1528 John McCallum

Constituency : Paisley  1906-20

John  took  over  from  Sir  William  Dunn  at  Paisley. He  defeated  a  Liberal  Unionist  and  a  Scottish  Worker's  Representative  Committee  candidate.

John  was  the  son  of  a  dye  manufacturer. He  was  educated  at  Allan  Gelen's  School  in  Glasgow  where  he  studied  chemistry. He  became  a  partner  in  a  firm  of  soap  manufacturers. He  was  a  local  councillor  and  at  one  point  president  of  the  Scottish  Liberal  Association. He  was  a  teetotaller  and  temperance  campaigner. He  supported  Scottish  Home  Rule. He  supported  the  Paisley  Tenants  Protection  Association  and  took  a  progressive  stance  on  social  questions.

John  was  knighted  in  1912.

In  1918,  John  promised  to  support  the  Coalition  government  but  it  was  recalled  that  he  had  voted  with  Asquith  in  the  Maurice  debate  and  the  coupon  was  given  to  a  Unionist  standing  as  a  National  Democratic  Party  candidate. Labour  also  stood  a  candidate. In  a  very  tight  three-way  contest  John  won  by  106  votes.

He  died  in  1920  aged  72. The  by-election  allowed  Asquith  to  return  to  Parliament  after  his  defeat  in  1918.