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Bothwell — UK General Election Results

Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30

Bothwell was won by Labour at the 1979 general election, with a majority of 15,217 votes over Conservative. This page covers every general election in Bothwell from 1918 to 1979.

Full Election History, 1918–1979

Election Elected Votes Vote Share Runner-up Majority Turnout
1918 David Henderson MacDonald (Unionist) 9,359 50.9% John Robertson (Labour) 332 (1.8 pts) 69.2%
1922 John Robertson (Labour) 13,872 57.0% Peter Denniston Ridge-Beedle (Unionist) 3,388 (13.9 pts) 78.2%
1923 John Robertson (Labour) 14,211 60.1% Peter Denniston Ridge-Beedle (Unionist) 6,642 (28.1 pts) 73.1%
1924 John Robertson (Labour) 14,591 56.3% Helen Brown Shaw (Unionist) 3,277 (12.7 pts) 79.3%
1929 Joseph Sullivan (Labour) 17,006 55.3% Helen Brown Shaw (Unionist) 4,929 (16.0 pts) 72.7%
1931 Helen Brown Shaw (Unionist) 16,571 50.0% Joseph Sullivan (Labour) 2,148 (6.5 pts) 77.7%
1935 James Welsh (Labour) 20,900 60.3% Helen Brown Shaw (Unionist) 7,139 (20.6 pts) 78.6%
1945 John Timmons (Labour) 25,369 65.8% Helen Brown Shaw (Unionist) 12,162 (31.5 pts) 73.0%
1950 John Timmons (Labour) 25,715 56.7% Norman Cadzow (Unionist) 6,110 (13.5 pts) 84.5%
1951 John Timmons (Labour) 26,529 56.3% Norman Cadzow (Unionist) 5,938 (12.6 pts) 86.0%
1955 John Timmons (Labour) 23,365 54.2% William Graham Greig (Unionist) 3,610 (8.4 pts) 78.9%
1959 John Timmons (Labour) 25,119 54.7% William Graham Greig (Unionist) 4,352 (9.5 pts) 82.2%
1964 James Hamilton (Labour) 27,556 60.4% James Brown Highgate (Conservative) 9,488 (20.8 pts) 80.4%
1966 James Hamilton (Labour) 27,166 60.9% James Brown Highgate (Conservative) 10,968 (24.6 pts) 77.8%
1970 James Hamilton (Labour) 26,431 54.7% James Brown Highgate (Conservative) 10,711 (22.2 pts) 75.5%
Feb 1974 James Hamilton (Labour) 22,326 46.8% David McAllister (Conservative) 9,601 (20.1 pts) 81.2%
Oct 1974 James Hamilton (Labour) 22,086 48.6% John McCool (SNP) 10,948 (24.1 pts) 76.5%
1979 James Hamilton (Labour) 26,492 55.0% James Scott (Conservative) 15,217 (31.6 pts) 78.6%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1918

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
David Henderson MacDonald Unionist 9,35950.9% Yes
John Robertson Labour 9,02749.1% No

1922

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Robertson Labour 13,87257.0% Yes
Peter Denniston Ridge-Beedle Unionist 10,48443.0% No

1923

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Robertson Labour 14,21160.1% Yes
Peter Denniston Ridge-Beedle Unionist 7,56932.0% No
John Dick Scott Liberal 1,8467.8% No

1924

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Robertson Labour 14,59156.3% Yes
Helen Brown Shaw Unionist 11,31443.7% No

1929

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Joseph Sullivan Labour 17,00655.3% Yes
Helen Brown Shaw Unionist 12,07739.3% No
Helen Crawfurd Communist 1,6775.5% No

1931

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Helen Brown Shaw Unionist 16,57150.0% Yes
Joseph Sullivan Labour 14,42343.5% No
Bernard McCourt Communist 2,1636.5% No

1935

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Welsh Labour 20,90060.3% Yes
Helen Brown Shaw Unionist 13,76139.7% No

1945

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Timmons Labour 25,36965.8% Yes
Helen Brown Shaw Unionist 13,20734.2% No

1950

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Timmons Labour 25,71556.7% Yes
Norman Cadzow Unionist 19,60543.3% No

1951

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Timmons Labour 26,52956.3% Yes
Norman Cadzow Unionist 20,59143.7% No

1955

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Timmons Labour 23,36554.2% Yes
William Graham Greig Unionist 19,75545.8% No

1959

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Timmons Labour 25,11954.7% Yes
William Graham Greig Unionist 20,76745.3% No

1964

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Hamilton Labour 27,55660.4% Yes
James Brown Highgate Conservative 18,06839.6% No

1966

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Hamilton Labour 27,16660.9% Yes
James Brown Highgate Conservative 16,19836.3% No
Woods, Thomas Communist 1,2092.7% No

1970

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Hamilton Labour 26,43154.7% Yes
James Brown Highgate Conservative 15,72032.5% No
Tom McAlpine SNP 6,15712.7% No

Feb 1974

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Hamilton Labour 22,32646.8% Yes
David McAllister Conservative 12,72526.7% No
Gerald Fisher SNP 6,71014.1% No
James Park Liberal 5,36211.2% No
David Bolton Communist 5621.2% No

Oct 1974

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Hamilton Labour 22,08648.6% Yes
John McCool SNP 11,13824.5% No
David Roser Conservative 8,12517.9% No
Terry Grieve Liberal 4,0578.9% No

1979

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Hamilton Labour 26,49255.0% Yes
James Scott Conservative 11,27523.4% No
Terry Grieve Liberal 5,22510.8% No
John McCool SNP 5,20210.8% No

Margin Over Time

Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.

1918: Unionist margin 1.8 pts 1922: Labour margin 13.9 pts 1923: Labour margin 28.1 pts 1924: Labour margin 12.7 pts 1929: Labour margin 16.0 pts 1931: Unionist margin 6.5 pts 1935: Labour margin 20.6 pts 1945: Labour margin 31.5 pts 1950: Labour margin 13.5 pts 1951: Labour margin 12.6 pts 1955: Labour margin 8.4 pts 1959: Labour margin 9.5 pts 1964: Labour margin 20.8 pts 1966: Labour margin 24.6 pts 1970: Labour margin 22.2 pts Feb 1974: Labour margin 20.1 pts Oct 1974: Labour margin 24.1 pts 1979: Labour margin 31.6 pts 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970 Feb 1974 Oct 1974 1979

Trend

Bothwell has been contested at 18 general elections on record since 1918. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Unionist, Labour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Bothwell in the 1979 general election?

Labour won Bothwell in 1979 with 26,492 votes (55.0%), a majority of 15,217 votes over Conservative in second place.

Which parties have won Bothwell since 1918?

Since 1918, Bothwell has been won by: Labour, Unionist.

What was the closest result in Bothwell?

The closest result on record for Bothwell was 1918, when Unionist beat Labour by just 332 votes (1.8 percentage points).

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