1938 Combined Scottish Universities by-election

The 1938 Combined Scottish Universities by-election was a by-election held from 21 to 25 February 1938 for the Combined Scottish Universities, a university constituency of the British House of Commons.

1938 Combined Scottish Universities by-election

21–25 February 1938
Constituency of Combined Scottish Universities
Turnout	52.1% (2.7%)
First party Second party   Candidate John Anderson Frances Melville Party National Independent Popular vote 14,042 5,618 Percentage 48.8% 19.5% Swing 7.7% New   Third party Fourth party   SNP Candidate Andrew Dewar Gibb Peter Chalmers Mitchell Party SNP Independent Progressive Popular vote 5,246 3,868 Percentage 18.2% 13.5% Swing 12.9% New
MP before election Ramsay MacDonald National Labour Elected MP John Anderson National

Vacancy

The seat had become vacant when the National Labour Member of Parliament (MP) (and former Prime Minister), Ramsay MacDonald had died on 9 November 1937, aged 71. He had held the seat since the by-election in 1936, having held several other seats since he was first elected to Parliament at the 1906 general election.

Candidates

The parties in the National Government did not usually stand candidates against each other, and since in this case the seat was held by National Labour, there was no Unionist or National Liberal candidate.

The National Government supported a "National" candidate Sir John Anderson, a former civil servant who had been Governor of Bengal from 1932 to 1937.

The Scottish National Party candidate was Andrew Dewar Gibb, the Regius Professor of Law at Glasgow University who had also contested the by-election in 1936. Two other candidates stood as independents.

Result

The result was a victory for Anderson (the National candidate), won nearly 50% of the votes, the remainder being quite evenly between the other candidates. He held the seat until the university constituencies were abolished for the 1950 general election.

Votes

Combined Scottish Universities by-election, 21-25 February 1938

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	John Anderson	14,042	48.8	−7.7
	Independent	Frances Melville	5,618	19.5	New
	SNP	Andrew Dewar Gibb	5,246	18.2	−12.9
	Independent Progressive	Peter Chalmers Mitchell	3,868	13.5	New
Majority			8,424	29.3	−8.1
Turnout			29,134	52.1	−2.7
	National hold		Swing

See also

• Combined Scottish Universities (UK Parliament constituency)
• 1927 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
• 1934 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
• 1935 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
• 1936 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
• 1945 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
• 1946 Combined Scottish Universities by-election
• List of United Kingdom by-elections (1931–1950)

Sources

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs