On 31 March 1966, the 1966 United Kingdom general election was held in Scotland, to elect all 630 seats of the House of Commons, with 71 constituencies being in Scotland.
The election took place only 17 months after the 1964 United Kingdom general election, with incumbent Prime Minister Harold Wilson deciding to call a snap election since his government had an unworkably small majority of only four MPs. Combined with results from across the UK, the result was a landslide victory for Wilson's Labour Party.
The election was the first in which the Scottish Conservatives stood for election as an integral part of the Conservative Party, with the former Unionist Party (which had been aligned with, but separate from, the Conservatives), having merged into the Tories in April 1965.
Candidates
Below is a table summarising the candidates of the 1966 general election in Scotland.
Affiliation CandidatesLabour Party 71Conservative Party 71Scottish Liberal Party 24Scottish National Party 23Communist Party of Great Britain 15Independent 1Socialist Party of Great Britain 1Total 206
Analysis The Conservative Party, in which the Unionist Party had merged in 1965, lost two seats to the Labour Party. These were Aberdeen South and Berwick and East Lothian. The Labour Party saw a slight increase in its vote share, with the Conservatives also dropping slightly. The Labour Party overall gained three seats in Scotland, with another gain from the Scottish Liberal Party. Conversely, the Conservatives lost a total of four seats in Scotland, also losing two to the Liberal Party.
Future Leader of the Liberal Party David Steel won the seat of Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles from the Conservative Party. Steel had initially entered Parliament at the 1965 Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. His retention of the seat was a gain for the Liberals in comparison to last election. The party also won West Aberdeenshire from the Conservatives. However, the party had lost Caithness and Sutherland to Labour candidate Robert Maclennan Maclennan would remain a Labour MP in the seat, until defecting to the Social Democratic Part in the 1980s, becoming its leader, as well as leading the successor party to the Liberals and Social Democrats, the Liberal Democrats.
Results +PartySeatsAggregate votes Total Gains Losses Net Of total (%) Total Of total (%) Change (%) 46 3 0 3 64.8 1,273,916 49.9 1.2 20 0 4 4 28.2 960,675 37.6 3.0 5 2 1 1 7.0 172,447 6.8 0.8 0 0 0 — 128,474 5.0 2.6 0 0 0 — 16,230 0.6 0.1 0 colspan=3 — 516 0.0 0 0 0 — 122 0.0 Total 71 0 100.0 2,552,380 100.0 0.0 Registered voters, and turnout 3,359,891 76.0 1.6
See also 1966 United Kingdom general election in England 1966 United Kingdom general election in Wales 1966 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1966–1970)
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