1950 West Dunbartonshire by-election

The 1950 West Dunbartonshire by-election of 25 April 1950 was held after the death of Labour MP Adam McKinlay on 17 March 1950.

The seat was marginal, having been won in 1950 by only 613 votes,^[1] and remained so following the by-election, with Tom Steele holding the seat for Labour by 293 votes.

Result of the previous general election

General election 1950: West Dunbartonshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Adam McKinlay	20,398	49.29
	Conservative	R.A. Allan	19,785	47.81
	Communist	F. Hart	1,198	2.90
Majority			613	1.48
Turnout			41,381	85.46
	Labour win (new seat)

Result of the by-election

By-election 1950: West Dunbartonshire^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Steele	20,367	50.36	+1.07
	Conservative	R.A. Allan	20,074	49.64	+1.83
Majority			293	0.72	−0.76
Turnout			40,441
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.38

The Glasgow Herald said that while Labour had retained the seat, the party could "take little credit from a victory which was expected to be more pronounced with the aid of the new register and the Loch Sloy vote."^[3]

References

1. [1] Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine PoliticsResources.net
2. "1950 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
3. "Reprieve". The Glasgow Herald. 27 April 1950. p. 4. Retrieved 22 May 2020.