1922 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

The 1922 United Kingdom general election in Scotland was held on 15 November 1922. 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.

Main article: 1922 United Kingdom general election

1922 United Kingdom general election

15 November 1922
All 74 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
First party Second party Third party   Leader J. R. Clynes H. H. Asquith Bonar Law Party Labour Liberal Unionist Leader since 14 February 1921 30 April 1908 23 October 1922 Leader's seat Manchester Platting Paisley Glasgow Central Seats before 6 8 New party Seats won 29 16 15 Seat change 23 7 17 Popular vote 501,254 328,649 379,396 Percentage 32.2% 21.5% 25.1% Swing 9.3% 6.1% 7.7%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader David Lloyd George Albert Inkpin Edwin Scrymgeour Party National Liberal Communist Scottish Prohibition Leader since 7 December 1916 1920 1901 Leader's seat Carnarvon Boroughs No seat Dundee Seats before 25 0 0 seats Seats won 12 1 1 Seat change 13 1 1 Popular vote 288,529 23,944 Percentage 17.7% 1.4% Swing 1.4% 1.4%
Results of the 1922 election in Scotland

The election saw major gains for the Labour party, which had entered the election as Scotlands' 6th largest party, and emerged from the election as the largest party in Scotland. In contrast both the Conservatives (represented in Scotland by the Unionist party) and the National Liberals suffered heavy losses. These two parties had composed the ruling coalition government under David Lloyd George, which had collapsed following the Conservatives withdrawal from the coalition amidst several scandals. Most of the elected Labour MP's had included support for Scottish Home Rule in their manifestos.[1] Part of the reason for Labour's success came from a shift in the political alignment of Scottish Catholics of Irish descent, who had prior to Irish independence voted Liberal due to the partys' support for Irish Home Rule.[2] Despite this, the two Liberal parties received between them 39.2% of the Scottish vote.

Of the party leaders, two represented Scottish constituencies, with Bonar Law representing Glasgow Central and Asquith representing Paisley.

Two minor parties were also able to pick up seats with the Communist party gaining Motherwell and the Scottish Prohibition Party gaining a seat in Dundee.

Results

Burgh & County constituencies

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% Change
	Labour	29	23	501,254	32.2	9.3
	Liberal	15	7	328,649	21.5	6.1
	Unionist	13	17*	379,396	25.1	7.7*
	National Liberal	12	13	288,529	17.7	1.4
	Communist	1		23,944	1.4
	Other	1		47,589	2.1
Total		71		1,569,361	100
Note: *Unionist decline is compared to combined Coalition & non-Coalition Unionist results in 1918.

University constituencies

General election, November 1922: Combined Scottish Universities

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Unionist	Sir George Andreas Berry	unopposed
	Liberal	Dugald McCoig Cowan	unopposed
	Unionist	Sir Henry Craik	unopposed

Votes summary

Popular vote Labour   32.20% Unionist   25.10% Liberal   21.50% National Liberal   17.70% Communist   1.40% Other   0.80%

Parliament seats Labour   40.85% Liberal   22.54% Unionist   21.13% National Liberal   16.90% Communist   1.41% Scottish Prohibition   1.41%

References

1. "Scotland's road to referendum". BBC Timelines.
2. Scottish Christianity in the Modern World: In Honour of A. C. Cheyne. p. 263.