1948 Glasgow Hillhead by-election

A 1948 by-election for the constituency of Glasgow Hillhead in the UK House of Commons was held on 25 November 1948, caused by the appointment as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary of the incumbent Unionist MP James Reid. The result was a hold for the Unionist Party, with their candidate Tam Galbraith.

Result

Glasgow Hillhead by-election, 1948

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Tam Galbraith	16,060	68.4	+9.8
	Labour	T A MacNair	7,419	31.6	−2.0
Majority			8,641	36.8	+11.8
Turnout			23,479
	Unionist hold		Swing

Despite a clear victory for their party some Scottish Unionist MPs were reportedly disappointed by the result given that the recent Edmonton by-election had seen the Conservative Party's vote substantially increased while Labour's vote fell greatly. Commenting on the by-election, an editorial in The Glasgow Herald rejected and criticised this assessment, noting that there was a lower turnout and opining that it was a "a notable achievement" that Galbraith had increased the Unionist Party's majority by a third, given that, in the newspaper's view, he was "a young candidate succeeding one of the outstanding Unionist members of recent years."

Previous election

General election 1945: Glasgow Hillhead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	James Reid	14,909	58.6	−9.6
	Labour	HT MacCalman	8,545	33.6	+1.8
	Liberal	John Gray Wilson	2,003	7.8	New
Majority			6,364	25.0	−11.4
Turnout			25,457	66.0	−7.2
	Unionist hold		Swing

References

• Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd edition ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs