On Thursday 1 May 1997, the 1997 United Kingdom general election was held in Scotland, to elect all 659 members of the House of Commons, with 72 constituencies being in Scotland. This would be the last UK general election to be contested in Scotland before the Scottish Parliament was established on 1 July 1999 following overwhelming public approval in a referendum.
The eleventh consecutive victory for Scottish Labour, this election gained notoriety for the fact that the Conservatives, led by then Prime Minister John Major, lost every single Scottish seat they had previously held, leaving no Conservative MPs from Scotland for the first time in British history.
Candidates
Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1997 general election in Scotland.
Outcome
The election saw the Conservatives lose every seat that they held in Scotland, although the party were third in terms of vote share (winning 17.5% of votes cast in Scotland). By contrast the Liberal Democrats won 13% of votes cast, but won ten seats, a net gain of one on the previous election. The SNP finished second in terms of vote share with 22%, but only won six seats. Labour won 45.6% of the vote and 56 seats, a net gain of seven on 1992. The defeated Conservative included three cabinet ministers: the Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Forsyth lost Stirling to Labour, the Foreign Secretary Malcolm Rifkind lost Edinburgh Pentlands, also to Labour, while Ian Lang, President of the Board of Trade, lost Galloway and Upper Nithsdale to the SNP.
Results
Below is a table summarising the results of the 1997 general election in Scotland.