Dundee East by-election, 1973

There was a by-election for Dundee East, in Scotland, on 1 March 1973. It was one of three UK parliamentary by-elections held on that day.

It was caused by the appointment of George Thomson as a European commissioner.

George Machin retained the seat for Labour, but only narrowly.

There was a strong showing by the Scottish National Party, which prefigured their serious breakthrough at the Govan by-election later in the year, and the two general elections of 1974.

Dundee's Lord Provost William Fitzgerald was chosen as the Conservative candidate by the Dundee Conservative and Unionist Association from a short leet of six.[1]

The contest was viewed as three way fight, although the Conservative and Labour claimed it was a contest between their candidates.[2] Fitzgerald's election was considered possible if his party's vote held and the SNP gained from Labour.[2] However, SNP canvassers reportedly thought they could win enough votes to repeat their surprise victory at Hamilton in 1967.[2] The Liberal candidate Neil Gordon also hoped he could pull off a shock result, but this was widely doubted.[2] There was some speculation that the Labour vote may be hurt by the fact that Machin was from Sheffield and an English candidate in a Scottish seat had angered some local Labour supporters.[2]

Results

Dundee East by-election, 1973[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George Machin 14,411 32.74
SNP Gordon Wilson 13,270 30.15
Conservative William Fitzgerald 11,089 25.19
Liberal Nathaniel Gordon 3,653 8.30
Labour Party of Scotland George MacLean 1,409 3.20
Independent John S Thomson 182 0.41
Majority 1,141 2.59
Turnout 44,014
Labour hold Swing

References

  1. ↑ "Tory Choice for East Dundee". The Glasgow Herald. 30 November 1972. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Clark, William (1 March 1973). "East Dundee voters may upset form book". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "1973 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2015-09-17.

See also


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