1933 Glasgow Corporation election

The 1933 Glasgow Corporation elections were held on 7 November 1933. The results were devastating for the Moderates, who lost control of the Corporation to Labour for the first time, despite socialist candidates making gains in Glasgow at successive general elections.[1] Labour’s victory came as a surprise, even to the party itself, which had already begun blaming its anticipated defeat on vote-splitting caused by the presence of the ILP & the Communists. Labour's dominance of the Corporation would continue, nearly unbroken, to the present day.

1933 Glasgow Corporation election

7 November 1933 (1933-11-07)

First party Second party Third party   Leader George Smith Patrick Dollan Party Moderates Labour Ind. Labour Party Seats won 50 47 11 Seat change   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Alexander Ratcliffe Party SPL Independent Seats won 7 1 Seat change 4

Map showing results in Glasgow Corporation wards

Council Leader before election Moderates Council Leader after election George Smith Labour

Despite winning a combined share of 52.5% of the vote, compared to the Labour/ILP share of 42.8%, the FPTP nature of the ward voting system meant that the split in the Moderate vote allowed Labour to make strong gains at the Moderates expense. Radcliffe acknowledged and welcomed the role he had played in causing the downfall of the Moderate led Corporation, claiming that "if the Socialists have a majority in Glasgow Town Council, they have the Scottish Protestant League to thank for it."[2]

A split between Labour and the Independent Labour Party had ensued a year prior, although Patrick Dollan; a Glaswegian socialist of Irish descent, was able to keep the bulk of the Glasgweian-based ILP on-side.[3] Despite strong support for Labour amongst Glaswegians of Catholic-Irish origin, only 6 out of Glasgow's 116 Councillors following the election were Catholic.[4]

The Moderates were not to bounce back in the following years election either however, and the combined Moderates/SPL share of the vote fell to 46.4%, whilst the Labour/ILP share rose to 51%. Even after several years, when the SPL had faded from the political picture, the Moderate vote did not rebound to its pre-split height, with many SPL voters in turn moving to Labour.[5]

The election was not only a disappointment for Glasgow's right wing parties, but also for its far-left. The Communist party had fielded 15 candidates; who in fact performed moderately well in several working class wards, notably Cowlairs, Springburn, and Gorbals. Despite this however the party failed to gain a single seat, and ultimately won only 10,484 votes; or 3.4% of the total 311,000 votes cast.[6]

Election result

Glasgow Corporation election, 1933[5]
Total votes: 310,898

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour		12	1	11		31.55	98,086
	Moderates	6	0	17	17		24.25	75,385
	SPL	4	4	0	4		23.00	71,512
	Ind. Labour Party	3	2	0	2		11.28	35,083
	Independent Moderate	1					5.27	16,406
	Communist	0	0	0		0	3.37	10,484
	Independent	0					1.27	3,940

Wards

Anderston

Anderston (1)[7]
Electorate: 12,616

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Moderates	Hugh Barrie	2,715	36.56
	Ind. Labour Party	Daniel McMillan	2408	32.43
	Independent	Edward Kennedy	2303	31.01
Majority			307	4.13
Turnout			7426	58.86
	Moderates hold		Swing

Camphill

Camphill (1)[7]
Electorate: 13,073

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	SPL	Francis McGee	4,132	61.87
	Moderates	James McLuskie*	2546	38.13
Majority			1586
Turnout			6678	51.08
	SPL gain from Moderates		Swing

Calton

Calton (1)[7]
Electorate: 13,071

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William D. Hunter*	4,115
	Moderates	Hugh Campbell	1826
	Communist	Joseph D. McMillan	737
Majority			2289
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Cathcart

Cathcart (1)[7]
Electorate: 21,014
Spoiled papers: 81

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	SPL	Angelina Selby	6,333	55.71
	Moderates	James Kenneth Weir*	5035	44.29
Majority			1298	11.42
Turnout			11,368
	SPL gain from Moderates		Swing

Cowcaddens

Cowcaddens (1)[7]
Electorate: 16,086
Spoiled papers: 40

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	William T. Doherty*	5,244
	SPL	Hugh Graham	3253
	Communist	Joseph Gerrard	726
	Ind. Moderate	Joseph Gerrard	651
Majority			1991
Turnout			9874
	Labour hold		Swing

Gorbals

Gorbals (1)[7]
Electorate: 19,313

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	James L. Gillespie*	4,595	57.50
	Communist	Harry McShane	1956	24.48
	Independent Moderate	John M.D. Watson	1440	18.02
Majority			2642	33.06
Turnout			7991	41.38
	Labour hold		Swing

Govan

Govan (1)[7]
Electorate: 15,911

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	John Storrie*	4,457
	SPL	Robert Hayes	2180
	Ind. Labour Party	Alexander J. Archibald	1894
	Independent Moderate	Robert Roxburgh	1507
	Communist	Peter C. B. McIntyre	810
Majority			2277
Turnout			10,848	68.18
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. Davies, Andrew. City of Gangs: Glasgow and the Rise of the British Gangster.
2. Smyth, James J. (2003). "Resisting Labour: Unionists, Liberals, and Moderates in Glasgow between the Wars" (PDF). The Historical Journal. Cambridge University Press: 396. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
3. Gallagher, Tom. Glasgow, the Uneasy Peace: Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819-1914. p. 202.
4. Gallagher, Tom. Glasgow, the Uneasy Peace: Religious Tension in Modern Scotland, 1819-1914. p. 203.
5. Smyth, James J. (2003). "Resisting Labour: Unionists, Liberals, and Moderates in Glasgow between the Wars" (PDF). The Historical Journal. Cambridge University Press: 397. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
6. Stevenson, John; Cook, Chris. The Slump: Britain in the Great Depression. Routledge.
7. "Scottish Municipal Elections". The Glasgow Herald. 8 November 1933.