1982 Glasgow Hillhead by-election

The Glasgow Hillhead by-election was held on 25 March 1982. The by-election was caused by the death of the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead Tam Galbraith on 2 January 1982.

Glasgow Hillhead by-election

25 March 1982
Glasgow Hillhead parliamentary seat
First party Second party   Candidate Roy Jenkins Gerry Malone Party SDP Conservative Popular vote 10,106 8,068 Percentage 33.4% 26.6% Swing New party 14.4%   Third party Fourth party   Candidate David Wiseman George Leslie Party Labour SNP Popular vote 7,846 3,416 Percentage 25.9% 11.3% Swing 8.5% 1.2%
MP before election Tam Galbraith Conservative Subsequent MP Roy Jenkins SDP

Hillhead had been held by the Conservatives at every election since it was created in 1918. Roy Jenkins was chosen as the candidate for the Social Democratic Party. He was one of the "Gang of Four" well known people who started the party in 1981.

Within days of Galbraith's death, The Glasgow Herald predicted that the by-election contest to succeed him would be 'one of the most fiercely contested in Scotland this century'.

Jenkins won with just over one third of the votes cast. Malone, the Conservative took second place, just ahead of Wiseman, the Labour candidate.

After that the SDP had 29 members of parliament, and the party had won three of the four by-elections since it was started one year earlier. Jenkins received "a hero's reception" when he joined David Steel at the Scottish Liberal Party's conference at St Andrews the day after his victory. They argued that the Alliance now needed to take the votes of the SNP, with Steel calling on SNP supporters disillusioned with that party to back the Alliance to win Scottish home rule.

Jenkins won the seat again in the 1983 general election, but lost it at the 1987 general election to Labour's George Galloway.