1937 Glasgow Hillhead by-election


The Glasgow Hillhead by-election of 1937 was held on 10 June 1937. The by-election was held due to the elevation to the peerage of the incumbent Conservative MP, Robert Horne. It was won by the Conservative candidate James Reid. Reid felt that his victory as a good result and said it showed that Glasgow retained confidence in the National Government. He also believed the drop in vote for his party was due to electors being on holiday and unable to return to Glasgow to vote and because on old electoral register was used. The turnout of 56% was the lowest that had yet been seen in Hillhead, being significantly lower than the previous low turnout of 63% set in 1918, while the Independent candidate, David J. Black's vote total was the lowest for any candidate who had contested a parliamentary election in Glasgow up until that point. Black, who styled himself a 'Liberal-Unionist', ran what was described by the Glasgow Herald as an 'unorthodox' campaign that 'was probably the only piquant touch in an otherwise matter-of-fact by-election'.