1997 Paisley South by-election
1997 UK Parliamentary by-election
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A by-election for the United Kingdom parliamentary constituency of Paisley South was held on 6 November 1997 following the death of incumbent Member of Parliament (MP) Gordon McMaster of the Labour Party. It was won by Douglas Alexander, who retained the seat for Labour despite a swing of 11% to the Scottish National Party.
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6 November 1997
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Background
Gordon McMaster, the incumbent MP for the constituency, committed suicide in the garage of his home in Johnstone on 28 July 1997, at the age of 37.[1] He had been robbed in London shortly before his death. His suicide note named neighbouring MP Tommy Graham as being responsible for smearing him over an alleged homosexual relationship with Graham's employee, 17-year-old Scott Anderson. As the legal age of consent was 18 at that time, McMaster would have been accused of statutory rape. Graham denied being behind the leak, however was subsequently expelled from the Labour Party.[2]
Result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Douglas Alexander | 10,346 | 44.1 | −13.4 | |
| SNP | Ian Blackford | 7,615 | 32.5 | +9.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 2,582 | 11.0 | +1.6 | |
| Conservative | Sheila Laidlaw | 1,643 | 7.0 | −1.6 | |
| ProLife Alliance | John Deighan | 578 | 2.5 | New | |
| Scottish Socialist | Frances Curran | 306 | 1.3 | +0.9 | |
| Independent | C. McLauchlan | 155 | 0.7 | New | |
| Socialist Labour | Christopher Herriot | 153 | 0.7 | New | |
| Natural Law | Kenneth Blair | 57 | 0.2 | New | |
| Majority | 2,731 | 11.7 | −22.4 | ||
| Turnout | 23,435 | 42.9 | −26.2 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -11.3 | |||
1997 general election result
| General Election 1997: Paisley South | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Gordon McMaster | 21,482 | 57.5 | +6.8 | |
| SNP | William Martin | 8,732 | 23.4 | −0.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 3,500 | 9.4 | +0.3 | |
| Conservative | Robin Reid | 3,237 | 8.6 | −7.3 | |
| Referendum | James Lardner | 254 | 0.7 | New | |
| Scottish Socialist | Sean Clerkin | 146 | 0.4 | New | |
| Majority | 12,750 | 34.1 | +7.5 | ||
| Turnout | 37,351 | 69.1 | −5.9 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
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