# Hamilton (UK Parliament constituency)

Hamilton was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

## History

The constituency was formed by the division of Lanarkshire constituency. The constituency was split in 1997 to form Hamilton North & Bellshill and Hamilton South.

## Boundaries

From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The burgh of Hamilton and the part of the Middle Ward County District which is contained within the extraburghal portion of the parish of Hamilton and the parish of Dalserf."

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party | Notes |
| | 1918 | Duncan Graham | Labour | died 1942 |
| | 1943 by-election | Tom Fraser | Labour | resigned 1967 |
| | 1967 by-election | Winnie Ewing | SNP |
| | 1970 | Alex Wilson | Labour | died 1978 |
| | 1978 by-election | George Robertson | Labour |
| 1997 | 1997 | constituency abolished: see Hamilton North and Bellshill & Hamilton South | constituency abolished: see Hamilton North and Bellshill & Hamilton South | constituency abolished: see Hamilton North and Bellshill & Hamilton South |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 6,988 | 42.1 | |
| C | Unionist | Henry Keith | 4,819 | 29.0 | |
| | National Democratic | David Gilmour | 4,297 | 25.9 | |
| | Independent Liberal | J. Howard Whitehouse | 504 | 3.0 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,169 | 13.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,608 | 66.4 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 12,365 | 57.6 | +15.5 |
| | Unionist | Henry Keith | 9,089 | 42.4 | +13.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,276 | 15.2 | +2.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,454 | 78.3 | +11.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 27,385 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.1 | |
General election 1923: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 11,858 | 58.4 | +0.8 |
| | Liberal | Helen Fraser | 8,436 | 41.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,422 | 16.8 | +1.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,294 | 73.5 | −4.8 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 27,617 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1924: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 13,003 | 60.8 | +2.4 |
| | Unionist | Andrew Dewar Gibb | 8,372 | 39.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,631 | 21.6 | +4.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,375 | 76.5 | +3.0 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 27,930 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1929: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 16,595 | 67.1 | +6.3 |
| | Unionist | Robert McLellan | 7,752 | 31.3 | −7.9 |
| | Communist | Frank Moore | 395 | 1.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,843 | 35.8 | +14.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,742 | 72.2 | −4.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 34,248 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +7.1 | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 14,233 | 53.89 |
| | Unionist | Robert Calver | 12,180 | 46.11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,053 | 7.78 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,413 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1935: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Duncan Graham | 17,049 | 65.74 |
| | Unionist | Robert Calver | 8,884 | 34.26 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,165 | 31.48 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,933 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1940s

1943 Hamilton by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 10,725 | 81.08 | |
| | Independent | James Letham | 2,503 | 18.92 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,222 | 72.16 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,228 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1945: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 20,015 | 73.47 |
| | Unionist | John Ursel Baillie | 7,226 | 26.53 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,789 | 46.94 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,241 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 29,292 | 70.00 |
| | Unionist | Robert C M Monteith | 12,555 | 30.00 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,737 | 40.00 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,847 | 81.66 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1951: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 28,591 | 68.72 |
| | Unionist | Robert C M Monteith | 13,015 | 31.28 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,576 | 37.44 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,606 | 80.62 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1955: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 26,187 | 67.41 |
| | Unionist | Geoffrey L Dalzell-Payne | 12,661 | 32.59 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 13,526 | 34.82 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,848 | 76.07 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1959: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 27,423 | 66.05 | |
| | Unionist | Geoffrey L Dalzell-Payne | 11,510 | 27.72 | |
| | SNP | David Robert Rollo | 2,586 | 6.23 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,913 | 38.33 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,519 | 79.85 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 28,964 | 71.04 |
| | Unionist | Iain Docherty | 11,806 | 28.96 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 17,158 | 42.08 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,770 | 77.53 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
General election 1966: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Labour | Tom Fraser | 27,865 | 71.17 |
| | Conservative | Iain J A Dyer | 11,289 | 28.83 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,576 | 42.34 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,154 | 73.33 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | |
By-election 1967: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Winnie Ewing | 18,397 | 46.01 | New |
| | Labour | Alexander Wilson | 16,598 | 41.51 | −29.66 |
| | Conservative | Iain J A Dyer | 4,986 | 12.47 | −16.36 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,799 | 4.50 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,981 | | |
| | SNP gain from Labour | SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +37.9 | |

### Elections of the 1970s

General election 1970: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alexander Wilson | 25,431 | 53.0 | −18.2 |
| | SNP | Winnie Ewing | 16,849 | 35.1 | N/A |
| | Conservative | John Ross Harper | 5,455 | 11.4 | −17.4 |
| | Independent Scottish Liberal | Harry Charles Taylor | 295 | 0.6 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,582 | 17.9 | −24.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,030 | 79.6 | +6.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election February 1974: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alexander Wilson | 19,070 | 48.0 | −5.0 |
| | SNP | Ian Macdonald | 12,692 | 31.9 | −3.2 |
| | Conservative | James Douglas-Hamilton | 7,977 | 20.1 | +8.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,378 | 16.1 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,739 | 79.7 | +0.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election October 1974: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alexander Wilson | 18,487 | 47.6 | −0.4 |
| | SNP | Ian Macdonald | 15,155 | 39.0 | +7.1 |
| | Conservative | Gerald Warner | 3,682 | 9.5 | −10.6 |
| | Liberal | John Calder | 1,559 | 4.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,332 | 8.6 | −7.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,883 | 77.2 | −2.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
By-election 1978: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Robertson | 18,880 | 51.0 | +3.4 |
| | SNP | Margo MacDonald | 12,388 | 33.4 | −5.6 |
| | Conservative | Alexander Scrymgeour | 4,818 | 13.0 | +3.5 |
| | Liberal | Fred McDermid | 949 | 2.6 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,492 | 17.6 | +9.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,035 | 37.0 | −40.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.5 | |
General election 1979: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Robertson | 24,593 | 59.7 | +12.1 |
| | Conservative | Peter Davidson | 9,794 | 23.8 | +14.3 |
| | SNP | Charles Stoddart | 6,842 | 16.6 | −22.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,799 | 35.9 | +27.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,229 | 79.6 | +2.4 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections of the 1980s

General election 1983: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Robertson | 24,384 | 52.4 | −8.4 |
| | Liberal | Stewart Donaldson | 9,635 | 20.2 | New |
| | Conservative | Margaret Scott | 8,940 | 19.2 | −5.2 |
| | SNP | Mairi Whitehead | 3,816 | 8.2 | −6.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,749 | 32.2 | −3.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,775 | 75.7 | +0.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1987: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Robertson | 28,563 | 59.7 | +7.3 |
| | Conservative | Gary Mond | 6,901 | 14.4 | −4.8 |
| | Liberal | Timothy McKay | 6,302 | 13.2 | −7.0 |
| | SNP | Christopher Crossley | 6,093 | 12.7 | +4.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 21,662 | 45.3 | +13.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 48,859 | 76.9 | +1.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +8.0 | |

### Elections of the 1990s

General election 1992: Hamilton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Robertson | 25,849 | 55.2 | −4.5 |
| | SNP | Bill Morrison | 9,246 | 19.7 | +7.0 |
| | Conservative | Margaret Mitchell | 8,250 | 17.6 | +3.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Oswald | 3,515 | 7.5 | −5.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,603 | 35.5 | −8.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,860 | 76.2 | −0.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |