Rutherglen by-election, 1964

There was a by-election for the constituency of Rutherglen in the United Kingdom House of Commons on 14 May 1964, not long before the 1964 general election.

It was a Labour gain from Conservative, the candidate was Gregor Mackenzie. Unlike some by-election gains it was held at the next general election and eventually became a fairly safe Labour seat, with Mackenzie as its MP until 1987. The defeated Conservative candidate, Iain Sproat, later served as the MP for Aberdeen South. The Scottish National Party decided not to contest the election, even though it was party policy to contest all Scottish by-elections.^[1]

Rutherglen by-election, 1964^[2][3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Gregor Mackenzie	18,885	55.51	+7.58
	Conservative	Iain Sproat	15,138	44.49	-7.58
Majority			3,747	11.01
Turnout			34,023
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

References

1. David McKie and Chris Cook, The decade of disillusion: British politics in the sixties, p.87
2. "Mr G. Mackenzie, the new MP for Rutherglen Lanark", Illustrated London News, May 1964
3. "1964 By Election Results". Archived from the original on 2009-08-31. Retrieved 2015-09-19.