Glasgow Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow Central
Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Glasgow Central in Scotland.
Subdivisions of Scotland	City of Glasgow
Current constituency
Created	2005 (2005)
Member of Parliament	Anas Sarwar (Labour)
Created from	Glasgow Govan Glasgow Kelvin Glasgow Shettleston Glasgow Pollok Glasgow Rutherglen
1885 (1885)–1997 (1997)
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	Burgh constituency
Created from	Glasgow
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Scotland

Glasgow Central is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster). In its current form, the constituency was first used in the general election of 2005, but there was also a Glasgow Central constituency from 1885 to 1997.

Boundaries

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the constituency was to consist of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Twelfth, and Thirteenth Municipal Wards.^[1]

In 1918 the constituency consisted of "That portion of the city which is bounded by a line commencing at a point at the intersection of the centre lines of Parliamentary Road and Castle Street, thence southward along the centre line of Castle Street to the centre line of Alexandra Parade, thence eastward along the centre line of Alexandra Parade to the centre line of Firpark Street, thence southward along the centre line of Firpark Street and Ark Lane to the centre line of Duke Street, thence westward along the centre line of Duke Street to the centre line of Sydney Street, thence southward along the centre line of Sydney Street to the centre line of Gallowgate, thence westward along the centre line of Gallowgate to the centre line of Saltmarket, thence southward along the centre line of Saltmarket and Albert Bridge to the centre line of the River Clyde, thence westward along the centre line of the River Clyde to a point in line with the centre line of McAlpine Street, thence northward along the centre line of McAlpine Street, Pitt Street and Scott Street to the centre line of New City Road, thence south-eastward along the centre line of New City Road and Cowcaddens to the centre line of Buchanan Street, thence southward along the centre line of Buchanan Street to the centre line of Parliamentary Road, thence north-eastward along the centre line of Parliamentary Road to the point of commencement."

Glasgow Central is now one of seven constituencies covering the Glasgow City council area. All are entirely within the council area. Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area was covered by ten constituencies, of which two straddled boundaries with other council areas.

The Central constituency, as defined in 2005, includes parts of the former Glasgow Govan, Glasgow Kelvin, Glasgow Shettleston, Glasgow Pollok and Glasgow Rutherglen constituencies.^[2] Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the names and boundaries of the older Westminster constituencies.

The new Central constituency sits across the River Clyde, and includes the areas of Kelvingrove, Anderston, Merchant City, Calton, Pollokshields, and Govanhill.

Of the seven Glasgow constituencies, Glasgow Central has the largest ethnic minority population, and is currently represented by Anas Sarwar.

Constituency profile

The constituency takes in Glasgow city centre, including Kelvingrove Art Gallery, the main rail stations, Glasgow Cathedral and the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre. All three of Glasgow's universities are here as well, making it supposedly the most educated constituency in Scotland. The large student population is an important factor in elections. The Merchant City is also here, yuppie housing built out of the disused cotton and tobacco warehouses. This area is a symbol of the rebirth of the city, and Glasgow Central is undoubtedly the most affluent constituency in Glasgow, although it also includes more deprived areas, such as Calton.

Members of Parliament

MPs 1885–1997

Election		Member ^[3]	Party
	1885	Gilbert Beith	Liberal
	1886	John George Alexander Baird	Conservative
	1906	Andrew Mitchell Torrance	Liberal
	1909 by-election	Charles Scott Dickson	Conservative
	1915 by-election	John Mackintosh McLeod	Conservative
	1918	Andrew Bonar Law	Unionist
	1923	William Alexander	Unionist
	1945	James Hutchison	Unionist
	1950	James McInnes	Labour
	1966	Thomas McMillan	Labour
	1980 by-election	Robert McTaggart	Labour
	1989 by-election	Mike Watson	Labour
1997		constituency abolished

MPs since 2005

Election		Member ^[3]	Party
	2005	Mohammad Sarwar	Labour
	2010	Anas Sarwar	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

UK general election 2010: Glasgow Central^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anas Sarwar	15,908	52.0	+3.8
	SNP	Osama Saeed	5,357	17.5	+2.7
	Liberal Democrat	Chris Young	5,010	16.4	-1.4
	Conservative	John Bradley	2,158	7.1	+0.8
	Scottish Green	Alastair Whitelaw	800	2.6	-2.3
	BNP	Ian Holt	616	2.0	-0.4
	Scottish Socialist	James Nesbitt	357	1.2	-2.8
	UKIP	Ramsay Urquhart	246	0.8	+0.8
	Pirate	Finlay Archibald	128	0.4	N/A
Majority			10,551	34.5
Turnout			30,572	50.9	+7.0

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mohammad Sarwar	13,518	48.2	-6.5
	Liberal Democrat	Isabel Nelson	4,987	17.8	+8.2
	SNP	Bill Kidd	4,148	14.8	-6.1
	Conservative	Richard Sullivan	1,757	6.3	+0.1
	Scottish Green	Gordon Masterton	1,372	4.9	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Marie Gordon	1110	4.0	-2.5
	BNP	Walter Hamilton	671	2.4	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Ian Johnson	255	0.9	+0.5
	Christian Vote	Thomas Greig	139	0.5	N/A
	Communist	Elinor McKenzie	80	0.3	+0.1
Majority			8,531	30.4
Turnout			28,037	43.8	+4.4
	Labour hold		Swing	-7.3

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1992: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Watson	17,341	57.2	-7.3
	SNP	B. O'Hara	6,322	20.8	+10.9
	Conservative	E. N. Stewart	4,208	13.9	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	A. Rennie	1,921	6.3	-4.2
	Scottish Green	I. F. Brandt	435	1.4	+0.6
	Communist	Tam Dean Burn	106	0.4	-0.4
Majority			11,019	36.3
Turnout			30,333	63.1
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.09

Elections in the 1980s

Glasgow Central by-election, 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Watson	14,480	54.6	-9.9
	SNP	Alex Neil	8,018	30.2	+20.3
	Conservative	A. Hogarth	2,028	7.6	-5.4
	Scottish Green	I. F. Brandt	1,019	3.8	+1.9
	Liberal Democrat	R. McCreadie	411	1.5	-9.0
	Social Democrat	P. Kerr	253	1.0	N/A
	Revolutionary Communist	L. Murdoch	141	0.5	N/A
	Scottish Socialist	Bill Kidd	137	0.5	N/A
	Workers Revolutionary	D. Lettice	48	0.2	N/A
Majority			6,462	24.4	-27.1
Turnout				52.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert McTaggart	21,619	64.5
	Conservative	Bernard Jenkin	4,366	13.0
	Liberal	J. Bryden	3,528	10.5
	SNP	A. Wilson	3,339	10.0
	Green	A. Brooks	290	0.9	N/A
	Communist	J. McGoldrick	265	0.8
	Red Front	D. Owen	126	0.4	N/A
Majority			17,253	51.5
Turnout				65.6
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert McTaggart	17,066	53.0
	Conservative	W. Harvey	6,104	19.0
	Liberal	I. Nelson	5,366	16.7	N/A
	SNP	P. Mallam	3,300	10.3
	Communist	J. McGoldrick	347	1.1
Majority			10,962	34.1
Turnout				62.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Glasgow Central by-election, 1980
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert McTaggart	4,902	60.8	-11.7
	SNP	Gil Paterson	2,122	26.3	+16.2
	Conservative	Anna McCurley	707	8.8	-7.6
	National Front	John MacKenzie	148	1.8	N/A
	Scottish Young Liberal	Graham Watson	134	1.7	N/A
	Ecology	David Mellor	45	0.6	N/A
	Social Democrat (1979)	Donald Kean	10	0.1	N/A
Majority			2,780
Turnout			8,062
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas McMillan	8,542	72.5
	Conservative	F. Saleem	1,937	16.4
	SNP	S. Bird	1,308	11.1
Majority			6,605	56.0
Turnout				59.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas McMillan	9,231	63.6
	SNP	B. Nugent	2,790	19.2
	Conservative	N. Woolfson	1,880	13.0
	Liberal	E. Bennett	605	4.2
Majority			6,441	44.4
Turnout				56.9
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas McMillan	9,400	58.7
	Conservative	M. Gourlay	3,435	21.4
	SNP	S. Ewing	2,790	19.2
	Liberal	A. Brodie	982	6.1	N/A
Majority			5,965	37.2
Turnout				63.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas McMillan	7,936	66.0
	Conservative	G. Rennie	2,394	19.9
	SNP	A. McIntosh	1,688	14.1	N/A
Majority			5,542	46.1
Turnout				59.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas McMillan	11,673	74.8
	Conservative	R. Anderson	3,924	25.2
Majority			7,749	49.7
Turnout				58.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James McInnes	13,343	70.2
	Unionist	G. Boyd	5,679	29.9
Majority			7,664	40.3
Turnout				62.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James McInnes	15,918	64.6
	Unionist	I. Barber-Fleming	8,712	35.4
Majority			7,206	29.3
Turnout				67.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James McInnes	16,674	61.8
	Unionist	I. Barber-Fleming	10,307	38.2
Majority			6,367	23.6
Turnout				62.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James McInnes	15,757	58.2
	Unionist	W. Sinclair	10,875	40.2
	United Socialist Movement	Guy Aldred	411	1.5
Majority			4,882	18.1
Turnout				74.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	James McInnes	14,861	54.6
	Unionist	James Hutchison	11,857	43.6
	United Socialist Movement	Guy Aldred	485	1.8
Majority			3,004	11.0
Turnout				73.6
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General Election 1945: Glasgow Central
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	James Hutchison	9,365	44.0
	Labour	James McInnes	7,849	36.9
	Communist	R. Cooney	2,709	12.7
	Liberal	N. M. Glen	1,072	5.0
	United Socialist Movement	Guy Aldred	300	1.4
Majority			1,516	7.1
Turnout			21,295	59.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1935: Glasgow Central ^[5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Brig Gen Sir William Alexander	16,707	55.9
	Labour	R. R. Stokes	13,186	44.1
Majority			3,521	11.8
Turnout			29,893
	Unionist hold		Swing

General Election 1931: Glasgow Central^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Brig Gen Sir William Alexander KBE CB CMG DSO TD	21,547	65.3
	Labour	William Martin	11,456	34.7
Majority			10,091	30.6
Turnout			33,003
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General Election 1924: Glasgow Central ^[7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Brig Gen Sir William Alexander	18,258
	Labour	J.D. White	12,617

General Election 1923: Glasgow Central ^[8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Brig Gen Sir William Alexander	13,392
	Labour	E.R. Mitchell	12,976
	Liberal	Harold John Tennant	2,870

Elections in the 1910s

General Election 1918: Glasgow Central ^[9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Andrew Bonar Law	17,653
	Labour	D.J.M. Quin	4,736

By-election 15 July 1915: Glasgow Central ^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	John Mackintosh MacLeod	5,341
	Unionist	Gavin William Ralston	266

General Election Dec 1910: Glasgow Central ^[11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon Charles Dickson KC	6,888
	Liberal	Prof. Alexander Falconer Murison LLD	5,907

General Election Jan 1910: Glasgow Central ^[12]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rt Hon Charles Dickson KC	6,713
	Liberal	Prof. Alexander Falconer Murison LLD	6,058

Elections in the 1900s

General Election 1906: Glasgow Central ^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Sir Andrew Mitchell Torrance	6,720	51.7
	Conservative	John George Alexander Baird	6,289	48.3

General Election 1900: Glasgow Central ^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John George Alexander Baird	unopposed

Elections in the 1890s

General Election 1895: Glasgow Central ^[15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John George Alexander Baird	5,621
	Liberal	Edwin Adam	3,792

General Election 1892: Glasgow Central ^[16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John George Alexander Baird	6,085
	Liberal	Walter Menzies	5,245

Elections in the 1880s

General Election 1886: Glasgow Central ^[17]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John George Alexander Baird	5,780
	Liberal	Gilbert Beith	4,423

General Election 1885: Glasgow Central ^[18]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gilbert Beith	5,846
	Conservative	John George Alexander Baird	4,779

Notes and references

^ Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Sixth Schedule
^ Fifth Periodical Review, Boundary Commission for Scotland
^ ^a ^b Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
^ Glasgow Central, UKPollingReport
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
^ Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanac, 1927
^ The Times, 8 December 1923
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889
^ Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1889

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Caernarvon Boroughs	Constituency represented by the Prime Minister 1922–1923	Succeeded by Bewdley

Constituencies in Scotland by Holding Party (59)

Labour (41)	Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Airdrie and Shotts Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock Central Ayrshire Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East Dumfries and Galloway Dundee West Dunfermline and West Fife East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh East Edinburgh North and Leith Edinburgh South Edinburgh South West Falkirk Glasgow Central Glasgow East Glasgow North Glasgow North East Glasgow North West Glasgow South Glasgow South West Glenrothes Inverclyde Kilmarnock and Loudoun Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Lanark and Hamilton East Linlithgow and East Falkirk Livingston Midlothian Motherwell and Wishaw North Ayrshire and Arran Ochil and South Perthshire Paisley and Renfrewshire North Paisley and Renfrewshire South Rutherglen and Hamilton West Stirling West Dunbartonshire

Liberal Democrat (11)	Argyll and Bute Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross East Dunbartonshire Edinburgh West Gordon Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey North East Fife Orkney and Shetland Ross, Skye and Lochaber West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

Scottish National Party (6)	Angus Banff and Buchan Dundee East Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar Perth and North Perthshire

Conservative (1)	Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

Scotland European constituency: Scottish National Party (2) Labour (2) Conservative (1) Liberal Democrat (1)

Westminster constituencies of Scotland

1708 to 1832 1832 to 1868 1868 to 1885 1885 to 1918 1918 to 1950 1950 to 1955 1955 to 1974 1974 to 1983 1983 to 1997 1997 to 2005

Current constituencies (2005 to present)

Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Airdrie & Shotts Angus Argyll & Bute Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Banff & Buchan Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross Central Ayrshire Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East Dumfries & Galloway Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Dundee East Dundee West Dunfermline & West Fife East Dunbartonshire East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow East Lothian East Renfrewshire Edinburgh East Edinburgh North & Leith Edinburgh South Edinburgh South West Edinburgh West Falkirk Glasgow Central Glasgow East Glasgow North Glasgow North East Glasgow North West Glasgow South Glasgow South West Glenrothes Gordon Inverclyde Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey Kilmarnock & Loudoun Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Lanark & Hamilton East Linlithgow & East Falkirk Livingston Midlothian Moray Motherwell & Wishaw Na h-Eileanan an Iar North Ayrshire & Arran North East Fife Ochil & South Perthshire Orkney & Shetland Paisley & Renfrewshire North Paisley & Renfrewshire South Perth & North Perthshire Ross, Skye & Lochaber Rutherglen & Hamilton West Stirling West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine West Dunbartonshire