1987 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

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1987 United Kingdom general election
← 1983 11 June 1987 1992 →
All 72 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
Turnout 75.1%, Increase2.4%
  First party Second party Third party
  150x150px Margaret Thatcher (1983).jpg
75x75px
Leader Neil Kinnock Margaret Thatcher
Party Labour Conservative SDP–Liberal Alliance
Leader since 2 October 1983 11 February 1975
Last election 41 seats, 35.1% 21 seats, 28.4% 8 seats, 24.5%
Seats won 50 10 9
Seat change Increase9 Decrease11 Increase1
Popular vote 1,258,132 713,081 570,053
Percentage 42.4% 24.0% 19.2%
Swing Increase7.3% Decrease4.4% Decrease5.3%
  Fourth party
 
Leader Gordon Wilson
Party SNP
Leader since 15 September 1979
Last election 2
Seats won 3
Seat change Increase1
Popular vote 416,473
Percentage 14.1%
Swing Increase2.3%
United Kingdom General Election 1987 in Scotland.svg
Results of the 1987 election in Scotland

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Main article: 1987 United Kingdom general election

These are the results of the 1987 United Kingdom general election in Scotland. The election was held on Thursday, 11 June 1987 and all 72 seats in Scotland were contested.[1]

MPs

List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1987–1992)

Results

Party Seats Seats
change		 Votes  %  %
change
style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour 50 Increase9 1,258,132 42.4 Increase7.3
style="width: 5px; background-color: #0087DC;" data-sort-value="Conservative Party (UK)" | Conservative 10 Decrease11 713,081 24.0 Decrease4.4
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FFD700;" data-sort-value="SDP–Liberal Alliance" | SDP–Liberal Alliance 9 Increase1 570,053 19.2 Decrease5.3
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FFFF00;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | SNP 3 Increase1 416,473 14.1 Increase2.3
Other 0 Steady 10,069 0.3 Steady
Turnout: 2,967,808 75.1 Increase2.4

Votes summary

Popular vote
Labour
  
 42.4%
Conservative
  
 24.0%
Alliance
  
 19.2%
SNP
 
 14.1%
Other
  
 1.91%
Parliament seats
Labour
  
 69.4%
Conservative
  
 13.8%
Alliance
  
 12.5%
SNP
 
 2.7%

Incumbents defeated

Party Name Constituency Office held whilst in power Year elected Defeated by Party
Conservative Gerry Malone Aberdeen South 1983 Frank Doran style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
The Rt Hon Peter Fraser East Angus Solicitor General for Scotland 1979 Andrew Welsh style="width: 5px; background-color: #FFFF00;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | SNP
John MacKay Argyll and Bute Under-Secretary of State for Scotland 1979 Ray Mitchie style="width: 5px; background-color: #ffd700;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (UK)" | Liberal
Sir Albert McQuarrie Banff and Buchan 1979 Alex Salmond style="width: 5px; background-color: #FFFF00;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | SNP
John Corrie Cunninghame North February 1974 Brian Wilson style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
Alexander MacPherson Fletcher Edinburgh Central 1973 Alistair Darling style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
Barry Henderson North East Fife 1979 Menzies Campbell style="width: 5px; background-color: #ffd700;" data-sort-value="Liberal Party (UK)" | Liberal
Alexander Pollock Moray Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Defence 1979 Margaret Ewing style="width: 5px; background-color: #FFFF00;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | SNP
Anna McCurley Renfrew West and Inverclyde 1983 Tommy Graham style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
Michael Hirst Strathkelvin and Bearsden 1983 Sam Galbraith style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
The Rt Hon Michael Ancram, Earl of Ancram Edinburgh South 1979 Nigel Griffiths style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
SDP The Rt Hon Roy Jenkins Glasgow Hillhead Former Leader of the Social Democratic Party 1982 George Galloway style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FFFF00;" data-sort-value="Scottish National Party" | SNP Gordon Wilson Dundee East Leader of the Scottish National Party February 1974 John McAllion style="width: 5px; background-color: #DC241f;" data-sort-value="Labour Party (UK)" | Labour

Outcome

While the Conservatives under Margaret Thatcher comfortably won a majority across the United Kingdom, the result saw the Conservatives suffer significant losses as their vote share declined significantly in what The Glasgow Herald called "the humiliation of the Tories north of the border." Labour, who as well as gaining seats from the Conservatives also took two from the SNP and one from the SDP, now had more MPs form Scotland than at any other point in the party's history, including holding every seat in Glasgow, while the Conservatives were reduced to their lowest number since the Second World War.[2] Several prominent Scottish Conservative MPs, including Peter Fraser, Sir Alex Fletcher and Michael Ancram lost their seats, while George Younger, then Secretary of State for Defence, only very narrowly held his Ayr constituency after a recount.[2][3] The Conservatives also had close results in Edinburgh West, where James Douglas-Hamilton's majority was reduced to 498 votes, and at Stirling where junior minister Michael Forsyth's majority fell from over 5,000 to 948 votes.[4] The SNP's leader Gordon Wilson and the former leader of the SDP Roy Jenkins, also lost their seats to Labour challengers.[3] Labour also took the Western Isles constituency from the SNP following the retirement of former SNP leader Donald Stewart, with the seat seeing an SNP to Labour swing of 19.6%. The SNP partially compensated for their losses by gaining three seats from the Conservatives, while the Conservatives also lost two seats to the Liberals.[5][6]

In reaction to the poor Conservative performance compared with England, Scottish Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, said "Of course I am disappointed. We have done well in the south, but not se well in Scotland." He noted that the recession had "bitten deeper" in Scotland than in England and that recovery had been slower.[2] The defeated Sir Alex Fletcher stated that "There is no Tory press in Scotland. The papers up here are rather hostile to the Tory Party".[3]

An editorial in The Glasgow Herald the day after the election argued that the results meant that "the case in favour of devolution is automatically strengthened", while also observing that the "patchy showing" by the SNP showed "that there is no general inclination for separatism".[7]

References

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