# Motherwell (UK Parliament constituency)

Motherwell was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1974. It was formed by the division of Lanarkshire. The name was changed in 1974 to Motherwell and Wishaw. It is famous for returning the first-ever SNP MP (Robert McIntyre in 1945) and arguably the first Communist Party MP (Walton Newbold in 1922).

## Boundaries

From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The burghs of Motherwell and Wishaw, together with the part of the Middle Ward County District which is contained within the extraburghal portion of the parish of Dalziel."

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1918 | Robert Nelson | Unionist |
| | 1922 | Walton Newbold | Communist |
| | 1923 | Hugh Ferguson | Unionist |
| | 1924 | James Barr | Labour |
| | 1931 | Thomas Ormiston | Unionist |
| | 1935 | James Walker | Labour |
| | 1945 by-election | Robert McIntyre | SNP |
| | 1945 | Alexander Anderson | Labour |
| | 1954 by-election | George Lawson | Labour |
| 1974, Feb. | 1974, Feb. | constituency renamed: see Motherwell and Wishaw | constituency renamed: see Motherwell and Wishaw |

## Election results
### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Lawson | 20,683 | 53.2 | −7.6 |
| | Conservative | S. Bell | 12,509 | 32.2 | −3.0 |
| | SNP | Isobel Lindsay | 3,861 | 9.9 | New |
| | Communist | James Sneddon | 1,829 | 4.7 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,174 | 21.0 | −4.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,882 | 73.5 | −0.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Lawson | 22,658 | 60.8 | +2.1 |
| | Conservative | John Joseph Young | 13,100 | 35.2 | −2.1 |
| | Communist | James Sneddon | 1,508 | 4.1 | +0.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,558 | 25.6 | +4.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,266 | 74.4 | −4.5 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1964: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Lawson | 23,281 | 58.7 | +5.0 |
| | Unionist | John Joseph Young | 14,789 | 37.3 | −5.7 |
| | Communist | James Sneddon | 1,565 | 4.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,492 | 21.4 | +10.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,635 | 78.9 | −2.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Lawson | 22,009 | 53.7 | −0.2 |
| | Unionist | Bernard Brogan | 17,613 | 43.0 | −3.1 |
| | Independent | David Murray | 1,331 | 3.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,396 | 10.7 | +2.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,953 | 81.1 | +4.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1955: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Lawson | 20,147 | 53.9 | −3.4 |
| | Unionist | Michael Hutchison | 17,262 | 46.1 | +3.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,885 | 7.8 | −6.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,409 | 76.5 | −8.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
1954 Motherwell by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | George Lawson | 19,163 | 56.4 | −0.9 |
| | National Liberal | Norman A Sloan | 13,334 | 39.3 | −3.5 |
| | Communist | John Gollan | 1,457 | 4.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,829 | 17.1 | +2.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,954 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1951: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alexander Anderson | 23,641 | 57.3 | +3.1 |
| | National Liberal | Norman A Sloan | 17,650 | 42.8 | +8.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,991 | 14.5 | −2.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,291 | 84.7 | +0.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1950: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alexander Anderson | 22,608 | 54.2 | +1.5 |
| | National Liberal | A. Robertson | 14,183 | 34.0 | +13.4 |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 3,892 | 9.3 | −17.4 |
| | Communist | R. Henderson | 1,007 | 2.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,425 | 20.2 | −5.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,690 | 84.5 | +11.7 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alexander Anderson | 15,831 | 52.7 | +2.0 |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 8,022 | 26.7 | N/A |
| | Unionist | J. H. Hamilton | 6,197 | 20.6 | −28.7 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,809 | 26.0 | +24.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,050 | 72.8 | −3.1 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
1945 Motherwell by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Robert McIntyre | 11,417 | 51.4 | New |
| | Labour | Alexander Anderson | 10,800 | 48.6 | −1.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 617 | 2.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,217 | 54.0 | −21.9 |
| | SNP gain from Labour | SNP gain from Labour | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Walker | 14,755 | 50.7 | +2.0 |
| | Unionist | Thomas Ormiston | 14,325 | 49.3 | −2.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 430 | 1.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,080 | 75.9 | −6.5 |
| | Labour gain from Unionist | Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | | |
General election 1931: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Thomas Ormiston | 15,513 | 51.3 | +25.2 |
| | Labour | James Barr | 14,714 | 48.7 | −9.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 799 | 2.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,227 | 82.4 | +2.8 |
| | Unionist gain from Labour | Unionist gain from Labour | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Barr | 16,650 | 58.0 | +5.9 |
| | Unionist | John Ford | 7,502 | 26.1 | −21.8 |
| | Liberal | Henry Archibald | 3,597 | 12.5 | New |
| | Communist | Isabel Brown | 984 | 3.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,148 | 31.9 | +27.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,733 | 79.6 | −2.7 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 36,094 | | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +13.9 | |
General election 1924: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Barr | 12,816 | 52.1 | New |
| | Unionist | Hugh Ferguson | 11,776 | 47.9 | +5.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,040 | 4.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,592 | 82.3 | +4.9 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 29,871 | | |
| | Labour gain from Unionist | Labour gain from Unionist | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1923: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Unionist | Hugh Ferguson | 9,793 | 42.0 | +12.9 |
| | Communist | Walton Newbold | 8,712 | 37.4 | +4.1 |
| | Liberal | John Maxwell | 4,799 | 20.6 | −1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,081 | 4.6 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,304 | 77.4 | −4.1 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 30,109 | | |
| | Unionist gain from Communist | Unionist gain from Communist | Swing | N/A | |
General election 1922: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Communist | Walton Newbold | 8,262 | 33.3 | +10.1 |
| | Ind. Unionist | Hugh Ferguson* | 7,214 | 29.1 | +18.3 |
| | Liberal | John Maxwell | 5,359 | 21.6 | −5.4 |
| | National Liberal | John Colville | 3,966 | 16.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,048 | 10.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,801 | 81.5 | +17.3 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 30,443 | | |
| | Communist gain from Unionist | Communist gain from Unionist | Swing | N/A | |
* Ferguson was associated with the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland movement in Lanarkshire.

### Elections in the 1910s

General election 1918: Motherwell :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| C | Unionist | Robert Nelson | 6,972 | 39.0 | |
| | Liberal | James Duncan Millar | 4,817 | 27.0 | |
| | Labour | Walton Newbold | 4,135 | 23.2 | |
| | Ind. Unionist | Hugh Ferguson* | 1,923 | 10.8 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,155 | 12.0 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 17,847 | 64.2 | |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 27,816 | | |
| | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) | Unionist win (new seat) |
| C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government. ||||||
* Ferguson was associated with the Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland movement in Lanarkshire.