1931 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

Main article: 1931 United Kingdom general election

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 22 14 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   Unionist   Liberal   National Liberal   Labour   National Labour

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.

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.

Results

Seats summary

Party			Seats	Last Election	Seats change
	National Government (Total)		67	New
		Unionist	50	22	28
		National Liberal & Conservative	8	New	5
		Liberal	8	14	6
		National Labour	1	New	1
	Labour Party		7	39	29
	Other		0	2	2
Total			74	74

Burgh & County constituencies

Party			Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	National Government (Total)		64		1,385,385	64.0
		Unionist	48	28	1,056,768	49.5	13.6
		National Liberal & Conservative	8	New	101,430	4.9	New
		Liberal	7	6	205,384	8.6	9.5
		National Labour	1	New	21,803	1.0	New
	Labour Party		7	29	696,248	32.6	9.7
	Communist		0		35,618	1.4	0.3
	National Party of Scotland		0		20,954	1.0	0.8
	New Party		0	New	3,895	0.2	New
	Other		0		32,229	0.8
Total			71		2,174,329	100

University constituencies

General election, November 1931: Combined Scottish Universities

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Buchan	unopposed
	Liberal	Dugald McCoig Cowan	unopposed
	Unionist	Archibald Noel Skelton	unopposed

Votes summary

Popular vote Unionist   49.50% Labour   32.60% Liberal   8.60% National Liberal   4.90% Communist   1.40% National Labour   1.00% NPS   1.00% New Party   0.20% Other   0.80%

Parliament seats Unionist   50 seats Liberal   8 seats National Liberal   8 seats Labour   7 seats National Labour   1 seat