Compiled by EveryElectionResult.com's data team · Last updated 2026-08-30
Glasgow elected 3 MPs at the 1880 general election: George Anderson (Liberal) and Charles Cameron (Liberal) and Robert Tweedie Middleton (Liberal). This page covers every general election in Glasgow from 1832 to 1880.
This constituency elected more than one MP at once in some years. Before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (and in a shrinking number of boroughs through 1948), most UK constituencies elected two or more MPs together by "multi-member plurality" (block vote): each elector could cast one vote per available seat, and the top vote-getters overall were all elected. In those elections below, "Elected" lists every MP returned, "Votes" is the count that secured the last seat, and "Majority" is the gap between that seat and the first candidate who missed out.
Full Election History, 1832–1880
Election
Elected
Votes
Vote Share
Runner-up
Majority
Turnout
1832
James Ewing (Whig); James Oswald (Whig)
2,838
25.9% (top seat)
Daniel Keyte Sandford (Whig)
670 (5.4 pts)
88.7%
1835
James Oswald (Whig); Colin Dunlop (Radical)
3,267
40.8% (top seat)
James Ewing (Conservative)
970 (10.3 pts)
59.3%
1837
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck (Whig); John Dennistoun (Whig)
2,743
28.5% (top seat)
James Campbell (Conservative)
619 (6.4 pts)
56.0%
1841
James Oswald (Whig); John Dennistoun (Whig)
2,728
33.5% (top seat)
James Campbell (Conservative)
312 (3.8 pts)
50.2%
1847
John MacGregor (Whig); Alexander Hastie (Whig)
2,081
28.0% (top seat)
William Dixon (Whig)
267 (3.4 pts)
40.8%
1852
Alexander Hastie (Whig); John MacGregor (Whig)
3,140
38.3% (top seat)
Peter Blackburn (Peelite)
1,459 (17.4 pts)
27.0%
1857
Walter Buchanan (Whig); Robert Dalglish (Radical)
6,765
37.4% (top seat)
Alexander Hastie (Whig)
1,721 (9.1 pts)
52.1%
1859
Robert Dalglish (Liberal); Walter Buchanan (Liberal)
Elected unopposed — no other candidate stood, no vote count on record
0.0%
1865
Robert Dalglish (Liberal); William Graham (Liberal)
6,713
39.4% (top seat)
John Ramsay (Liberal)
881 (4.2 pts)
61.6%
1868
Robert Dalglish (Liberal); William Graham (Liberal); George Anderson (Liberal)
17,803
28.1% (top seat)
George Campbell (Conservative)
6,983 (10.8 pts)
45.3%
1874
Charles Cameron (Liberal); George Anderson (Liberal); Alexander Whitelaw (Conservative)
14,134
24.6% (top seat)
James Hunter (Conservative)
1,601 (2.1 pts)
46.0%
1880
George Anderson (Liberal); Charles Cameron (Liberal); Robert Tweedie Middleton (Liberal)
23,360
25.6% (top seat)
William Pearce (Conservative)
11,738 (12.5 pts)
53.9%
Full Result Breakdown by Election
1832 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
James Ewing
Whig
3,214
25.9%
Yes
James Oswald
Whig
2,838
22.9%
Yes
Daniel Keyte Sandford
Whig
2,168
17.5%
No
John Crawfurd
Radical
1,850
14.9%
No
John Douglas
Radical
1,340
10.8%
No
Joseph Dixon
Whig
995
8.0%
No
1835 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
James Oswald
Whig
3,832
40.8%
Yes
Colin Dunlop
Radical
3,267
34.8%
Yes
James Ewing
Conservative
2,297
24.4%
No
1837 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck
Whig
2,767
28.5%
Yes
John Dennistoun
Whig
2,743
28.2%
Yes
James Campbell
Conservative
2,124
21.8%
No
Robert Monteith
Conservative
2,090
21.5%
No
1841 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
James Oswald
Whig
2,776
33.5%
Yes
John Dennistoun
Whig
2,728
33.0%
Yes
James Campbell
Conservative
2,416
29.2%
No
George Mills
Chartist
355
4.3%
No
1847 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
John MacGregor
Whig
2,193
28.0%
Yes
Alexander Hastie
Whig
2,081
26.6%
Yes
William Dixon
Whig
1,814
23.2%
No
John Dennistoun
Whig
1,745
22.3%
No
1852 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Alexander Hastie
Whig
3,209
38.3%
Yes
John MacGregor
Whig
3,140
37.5%
Yes
Peter Blackburn
Peelite
1,681
20.1%
No
William Hugh Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound
Whig
354
4.2%
No
1857 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Walter Buchanan
Whig
7,060
37.4%
Yes
Robert Dalglish
Radical
6,765
35.9%
Yes
Alexander Hastie
Whig
5,044
26.7%
No
1859 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Robert Dalglish
Liberal
Unopposed
Yes
Walter Buchanan
Liberal
Unopposed
Yes
1865 (2 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Robert Dalglish
Liberal
8,171
39.4%
Yes
William Graham
Liberal
6,713
32.4%
Yes
John Ramsay
Liberal
5,832
28.2%
No
1868 (3 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Robert Dalglish
Liberal
18,287
28.1%
Yes
William Graham
Liberal
18,062
27.8%
Yes
George Anderson
Liberal
17,803
27.4%
Yes
George Campbell
Conservative
10,820
16.7%
No
1874 (3 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
Charles Cameron
Liberal
18,455
24.6%
Yes
George Anderson
Liberal
17,902
23.8%
Yes
Alexander Whitelaw
Conservative
14,134
18.8%
Yes
James Hunter
Conservative
12,533
16.7%
No
Alexander Crum
Liberal
7,453
9.9%
No
Francis Ernest Kerr
Liberal
4,444
5.9%
No
Joseph Cheney Bolton
Liberal
169
0.2%
No
1880 (3 seats)
Candidate
Party
Votes
Share
Elected
George Anderson
Liberal
24,016
25.6%
Yes
Charles Cameron
Liberal
23,658
25.2%
Yes
Robert Tweedie Middleton
Liberal
23,360
24.9%
Yes
William Pearce
Conservative
11,622
12.4%
No
James Bain
Conservative
11,071
11.8%
No
Margin Over Time
Winning margin (percentage points) at each election, coloured by the winning party.
Trend
Glasgow has been contested at 12 general elections on record since 1832. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Whig, Radical, Liberal, Conservative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won Glasgow in the 1880 general election?
George Anderson (Liberal), Charles Cameron (Liberal), Robert Tweedie Middleton (Liberal) won Glasgow in 1880.
Which parties have won Glasgow since 1832?
Since 1832, Glasgow has been won by: Conservative, Liberal, Radical, Whig.
What was the closest result in Glasgow?
The closest result on record for Glasgow was 1874, when Liberal beat Conservative by just 1,601 votes (2.1 percentage points).
Did Glasgow ever elect more than one MP at a time?
Yes -- like most UK constituencies before the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Glasgow elected multiple MPs at once in some elections on this page (a system called multi-member plurality, or 'block vote'), each voter casting one vote per available seat.