Motherwell (UK Parliament constituency)

Motherwell
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Major settlements Motherwell, Wishaw
19181974 (1974)
Number of members One
Replaced by Motherwell and Wishaw

Motherwell was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1974. It was formed by the division of Lanarkshire. The name was changed in 1974 to Motherwell and Wishaw. It is famous for returning the first-ever SNP MP (Robert McIntyre in 1945) and arguably the first Communist Party MP (Walton Newbold in 1922).

Boundaries

From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The burghs of Motherwell and Wishaw, together with the part of the Middle Ward County District which is contained within the extraburghal portion of the parish of Dalziel."

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember Party
1918 Robert Frederick William Robertson Nelson Unionist
1922 John Turner Walton Newbold Communist
1923 Hugh Ferguson Unionist
1924 James Barr Labour
1931 Thomas Ormiston Unionist
1935 James Walker Labour
1945, April Robert Douglas McIntyre SNP
1945, July Alexander Anderson Labour
1954 George McArthur Lawson Labour
1974, Feb. constituency renamed: see Motherwell and Wishaw

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1970: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lawson 20,683 53.2
Conservative S. Bell 12,509 32.2
SNP Isobel Lindsay 3,861 9.9
Communist James Sneddon 1,829 4.7
Majority 8,174 21.0
Turnout 73.5
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George McArthur Lawson 22,658 60.8
Conservative John Joseph Young 13,100 35.2
Communist James Sneddon 1,508 4.1
Majority 9,558 25.7
Turnout 74.4
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1964: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lawson 23,281 58.7
Unionist J. J. Young 14,789 37.3
Communist James Sneddon 1,565 4.0
Majority 8,492 21.4
Turnout 78.9
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lawson 22,009 53.7
Unionist B. Brogan 17,613 43.0
Independent David Murray 1,331 3.3
Majority 4,396 10.7
Turnout 81.1
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1955: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lawson 20,147 53.9
Unionist Michael Clark Hutchison 17,262 46.1
Majority 2,885 7.7
Turnout 76.5
Labour hold Swing
Motherwell by-election, 1954
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour George Lawson 19,163 56.4 - 0.8
Unionist N. A. Sloan 13,334 39.3 - 3.5
Communist John Gollan 1,457 4.3 N/A
Majority 5,829 17.2
Turnout
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1951: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Alexander Anderson 23,641 57.3
Unionist N. A. Sloan 17,650 42.8
Majority 5,991 14.5
Turnout 84.7
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1950: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Alexander Anderson 22,608 54.2
Unionist A. Robertson 14,183 34.0
SNP Robert McIntyre 3,892 9.3
Communist R. Henderson 1,007 2.4
Majority 8,425 20.2
Turnout 84.5
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Alexander Anderson 15,831 52.7
SNP Robert McIntyre 8,022 26.7
Unionist J. H. Hamilton 6,197 20.6
Majority 7,809 26.0
Turnout 72.8
Labour gain from SNP Swing
Motherwell by-election, 1945
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Robert McIntyre 11,417 51.4
Labour Alexander Anderson 10,800 48.6
Majority 617 2.8
Turnout 54.0
SNP gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Motherwell [1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James Walker 14,755 50.7
Unionist Thomas Ormiston CBE 14,325 49.3
Majority 430 1.3
Turnout 75.9
Labour gain from Unionist Swing
General Election 1931: Motherwell[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Thomas Ormiston 15,513 51.3
Labour James Barr 14,714 48.7
Majority 799 2.6
Turnout 82.4
Unionist gain from Labour Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1929: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James Barr 16,650 58.0
Unionist John Ford 7,502 26.1
Liberal Provost Henry Archibald 3,597 12.5
Communist Isabel Brown 984 3.4
Majority 9,148 31.9
Turnout 79.6
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1924: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour James Barr 12,816 52.1
Unionist Hugh Ferguson 11,776 47.9
Majority 1,040 4.2
Turnout 82.3
Labour gain from Unionist Swing N/A
General Election 1923: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Hugh Ferguson 9,793 42.0 +12.9
Communist John Turner Walton Newbold 8,712 37.4 +4.1
Liberal John Maxwell 4,799 20.6 -1.0
Majority 1,081 4.6 14.8
Turnout 77.4 -4.1
Unionist gain from Communist Swing +4.4
General Election 1922: Motherwell
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Communist John Turner Walton Newbold 8,262 33.3 +10.1
Independent Unionist Hugh Ferguson 7,214 29.1 +18.3
Liberal John Maxwell 5,359 21.6 -1.6
National Liberal David John Colville 3,966 16.0 n/a
Majority 1,048 10.2 21.6
Turnout 81.5 +17.3
Communist gain from Unionist Swing n/a

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Motherwell [3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist 6,972 39.0 n/a
Liberal James Duncan Millar 4,135 23.2 n/a
Labour John Turner Walton Newbold 4,135 23.2 n/a
Independent Unionist Hugh Ferguson 1,923 10.8 n/a
Majority 3,407 11.4 n/a
Turnout 64.2 n/a
Unionist win

References

  1. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  2. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  3. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920

See also

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