Glasgow Cathcart (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow Cathcart
Glasgow Cathcart
Former burgh constituency; for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of Scotland	Glasgow City
1918–2005
Seats	One
Created from	Mid Lanarkshire
Replaced by	Glasgow South

Glasgow Cathcart was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 until 2005, when it was replaced by the larger Glasgow South constituency.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries

1950–1974: The County of the City of Glasgow wards of Cathcart and Langside, and part of Govanhill ward.

1974–1983: The County of the City of Glasgow ward of Cathcart, and part of Langside ward.

1983–1997: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of King's Park/Aitkenhead, Linn Park/Castlemilk, and Pollokshaws/Newlands.

1997–2005: The City of Glasgow District electoral divisions of Battlefield/Croftfoot, Carnwadric/Newlands, and Castlemilk/Carmunnock.

History

For generations, Glasgow Cathcart was an extremely safe Conservative seat and for fifty-six years, the constituency always returned a Conservative MP. The area was the wealthiest part of the city and was mainly inhabited by "well to do" business families and contained large detached houses. It was Glasgow's equivalent of Kensington and Chelsea in London. However, when Labour won the general election in 1964, Glasgow had a lot of slum clearance and a lot of council housing was built in the Cathcart area, and areas which had previously been fields now housed the families from the old slums. These families naturally voted Labour and time and time, again the Conservative majorities dwindled. In 1966, the Conservative majority fell to a record low of 1,200 votes.

In 1970, the Conservatives increased their majority to around 5,000 but at the next two general elections in 1974 it soon fell again. In 1979, when Margaret Thatcher took office, the Conservatives lost the seat to Labour, against the national trend where there was a large swing to the Conservatives. After redrawn boundaries were made in 1983, the seat was notionally Conservative but like 1979 the seat went against the national trend and the Labour MP increased his majority. From 1983 to 1997, the Conservatives lost more ground time after time except for a small improvement in 1992 (inline with the national trend in Scotland, which ran counter to that across the United Kingdom). In 1997, Labour won a landslide victory in which the Conservatives lost all their seats in Scotland, and the seat became a safe Labour seat.

Since then, the Conservatives had fallen into third and fourth place. The seat still has more Conservative voters than any other Glasgow constituency, but only 5,000 at the last election when it was replaced by Glasgow South.

Members of Parliament

	Member^[1]	Party
1918	John Pratt	Coalition Liberal
1922	John Primrose Hay	Labour
1923	Robert MacDonald	Unionist
1929	Sir John Train	Unionist
1942 by-election	Francis Beattie	Unionist
1946 by-election	John Henderson	Unionist
1964	Teddy Taylor	Unionist Conservative
1979	John Maxton	Labour
2001	Thomas Harris	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Glasgow Cathcart^[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
C	Liberal	John Pratt	16,310	76.9
	Labour	Gavin Brown Clark	4,899	23.1
Majority			11,411	53.8
Turnout			21,209	61.8
Registered electors			34,293
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Glasgow Cathcart ^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Primrose Hay	9,137	34.0	+10.9
	National Liberal	Andrew Rae Duncan	9,104	33.8	−43.1
	Unionist	Robert MacDonald	8,661	32.2	New
Majority			33	0.2	N/A
Turnout			26,902	81.0	+19.2
Registered electors			33,198
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+27.0

General election 1923: Glasgow Cathcart ^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert MacDonald	10,817	42.3	+10.1
	Labour	John Primrose Hay	8,884	34.7	+0.7
	Liberal	Thomas Graham Robertson	5,894	23.0	−10.8
Majority			1,933	7.6	N/A
Turnout			25,595	77.5	−3.5
Registered electors			33,040
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+4.7

General election 1924: Glasgow Cathcart^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Robert MacDonald	18,440	65.0	+22.7
	Labour	John Primrose Hay	9,915	35.0	+0.3
Majority			8,525	30.0	+22.4
Turnout			28,355	80.8	+3.3
Registered electors			35,076
	Unionist hold		Swing	+11.2

General election 1929: Glasgow Cathcart ^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Train	15,435	43.1	−21.9
	Labour	John Primrose Hay	12,983	36.3	+1.3
	Liberal	James Gray	7,388	20.6	New
Majority			2,452	6.8	−23.2
Turnout			35,806	78.6	−2.2
Registered electors			45,545
	Unionist hold		Swing	−11.6

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Glasgow Cathcart^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Train	26,642	73.8	+30.7
	Labour	A. L. Ritchie	8,919	24.7	−11.6
	New Party	J. Mellick	529	1.5	New
Majority			17,723	49.1	+42.3
Turnout			36,090	79.5	+0.9
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1935: Glasgow Cathcart^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Train	21,331	62.1	−11.7
	Labour	Alasdair Alpin MacGregor	12,995	37.9	+13.2
Majority			8,336	24.2	−24.9
Turnout			34,326	74.3	−5.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	−12.5

Elections in the 1940s

By-election 1942: Glasgow Cathcart^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Francis Beattie	10,786	59.6	−2.5
	Independent Progressive	William Douglas Home	3,807	21.0	New
	Ind. Labour Party	James Carmichael	2,493	13.8	N/A
	SNP	William Whyte	1,000	5.5	New
Majority			6,979	38.6	+14.4
Turnout			18,086
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1945: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Francis Beattie	18,472	58.8	−3.3
	Labour	N. Jackson	12,923	41.2	+3.3
Majority			5,549	17.6	−6.6
Turnout			31,395	67.7	−6.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	−3.3

By-election 1946: Glasgow Cathcart^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Henderson	13,695	52.5	−6.3
	Labour	Alexander Burns Mackay	9,689	37.2	−4.0
	SNP	William Taylor	2,700	10.4	New
Majority			4,006	15.3	−2.3
Turnout			26,084
	Unionist hold		Swing	−1.2

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Henderson	24,341	64.8	+6.0
	Labour	Ian Rosslyn Mitchell	10,269	27.3	−13.9
	Liberal	Malcolm I Shields	2,984	7.9	New
Majority			14,072	37.5	+19.9
Turnout			37,594	83.8	+16.1
	Unionist hold		Swing	+10.0

General election 1951: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Henderson	26,125	70.5	+5.7
	Labour	Agnes M. Patrick	10,912	29.5	+2.2
Majority			15,213	41.0	+3.5
Turnout			37,037	82.5	−1.3
	Unionist hold		Swing	+1.8

General election 1955: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Henderson	25,265	72.6	+2.1
	Labour	L.P. Thomas	9,514	27.4	−2.1
Majority			15,751	45.2	+4.2
Turnout			34,779	75.7	−6.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	+2.1

General election 1959: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Henderson	30,743	59.2	−13.4
	Labour	James Jarvie	21,169	40.8	+13.4
Majority			9,574	18.4	−26.8
Turnout			51,912	80.3	+4.6
	Unionist hold		Swing	−13.4

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Teddy Taylor	27,299	52.9	−6.3
	Labour	Ellen McCulloch	24,294	47.1	+6.3
Majority			3,005	5.8	−12.6
Turnout			51,593	79.3	−1.0
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.3

General election 1966: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	26,549	50.7	−2.2
	Labour	Frederick L Forrester	25,330	48.4	+1.3
	Anti-Vivisection	Gabriel A Barlow	516	1.0	New
Majority			1,219	2.3	−3.5
Turnout			52,395	79.7	+0.4
	Conservative hold		Swing	−1.8

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	29,093	54.2	+3.5
	Labour	Donald C.H. Mackay	24,188	45.0	−3.4
	Independent	Joseph McDonagh	419	0.8	New
Majority			4,905	9.2	+6.9
Turnout			53,700	74.4	−5.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+3.5

General election February 1974: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	18,247	45.8	−8.4
	Labour	P.T. McCann	16,152	40.6	−4.4
	SNP	Alex Ewing	5,410	13.6	New
Majority			2,095	5.2	−4.0
Turnout			39,809	80.7	+6.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	−2.0

General election October 1974: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	16,301	42.7	−3.1
	Labour	J.E. Carnegie	14,544	38.1	−2.5
	SNP	Alex Ewing	6,292	16.5	+2.9
	Liberal	Henry Wills	1,058	2.8	New
Majority			1,757	4.6	−0.6
Turnout			38,195	76.7	−4.0
	Conservative hold		Swing	−0.3

General election 1979: Glasgow Cathcart
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Maxton	17,550	45.9	+7.8
	Conservative	Teddy Taylor	15,950	41.8	−0.9
	SNP	Alex Ewing	2,653	6.9	−9.6
	Liberal	Henry Wills	2,042	5.4	+2.6
Majority			1,600	4.1	N/A
Turnout			38,105	78.6	+1.9
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing	+4.4

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Glasgow Cathcart^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Maxton	16,037	41.4	−0.7
	Conservative	Douglas J. May	11,807	30.5	−15.8
	SDP	Keir Bloomer	8,710	22.5	+16.8
	SNP	William Steven	2,151	5.6	−1.3
Majority			4,230	10.9	+6.7
Turnout			38,705	75.8	−2.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1987: Glasgow Cathcart^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Maxton	19,623	52.1	+10.7
	Conservative	William Harvey	8,420	22.4	−8.1
	SDP	Moira Craig	5,722	15.2	−7.3
	SNP	William Steven	3,883	10.3	+4.7
Majority			11,203	29.7	+18.8
Turnout			37,648	76.4	+0.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Glasgow Cathcart^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Maxton	16,265	48.3	−3.8
	Conservative	John Young	8,264	24.5	+2.1
	SNP	William Steven	6,107	18.1	+7.8
	Liberal Democrats	George C. Dick	2,614	7.8	−7.4
	Scottish Green	Kay M. Allan	441	1.3	New
Majority			8,001	23.8	−5.9
Turnout			33,691	75.2	−1.2
	Labour hold		Swing

The boundaries of the seat were significantly re-drawn between 1992 and 1997.

General election 1997: Glasgow Cathcart^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Maxton	19,158	57.4
	SNP	Maire Whitehead	6,913	18.5
	Conservative	Alistair J. Muir	4,248	12.4
	Liberal Democrats	Callan Dick	2,302	6.9
	ProLife Alliance	Zofia Indyk	687	2.0
	Scottish Socialist	James Stevenson	458	1.3
	Referendum	Strang Haldane	344	1.0
Majority			12,965	38.9
Turnout			33,390	67.6
	Labour win (new seat)

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Glasgow Cathcart^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Harris	14,902	54.4	−3.0
	SNP	Josephine U. Docherty	4,086	14.9	−3.6
	Conservative	Richard Cook	3,662	13.4	+1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Tom Henery	3,006	11.0	+4.1
	Scottish Socialist	James Stevenson	1,730	6.3	New
Majority			10,816	39.5	+0.6
Turnout			27,386	52.6	−15.0
	Labour hold		Swing

References

^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 3)
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ The Times, 16 November 1922
^ The Times, 8 December 1923
^ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
^ British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949, FWS Craig
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
^ "1946 by Elections". Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
^ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2017.