1999 Hamilton South by-election

On 4 August 1999, NATO announced that the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Hamilton South, in Scotland, the Rt. Hon. George Robertson, had been chosen as their new Secretary-General. This meant that Robertson was required to resign from his seat which he had won at the 1997 general election. The seat had fallen vacant in a Parliamentary recess, and the law does not permit a by-election to be called during a recess if the sitting member resigns by taking the Chiltern Hundreds.

1999 Hamilton South by-election

23 September 1999
  First party Second party Third party
 
Candidate Bill Tynan Annabelle Ewing Shareen Blackall
Party Labour SNP Scottish Socialist
Popular vote 7,172 6,616 1,847
Percentage 36.9% 34.0% 9.5%
Swing 36.9pp 16.4pp New

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Candidate Charles Ferguson Stephen Mungall
Party Conservative Independent
Popular vote 1,406 1,075
Percentage 7.2% 5.5%
Swing 1.4pp New

MP before election

George Robertson
Labour

Elected MP

Bill Tynan
Labour

Robertson was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Robertson of Port Ellen on 24 August 1999, instantly vacating his seat. The writ for the by-election was moved immediately. The Labour Party selected Bill Tynan, a locally based trade union official, to defend the seat. The Scottish National Party, which was likely to provide the main challenge, chose Annabelle Ewing.[1] Ewing was the daughter of Winnie Ewing; who had famously defeated Labour to win the Hamilton by-election of 1967. The Scottish Socialist Party fought a strong campaign for the seat, and Stephen Mungall was nominated by a local group protesting against the ownership of the local football team, Hamilton Academical F.C.

Twelve candidates stood, which was at the time, the most at any Scottish by-election. This figure was surpassed, when thirteen candidates stood at the 2009 by-election in Glasgow North East.

Polling day for the by-election was on 23 September. The Labour Party narrowly held on to the seat, after a recount; the Liberal Democrats polled poorly, their sixth place was the worst placing at a by-election by any major party since the Conservative candidate in the 1990 Upper Bann by-election also came sixth; in by-elections in seats in Great Britain; it was the lowest since the Liberal candidate in the 1948 Glasgow Camlachie by-election also came sixth. The Scottish Socialist Party beat the Conservatives.

Results

Hamilton South by-election, 1999[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Bill Tynan 7,172 36.9 -28.7
SNP Annabelle Ewing 6,616 34.0 +16.4
Scottish Socialist Shareen Blackall 1,847 9.5 New
Conservative Charles Ferguson 1,406 7.2 -1.4
Independent Stephen Mungall 1,075 5.5 New
Liberal Democrats Marilyne MacLaren 634 3.3 -1.9
ProLife Alliance Monica Burns 257 1.3 -0.7
Socialist Labour Tom Dewar 238 1.2 New
Scottish Unionist Jim Reid 113 0.6 New
UKIP Alistair McConnachie 61 0.3 New
Natural Law George Stidolph 18 0.1 New
Independent John Moray 17 0.1 New
Majority 556 2.9 -45.1
Turnout 19,454 41.3 -29.8
Labour hold Swing -22.6

Mungall used the description "Hamilton Accies Home, Watson Away", referring to demands by some fans that Hamilton Academical should play their home matches locally and that Watson, a prominent shareholder, should go.

General Election 1997: Hamilton South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Robertson 21,709 65.6 N/A
SNP Ian Black 5,831 17.6 N/A
Conservative Robert Kilgour 2,858 8.6 N/A
Liberal Democrats Richard Pitts 1,693 5.1 N/A
ProLife Alliance Colin Gunn 684 2.1 N/A
Referendum Stuart Brown 316 1.0 N/A
Majority 15,878 48.0 N/A
Turnout 33,091 71.1 N/A
Labour hold Swing

See also

References

  1. "Ewing to stand in by-election". BBC News. 30 August 1999.
  2. Boothroyd, David. "Results of Byelections in the 1997-2002 Parliament". United Kingdom Election Results. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
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