Paisley South by-election, 1997
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The Member of Parliament for Paisley South, Gordon McMaster, (Labour) died on July 25, 1997.
A by-election to fill the seat was held on November 6. It was a very safe Labour seat, and despite a swing of 11% to the Scottish National Party they did not come close to capturing it.
Results
The turnout was 42.9%.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share | Change |
| Douglas Alexander | Labour | 10,346 | 44.1% | -13.4% |
| Ian Blackford | Scottish National Party | 7,615 | 32.5% | +9.1% |
| Eileen McCartin | Liberal Democrat | 2,582 | 11.0% | +1.6% |
| Sheila Laidlaw | Conservative | 1,643 | 7.0% | -1.7% |
| John Deighan | Pro-Life Alliance | 578 | 2.5% | |
| Frances Curran | Scottish Socialist Alliance | 306 | 1.3% | +0.9% |
| Charles McLauchlan | Independent Labour | 155 | 0.7% | |
| Christopher Herriot | Socialist Labour Party | 153 | 0.7% | |
| Kenneth Blair | Natural Law Party | 57 | 0.2% |
General Election result, 1997
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Share |
| Gordon McMaster | (Lab/Co-op) | 21,482 | 57.5% |
| William Martin | (SNP) | 8,732 | 23.4% |
| Eileen McCartin | (L Dem) | 3,500 | 9.4% |
| Robin Reid | (C) | 3,237 | 8.6% |
| James Lardner | (RP) | 254 | 0.7% |
| Sean Clerkin | (SSA) | 146 | 0.4% |