The1948Glasgow Camlachie by-election was held on Wednesday 28 January 1948, following the death of the sittingmember of parliament,Campbell Stephen.
Stephen was re-elected for theIndependent Labour Party (ILP) at the1945 general election. However, he resigned the ILPwhip two years later, and later that year joined theLabour Party, under which banner he had held the seat from 1922 to 1931.
The ILP had achieved a fairly close victory over theUnionist Party in the seat in a two-way fight at the1945 general election. Since then, its most prominent figure,James Maxton, had died. The party won thesubsequent by-election, but all three of its MPs had since defected to the Labour Party. With the ILP in sharp decline, and given that the Labour Party intended to contest the seat, commentators did not expect the ILP to retain control of the seat, and concluded that it would be a Labour-Unionist contest. The ILP selectedAnnie Maxton, sister of James, as their candidate.
A constituency in aworking-class area of Glasgow, the constituency naturally appeared to be Labour Party territory. The party chose John M. Inglis, atrain driver andtrade unionist.
Nationwide, Labour had won alandslide victory at the 1945 general election, and the Conservatives had not gained a single seat since. However, given their strong second place in Camlachie in 1945, and the left-wing vote divided, they hoped to gain the seat. They selectedCharles McFarlane, a local factory owner, who had previously fought the seat in 1945.
Despite having no background in the constituency, theScottish National Party andLiberal Party also stood candidates.Guy Aldred, a well-known localanarcho-communist stood for hisUnited Socialist Movement on anabstentionist anti-Parliamentary platform.
The SNP also suffered a rift as a result of the by-election; although Wilkie ran under the SNP banner, his candidature had not been approved by any leadership body in the party, and the SNP's executive subsequently stripped him of his membership. As a result, former SNP ChairmanDouglas Young quit the party, eventually rejoining Labour, whilstAndrew Dewar Gibb considered returning to the Unionists.[1]
The election was won narrowly by McFarlane for the Unionists. Labour finished in a close second place, but were cautioned by theManchester Guardian: "Camlachie's chief warning is ... that a government candidate cannot even rouse the slums".[2] The ILP vote declined dramatically, and demonstrated that the party was no longer a significant political force. The SNP finished in fourth place, while the Liberals finished in sixth place, beaten even by Aldred. This was the worst Liberal result at any British by-election sinceWorld War II, until theLiberal Democrats took eighth place at the2012 Rotherham by-election.
McFarlane lost the seat at the1950 general election toWilliam Reid of the Labour Party. Annie Maxton remained a prominent figure in the ILP, eventually becoming its chair.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unionist | Charles McFarlane | 11,085 | 43.7 | +1.4 | |
| Labour | John M. Inglis | 10,690 | 42.1 | N/A | |
| Ind. Labour Party | Annie Maxton | 1,622 | 6.4 | −51.3 | |
| SNP | Robert Blair Wilkie | 1,320 | 5.2 | New | |
| United Socialist Movement | Guy Aldred | 345 | 1.4 | New | |
| Liberal | Edward Rogers Goodfellow | 312 | 1.2 | New | |
| Majority | 395 | 1.6 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 25,374 | 56.8 | −8.3 | ||
| Unionistgain fromInd. Labour Party | Swing | +26.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ind. Labour Party | Campbell Stephen | 15,558 | 57.7 | +10.6 | |
| Unionist | Charles McFarlane | 11,399 | 42.3 | −2.0 | |
| Majority | 4,159 | 15.4 | +12.6 | ||
| Turnout | 26,957 | 65.1 | |||
| Ind. Labour Partyhold | Swing | ||||