| Election Name: | 1951 United Kingdom general election |
| Election Date: | 25 October 1951 |
| Country: | Scotland |
| Type: | parliamentary |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1950 United Kingdom general election in Scotland |
| Previous Year: | 1950 |
| Previous Mps: | List of MPs elected in the 1950 United Kingdom general election |
| Next Election: | 1955 United Kingdom general election in Scotland |
| Next Year: | 1955 |
| Seats For Election: | All 71 Scottish seats to the House of Commons |
| Elected Mps: | List of MPs for constituencies in Scotland (1951–1955) |
| Leader1: | Winston Churchill |
| Party1: | Unionist Party (Scotland) |
| Last Election1: | 31 seats, 44.8% |
| Seats1: | 35 |
| Seat Change1: | 4 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,349,298 |
| Percentage1: | 48.6 |
| Swing1: | 3.8% |
| Leader2: | Clement Attlee |
| Party2: | Scottish Labour |
| Last Election2: | 37 seats, 46.2% |
| Seats2: | 35 |
| Seat Change2: | 2 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,330,244 |
| Percentage2: | 47.9 |
| Swing2: | 1.7% |
| Leader3: | Clement Davies |
| Party3: | Scottish Liberal Party |
| Last Election3: | 2 seats, 6.6% |
| Seats3: | 1 |
| Seat Change3: | 1 |
| Popular Vote3: | 76,291 |
| Percentage3: | 2.7% |
| Swing3: | 3.9% |
| Map Size: | 400px |
See main article: 1951 United Kingdom general election.
A general election was held in the United Kingdom on Thursday 25 October 1951, and all 71 seats in Scotland were contested.[1] The Unionists, together with their allies the National Liberals, ended up narrowly ahead of Labour in terms of vote share, however the two were equal in terms of seats won, each taking 35 seats. When combined with results from across the UK, the Conservatives (with whom the Unionists sat at Westminster) won a majority of 17 seats, despite winning slightly fewer votes than Labour. The election is noteworthy for being, as of 2024, the last election in which the Conservatives did better in Scotland than in England.
The Liberals were reduced to one Scottish seat, Orkney and Shetland, losing their only other seat (Roxburgh and Selkirk) to the Unionists.
| Party | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % Change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative and Unionist (Total) | 35 | 4 | 1,349,298 | 48.6 | 3.8 | |||
| Unionist | 29 | 3 | 1,108,321 | 39.9 | 2.7 | |||
| National Liberal & Conservative | 6 | 1 | 240,977 | 8.7 | 1.1 | |||
| Labour Party | 35 | 2 | 1,330,244 | 47.9 | 1.7 | |||
| Liberal | 1 | 1 | 76,291 | 2.7 | 3.9 | |||
| Communist | 0 | 10,947 | 0.4 | 0.6 | ||||
| SNP | 0 | 7,299 | 0.3 | 0.1 | ||||
| Other | 0 | 1 | 3,758 | 0.1 | 0.9 | |||
| Total | 71 | 2,777,837 | 100 | |||||