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Motherwell — UK General Election Results

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

Motherwell was won by Labour at the 1970 general election, with a majority of 8,174 votes over Conservative. This page covers every general election in Motherwell from 1918 to 1970.

Full Election History, 1918–1970

Election Elected Votes Vote Share Runner-up Majority Turnout
1918 Robert Frederick William Robertson Nelson (Unionist) 6,972 39.1% James Duncan Millar (Liberal) 2,155 (12.1 pts) 64.2%
1922 John Turner Walton Newbold (Communist) 8,262 33.3% Hugh Ferguson (Independent Unionist) 1,048 (4.2 pts) 81.5%
1923 Hugh Ferguson (Unionist) 9,793 42.0% John Turner Walton Newbold (Communist) 1,081 (4.6 pts) 77.4%
1924 James Barr (Labour) 12,816 52.1% Hugh Ferguson (Unionist) 1,040 (4.2 pts) 82.3%
1929 James Barr (Labour) 16,650 57.9% John Ford (Unionist) 9,148 (31.8 pts) 79.6%
1931 Thomas Ormiston (Unionist) 15,513 51.3% James Barr (Labour) 799 (2.6 pts) 82.4%
1935 James Walker (Labour) 14,755 50.7% Thomas Ormiston (Unionist) 430 (1.5 pts) 75.9%
1945 Alexander Anderson (Labour) 15,831 52.7% Robert Douglas McIntyre (SNP) 7,809 (26.0 pts) 72.8%
1950 Alexander Anderson (Labour) 22,608 54.2% Alexander Duff Robertson (Unionist) 8,425 (20.2 pts) 84.5%
1951 Alexander Anderson (Labour) 23,641 57.3% Norman Sloan (Conservative) 5,991 (14.5 pts) 84.7%
1955 George McArthur Lawson (Labour) 20,147 53.9% Michael Clark Hutchison (Unionist) 2,885 (7.7 pts) 76.5%
1959 George McArthur Lawson (Labour) 22,009 53.7% Bernard Brogan (Unionist) 4,396 (10.7 pts) 81.1%
1964 George Lawson (Labour) 23,281 58.7% John Joseph Young (Unionist) 8,492 (21.4 pts) 78.9%
1966 George Lawson (Labour) 22,658 60.8% John Young (Conservative) 9,558 (25.7 pts) 74.7%
1970 George Lawson (Labour) 20,683 53.2% Gertrude Susan Bell (Conservative) 8,174 (21.0 pts) 73.7%

Full Result Breakdown by Election

1918

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Robert Frederick William Robertson Nelson Unionist 6,97239.1% Yes
James Duncan Millar Liberal 4,81727.0% No
John Turner Walton Newbold Labour 4,13523.2% No
Hugh Ferguson Independent Unionist 1,92310.8% No

1922

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
John Turner Walton Newbold Communist 8,26233.3% Yes
Hugh Ferguson Independent Unionist 7,21429.1% No
John Maxwell Liberal 5,35921.6% No
David John Colville National Liberal 3,96616.0% No

1923

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Hugh Ferguson Unionist 9,79342.0% Yes
John Turner Walton Newbold Communist 8,71237.4% No
John Maxwell Liberal 4,79920.6% No

1924

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Barr Labour 12,81652.1% Yes
Hugh Ferguson Unionist 11,77647.9% No

1929

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Barr Labour 16,65057.9% Yes
John Ford Unionist 7,50226.1% No
Henry Archibald Liberal 3,59712.5% No
Isabel Brown Communist 9843.4% No

1931

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Thomas Ormiston Unionist 15,51351.3% Yes
James Barr Labour 14,71448.7% No

1935

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
James Walker Labour 14,75550.7% Yes
Thomas Ormiston Unionist 14,32549.3% No

1945

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Alexander Anderson Labour 15,83152.7% Yes
Robert Douglas McIntyre SNP 8,02226.7% No
John Dhenin Hamilton Unionist 6,19720.6% No

1950

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Alexander Anderson Labour 22,60854.2% Yes
Alexander Duff Robertson Unionist 14,18334.0% No
Robert Douglas McIntyre SNP 3,8929.3% No
Robert Brandon Henderson Communist 1,0072.4% No

1951

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
Alexander Anderson Labour 23,64157.3% Yes
Norman Sloan Conservative 17,65042.7% No

1955

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
George McArthur Lawson Labour 20,14753.9% Yes
Michael Clark Hutchison Unionist 17,26246.1% No

1959

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
George McArthur Lawson Labour 22,00953.7% Yes
Bernard Brogan Unionist 17,61343.0% No
David Murray Independent 1,3313.3% No

1964

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
George Lawson Labour 23,28158.7% Yes
John Joseph Young Unionist 14,78937.3% No
James Sneddon Communist 1,5653.9% No

1966

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
George Lawson Labour 22,65860.8% Yes
John Young Conservative 13,10035.2% No
James Sneddon Communist 1,5084.0% No

1970

CandidatePartyVotesShareElected
George Lawson Labour 20,68353.2% Yes
Gertrude Susan Bell Conservative 12,50932.2% No
Isobel Lindsay SNP 3,8619.9% No
James Sneddon Communist 1,8294.7% No

Margin Over Time

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

1918: Unionist margin 12.1 pts 1922: Communist margin 4.2 pts 1923: Unionist margin 4.6 pts 1924: Labour margin 4.2 pts 1929: Labour margin 31.8 pts 1931: Unionist margin 2.6 pts 1935: Labour margin 1.5 pts 1945: Labour margin 26.0 pts 1950: Labour margin 20.2 pts 1951: Labour margin 14.5 pts 1955: Labour margin 7.7 pts 1959: Labour margin 10.7 pts 1964: Labour margin 21.4 pts 1966: Labour margin 25.7 pts 1970: Labour margin 21.0 pts 1918 1922 1923 1924 1929 1931 1935 1945 1950 1951 1955 1959 1964 1966 1970

Trend

Motherwell has been contested at 15 general elections on record since 1918. Parties that have won a seat here over that span: Unionist, Communist, Labour.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who won Motherwell in the 1970 general election?

Labour won Motherwell in 1970 with 20,683 votes (53.2%), a majority of 8,174 votes over Conservative in second place.

Which parties have won Motherwell since 1918?

Since 1918, Motherwell has been won by: Communist, Labour, Unionist.

What was the closest result in Motherwell?

The closest result on record for Motherwell was 1935, when Labour beat Unionist by just 430 votes (1.5 percentage points).

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