A Glasgow Hillhead by-election was held on 25 March 1982. The by-election was caused by the death of the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Glasgow Hillhead Tam Galbraith on 2 January 1982. Hillhead had been held by the Conservatives at every election since its creation in 1918. Galbraith, who was Scotland's longest serving MP at the time of his death, himself had first won the seat since at a 1948 by-election and had been elected as its representative on further nine occasions. However, his majority had been gradually reduced, and even in the 1979 election which the Conservatives won, the Labour Party had continued to gain ground.