Glasgow Central by-election, 1980

The Glasgow Central by-election, 1980 was a by-election held on 26 June 1980 for the British House of Commons constituency of Glasgow Central, following the death of its sitting MP, Thomas McMillan.

On a turnout of 48%, the Labour Party held the seat.

Candidates

This was the last parliamentary by-election in England, Scotland or Wales not contested by an official candidate of either the Liberal Party, the SDP, or their successor party the Liberal Democrats; until the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008. The Social Democrat candidate had no connection to the SDP (which wasn't created until 1981) and achieved the lowest vote for any candidate in a Parliamentary election under universal suffrage, a record later surpassed by the five votes obtained by independent campaigner Bill Boaks in the Glasgow Hillhead by-election of March 1982 .

Because there was no official candidate, Liberal Party member Graham Watson offered himself as a candidate sponsored by the Scottish Young Liberals. He later became a Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament.

As a seat considered safe for Labour, there was little surprise when its candidate Bob McTaggart was declared victor, with 60.8% of the votes cast. Both of his closest rivals were later elected to sit in British parliaments: Gil Paterson, representing the Scottish National Party, was elected as a delegate for Central Scotland in the first sitting of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, while Conservative Anna McCurley won the Renfrew West and Inverclyde seat in the General Election of 1983.

Votes

Glasgow Central by-election, 1980
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bob McTaggart	4,902	60.8	-11.7
	SNP	Gil Paterson	2,122	26.3	+16.2
	Conservative	Anna McCurley	707	8.8	-7.6
	National Front	John MacKenzie	148	1.8	N/A
	Scottish Young Liberal	Graham Watson	134	1.7	N/A
	Ecology	David Mellor	45	0.6	N/A
	Social Democrat (1979)	Donald Kean	10	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,780
Turnout			8,062
	Labour hold		Swing

1979 general election result

General Election 1979: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas McMillan	8,542	72.5
	Conservative	F. Saleem	1,937	16.4
	SNP	S. Bird	1,308	11.1
Majority			6,605	56.0
Turnout				59.5
	Labour hold		Swing

See also

• Glasgow Central - the 2005 re-creation of the historic constituency
• List of United Kingdom by-elections
• United Kingdom by-election records
• Elections in Scotland