it again to Labour in 1992. It remained under Labour control until its abolition thirteen years later.

The area which the constituency represented is now covered by Glasgow Central, Glasgow South and Glasgow South West.

Boundaries

1885–1918: "That part of the parish of Govan which lies south of the Clyde beyond the boundary of the Municipal Burgh of Glasgow".^[1]

1918–1950: "That portion of the city which is bounded by a line commencing at a point on the municipal boundary at the centre of the River Clyde in line with the continuation of the centre line of Balmoral Street, thence eastward along the centre line of the River Clyde to a point in line with the continuation of the centre line of the portion of Govan Road to the west of Princes Dock, thence southward to and along the centre line of the said portion of Govan Road, Whitefield Road, Church Road and continuation thereof to the centre, of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway, thence westward along the centre line of the said Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway to the municipal boundary, thence north-westward, northward, and eastward along the municipal boundary to the point of commencement."

1950–1955: The Craigton and Fairfield wards of the county of the city of Glasgow, and part of the Govan ward.^[2]

1955–1974: The Govan and Kinning Park wards of the county of the city of Glasgow, and part of the Fairfield and Kingston wards.^[3]

1974–1983: The Glasgow wards of Fairfield, Govan, Kingston, and Kinning Park.

1983–1997: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of Drumoyne/Govan, Mosspark/Bellahouston, and Penilee/Cardonald.

1997–2005: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of Govan/Drumoyne, Kingston/Pollokshields, and Langside/Shawlands.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1885	Sir William Pearce	Conservative
	1889 by-election	John Wilson	Liberal
	1900	Robert Hunter Craig	Liberal
	1906	Robert Duncan	Unionist
	1910	William Hunter	Liberal
	1911 by-election	Daniel Holmes	Liberal
	1918	Neil Maclean	Labour and Independent Labour Party
	1931[4]		Labour
	1950	Jack Browne	Unionist
	1955	John Rankin	Labour Co-operative
	1973 by-election	Margo MacDonald	SNP
	Feb 1974	Harry Selby	Labour
	1979	Andy McMahon	Labour
	1983	Bruce Millan	Labour
	1988 by-election	Jim Sillars	SNP
	1992	Ian Davidson	Labour Co-operative
	1997	Mohammad Sarwar	Labour
	1997		Independent[5]
	1999		Labour
	2005	constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Glasgow Govan^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Pearce	3,677	51.0
	Lib-Lab	Bennet Burleigh	3,522	48.8
	Independent Liberal	David George Hoey	11	0.2	'
Majority			155	2.2
Turnout			7,210	80.1
Registered electors			8,998
	Conservative win (new seat)

General election 1886: Glasgow Govan^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Pearce	3,574	52.7	+1.7
	Liberal	Thomas Alexander Dickson[8]	3,212	47.3	−1.5
Majority			362	5.4	+3.2
Turnout			6,786	75.4	−4.7
Registered electors			8,998
	Conservative hold		Swing	+1.6

Pearce's death caused a by-election.

By-election, 18 January 1889^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	4,420	56.9	+9.6
	Liberal Unionist	John Pender	3,349	43.1	−9.6
Majority			1,071	13.8	N/A
Turnout			7,769	84.1	+8.7
Registered electors			9,240
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.6

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Glasgow Govan^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	4,829	55.8	+8.5
	Conservative	Nathaniel Spens	3,829	44.2	−8.5
Majority			1,000	11.6	N/A
Turnout			8,658	77.6	+2.2
Registered electors			11,151
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+8.5

General election 1895: Glasgow Govan^[11][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Wilson	4,290	49.0	−6.8
	Liberal Unionist	George Ferguson	4,029	46.1	+1.9
	Ind. Labour Party	Alexander Haddow	430	4.9	New
Majority			261	2.9	−8.7
Turnout			8,749	76.6	−1.0
Registered electors			11,416
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.4

Elections in the 1900s

General election 1900: Glasgow Govan^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Hunter Craig	5,744	50.7	+1.7
	Conservative	Robert Duncan	5,580	49.3	+3.2
Majority			164	1.4	−1.5
Turnout			11,324	76.5	−0.1
Registered electors			14,807
	Liberal hold		Swing	−0.8

John Hill

General election 1906: Glasgow Govan^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Robert Duncan	5,224	35.9	−13.4
	Liberal	H. S. Murray	5,096	35.1	−15.6
	Labour Repr. Cmte.	John Hill	4,212	29.0	New
Majority			128	0.8	N/A
Turnout			14,532	82.9	+6.4
Registered electors			17,538
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Glasgow Govan^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hunter	6,556	43.0	+7.9
	Conservative	Robert Duncan	5,127	33.7	−2.2
	Labour	James Thomas Brownlie	3,545	23.3	−5.7
Majority			1,429	9.3	N/A
Turnout			15,228	84.6	+1.7
Registered electors			17,994
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+5.1

Hunter is appointed Solicitor General for Scotland, prompting a by-election.

By-election, 1910: Glasgow Govan^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hunter	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

General election December 1910: Glasgow Govan^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hunter	8,409	56.9	+13.9
	Conservative	George Balfour	6,369	43.1	+9.4
Majority			2,040	13.8	+4.5
Turnout			14,778	79.9	−4.7
Registered electors			18,504
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.3

1911 Govan by-election^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Holmes	7,508	53.5	−3.4
	Conservative	George Balfour	6,522	46.5	+3.4
Majority			986	7.0	−6.8
Turnout			14,030	76.3	−3.6
Registered electors			18,395
	Liberal hold		Swing	-3.4

General election 1918: Glasgow Govan^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	9,577	47.8	New
C	Unionist	Alexander McClure	8,762	43.8	+0.7
	Liberal	Daniel Holmes	1,678	8.4	−48.5
Majority			815	4.0	N/A
Turnout			20,017	63.2	−16.7
Registered electors			31,652
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

Helen Fraser

General election 1922: Glasgow Govan^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,441	62.3	+14.5
	National Liberal	Helen Fraser	9,336	37.7	+29.3
Majority			6,105	24.6	+20.6
Turnout			24,777	81.1	+17.9
Registered electors			30,539
	Labour hold		Swing	−7.4

General election 1923: Glasgow Govan^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	13,987	66.3	+4.0
	Liberal	Henry Anderson Watt	7,095	33.7	−4.0
Majority			6,892	32.6	+8.0
Turnout			21,082	68.5	−12.6
Registered electors			30,790
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.0

General election 1924: Glasgow Govan^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,132	63.2	−3.1
	Unionist	H. Stanley	8,815	36.8	New
Majority			6,317	26.4	−6.2
Turnout			23,947	76.0	+7.5
Registered electors			31,497
	Labour hold		Swing	−3.1

General election 1929: Glasgow Govan^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ind. Labour Party	*Neil Maclean	17,384	57.7	−5.5
	Unionist	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton	12,736	42.3	+5.5
Majority			4,646	15.4	−11.0
Turnout			30,122	75.1	−0.9
Registered electors			40,103
	Ind. Labour Party gain from Labour		Swing	−5.5

• candidature not endorsed by Labour Party HQ

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Glasgow Govan^[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	*Neil Maclean	15,047	51.0	−6.7
	Unionist	Alexander McClure	14,442	49.0	+6.7
Majority			605	2.0	−13.4
Turnout			29,489	75.4	+0.3
	Labour hold		Swing

• Maclean had been expelled by the ILP but was endorsed by Labour Party HQ.

General election 1935: Glasgow Govan^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	15,791	51.0	0.0
	Unionist	Alexander McClure	10,211	33.0	−16.0
	Ind. Labour Party	Thomas Taylor	4,959	16.0	N/A
Majority			5,580	18.0	+16.0
Turnout			30,961	74.7	−0.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Election in the 1940s

General election 1945: Glasgow Govan^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Neil Maclean	18,668	66.1	+15.1
	Unionist	Jack Browne	9,586	33.9	+0.9
Majority			9,082	32.2	+14.2
Turnout			28,254	64.08	−10.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Glasgow Govan^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Jack Browne	19,267	46.6	+12.7
	Labour	John Davis	18,894	45.7	−20.4
	Liberal	Ronnie Fraser	1,628	3.9	New
	Communist	William Lauchlan	1,547	3.8	New
Majority			373	0.9	N/A
Turnout			41,336	84.0	+19.9
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing

General election 1951: Glasgow Govan^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Jack Browne	20,936	50.3	+3.7
	Labour	John Davis	20,695	49.7	+4.0
Majority			241	0.58	−0.3
Turnout			41,631	84.92	+0.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1955: Glasgow Govan^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John Rankin	24,818	62.0	+12.3
	Unionist	Alexander G Hutton	15,216	38.0	−12.3
Majority			9,602	23.98	N/A
Turnout			40,034	71.82	−13.1
	Labour Co-op gain from Unionist		Swing

• the boundaries of the seat were heavily redrawn and much of the 1950-55 version of Govan ended up in the new Craigton seat

General election 1959: Glasgow Govan^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John Rankin	23,139	60.4	−1.6
	Unionist	Alexander G Hutton	13,319	34.7	−3.3
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,869	4.9	New
Majority			9,820	25.62	+1.6
Turnout			38,327	75.03	+3.2
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Glasgow Govan^[25][26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John Rankin	20,326	64.99
	Unionist	Peter Breuer	9,571	30.60
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,378	4.41
Majority			10,755	34.39
Turnout			31,275	70.25
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1966: Glasgow Govan^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John Rankin	18,533	67.8	+2.8
	Conservative	Peter Breuer	7,677	28.1	−2.5
	Communist	Gordon McLennan	1,103	4.0	−0.4
Majority			10,856	39.75	+5.3
Turnout			27,313	67.47	−2.7
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Glasgow Govan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John Rankin	13,443	60.1	−7.7
	Conservative	Gerald F. Belton	6,301	28.2	+0.1
	SNP	Michael Grieve	2,294	10.3	New
	Communist	Thomas Biggam	326	1.5	−2.5
Majority			7,142	31.9	−7.8
Turnout			22,364	63.2	−4.3
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

1973 Glasgow Govan by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Margo MacDonald	6,360	41.5	+31.2
	Labour	Harry Selby	5,789	38.2	−21.9
	Conservative	John Mair	1,780	11.7	−16.5
	Liberal	Peter McMillan	1,239	8.2	New
Majority			571	3.3	N/A
Turnout			15,168
	SNP gain from Labour Co-op		Swing	+26.7

General election February 1974: Glasgow Govan^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Selby	10,326	43.17
	SNP	Margo MacDonald	9,783	40.90
	Conservative	John Mair	3,049	12.75
	Liberal	Peter McMillan	763	3.19
Majority			543	2.27
Turnout			23,920	74.92
	Labour hold		Swing

General election October 1974: Glasgow Govan^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harry Selby	11,392	49.5	+6.3
	SNP	Margo MacDonald	9,440	41.0	+0.1
	Conservative	M Todd	1,623	7.1	−5.6
	Liberal	E Mason	444	1.9	−1.3
	National Front	M.A. Brooks	86	0.4	New
	More Prosperous Britain	T Clyde	27	0.1	New
Majority			1,952	8.48	+6.2
Turnout			23,011	71.7	−3.2
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Glasgow Govan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andy McMahon	11,676	67.9	+18.4
	Conservative	John Harrison Walker	3,188	18.5	+11.4
	SNP	Thomas Wilson	2,340	13.6	―27.4
Majority			8,488	49.3	+40.8
Turnout			17,204	75.7	+4.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Glasgow Govan^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bruce Millan	20,370	55.0	―12.9
	SDP	Ian McDonald	7,313	19.7	New
	Conservative	Alastair MacKenzie	7,180	19.4	+0.9
	SNP	Peter M. Kindlen	2,207	5.9	―7.7
Majority			13,057	35.3	―14.0
Turnout			37, 070	71.6	―4.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1987: Glasgow Govan^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bruce Millan	24,071	64.8	+9.8
	SDP	Alasdair Ferguson	4,562	12.3	―7.4
	Conservative	Janet Girsman	4,411	11.9	―7.5
	SNP	Felix McCabe	3,851	10.4	+4.5
	Communist	Douglas Chalmers	237	0.6	New
Majority			19,509	52.5	+17.2
Turnout			37,132	73.4	+1.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.6

By-election 1988: Glasgow Govan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Jim Sillars	14,677	48.8	+38.4
	Labour	Robert Gillespie	11,123	36.9	―27.9
	Conservative	Graeme Hamilton	2,207	7.3	―4.6
	SLD	Bernard Ponsonby	1,246	4.1	―8.2
	Green	George Campbell	345	1.1	New
	Communist	Douglas Chalmers	281	0.9	+0.3
	Monster Raving Loony	Lord Sutch	174	0.6	New
	Independent	Fraser Clark	51	0.2	New
Majority			3,554	11.9	N/A
Turnout			30,104	60.2	―13.2
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+33.1

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Glasgow Govan^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Ian Davidson	17,051	49.0	―15.8
	SNP	Jim Sillars	12,926	37.1	+26.7
	Conservative	James Donnelly	3,458	9.9	―2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Stewart	1,227	3.5	―8.8
	Scottish Green	David L. Spaven	181	0.5	N/A
Majority			4,125	11.9	―40.6
Turnout			34,843	75.9	+2.5
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing

General election 1997: Glasgow Govan^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammad Sarwar	14,216	44.1	―4.9
	SNP	Nicola Sturgeon	11,302	35.1	―2.0
	Conservative	William Thomas	2,839	8.8	―1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Bob Stewart	1,918	5.9	+2.4
	Scottish Socialist	Alan McCombes	755	2.3	New
	Independent	Peter Paton	325	1.0	New
	Independent	Islam Badar	319	1.0	New
	Independent	Zahid Abbasi	221	0.7	New
	Referendum	Kenneth MacDonald	201	0.6	New
	BNP	James White	149	0.5	New
Majority			2,914	9.0	−2.9
Turnout			32,245	64.5	−11.4
	Labour hold		Swing	―3.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Glasgow Govan^[34]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammad Sarwar	12,464	49.3	+5.2
	SNP	Karen Neary	6,064	24.0	―11.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robert (Bob) Stewart	2,815	11.1	+5.2
	Conservative	Mark Menzies	2,167	8.6	―0.2
	Scottish Socialist	Wullie McGartland	1,531	6.1	+3.8
	Communist	John Foster	174	0.7	New
	Independent	Badar Mirza	69	0.3	N/A
Majority			6,400	25.3	+16.3
Turnout			25,284	46.8	―17.7
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.2

References

1. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885
2. "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch. 1), retrieved 23 July 2023
3. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Glasgow Pollok, Glasgow Craigton, Glasgow Govan and Glasgow Gorbals) Order 1955. SI 1955/26". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2198–2201.
4. Neil Maclean was elected at the 1918 general election as a member of both the Independent Labour Party and the Labour Party. He was expelled from the ILP for deviancy from the party line in 1931.
5. "BBC Politics 97". BBC. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
6. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
7. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
8. "The General Election". Glasgow Herald. 16 June 1886. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 27 November 2017 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
10. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918, FWS Craig
11. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
12. British Parliamentary Election Results 1885-1918 by FWS Craig
13. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
14. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949
15. The Times, 8 December 1923
16. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
17. The Times House of Commons, 1929
18. The Times House of Commons, 1931
19. The Times House of Commons, 1935
20. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
21. Whitaker's Almanack, 1950
22. Whitaker's Almanack, 1951
23. Whitaker's Almanack, 1955
24. Whitaker's Almanack, 1959
25. Whitaker's Almanack, 1964
26. Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 25 October 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
27. Whitaker's Almanack, 1966
28. "UK General Election results: February 1974". Politicsresources.net. 28 February 1974. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
29. "UK General Election results: October 1974". Politicsresources.net. 10 October 1974. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
30. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
31. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
32. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
33. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
34. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.

Bibliography

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 2)