after the coupon election of 1918, 1922 saw the emergence of the labour party as a major force. red clydeside elected a number of labour mps. a communist was elected for motherwell in 1924, but in essence the 1920s saw a 3-way fight between labour, the liberals and the unionists. the national party of scotland first contested a seat in 1929. it merged with the centre-right scottish party in 1934 to form the scottish national party, but the snp remained a peripheral force until the watershed hamilton by-election of 1967.