Glasgow Bridgeton by-election, 1946

The Glasgow Bridgeton by-election was held on 29 August 1946, following the death of Independent Labour Party (ILP) Member of Parliament for Glasgow Bridgeton, James Maxton.

The constituency had been held by Maxton since the 1922 general election. Until 1931, he had contested the seat as a member of the Labour Party, and although the two parties had then split, Maxton had not had to contest his seat against a Labour candidate. Maxton also had a considerable personal vote as the most prominent member of the ILP.

The ILP had been in a gradual decline since leaving the Labour Party, and the death of Maxton opened the potential of a rupture in the ILP, many members of which were keen to rejoin Labour. The ILP had only two other Members of Parliament, so it attached a high importance to holding the seat. The party eventually nominated their Scottish Organising Secretary James Carmichael, a member of Glasgow City Council, for the seat.

Labour hoped to gain the seat and stood John Wheatley, a local lawyer who had served during World War II - in contrast, the ILP had opposed the war.

The Unionist Party had little chance of taking the seat, a strongly working class area, but the possibility of a split left vote could perhaps improve their hopes. The Scottish National Party, with little background in the constituency, stood a candidate. Guy Aldred, a well-known local anarcho-communist standing on an abstentionist platform, completed the candidates.

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