1931 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, 27 October 1931. Of the 74 seats representing Scotland, 71 seats represented burgh and county constituencies contested under the First-Past-The-Post electoral system, and 3 represented the Combined Scottish Universities multi-member University constituency.

1931 United Kingdom general election

27 October 1931

All 74 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
  First party Second party
 
Leader Stanley Baldwin Herbert Samuel
Party Unionist Liberal
Leader since 23 October 1922 October 1931
Seats before 20 13
Seats won 50 8
Seat change 28 6
Popular vote 1,056,768 205,384
Percentage 49.5% 8.6%
Swing 13.6% 9.5%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Sir John Simon Arthur Henderson
Party National Liberal Labour
Leader since 5 October 1931 1 September 1931
Last election 36 seats
Seats before New party
Seats won 8 7
Seat change 8 29
Popular vote 101,430 696,248
Percentage 4.9% 32.6%
Swing New party 9.7%

Results of the 1931 election in Scotland

The election saw massive gains for the Unionists across the country, with the party winning nearly 70% of all Scottish seats. The parties forming the National Government together won 64% of the vote, and 86% of the seats. In contrast the Labour Party, which had been the largest party in Scotland following the 1929 general election (where it had won 42% of the Scottish vote), was relegated into fourth place within just two years.

Following the election, with Labour appearing to teeter on the edge of the electoral abyss in Scotland, the Independent Labour Party increasingly moved apart from Labour, ultimately dissociating from the party in March 1932. The ILP had dominated the Labour movement in Scotland since 1918, dominating community based activism, and essentially forming the Labour Party in Scotland. This had ultimately served to undermine the organisational growth of the Labour Party in Scotland.

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