Inverness by-election, 1954
The Inverness by-election, 1954 was a by-election held on 21 December 1954 for the British House of Commons constituency of Inverness.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Unionist Member of Parliament (MP) Lord Malcolm Douglas-Hamilton, by his application for the Chiltern Hundreds. Douglas-Hamilton had held the seat since 1950.
The result was a victory for the Unionist candidate Neil McLean. McLean held the seat until 1964 when he lost to the Liberal Russell Johnston.
In 1954 the constituency of Inverness was one of the largest Parliamentary constituencies in Britain spread across 4,000 square miles (10,000 km2) of Scottish Highland, from the county town of Inverness to the west coast of Scotland and included the Isle of Skye and some nearby islands. More than half the electorate lived in the town of Inverness itself however.
The Tories chose as their representative the 36-year-old, Eton and Sandhurst educated Lieutenant Colonel Neil McLean who had lived in the Highlands as a child. McLean had the advantage of knowing that Douglas-Hamilton was going to resign and had moved to the constituency in anticipation of the by-election. He had been installed as the prospective candidate for about 18 months, using the time to get to know the area well and establish a rapport with the electorate.Labour selected Dundee engine driver and trade union official, William Paterson, aged 44. The former Labour candidate at the 1951 general election, Alexander Macnair had indicated he wished to stand again but the local Labour Party preferred a new man. Macnair then said he might put up as an Independent Labour candidate but did not do so in the end. The Liberals, who had not fought the seat at the previous general election in 1951 settled on John Bannerman a Gaelic speaking farmer and former Scotland Rugby international, who had been Liberal candidate for Argyll at the general elections of 1945 and 1950.
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