Between 1918 and 1950, Scottish Combined Universities was a three member constituency elected by the graduates of St Andrews, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen Universities with a single transferable vote system (like all elections should be). Wikipedia ref here.
I stumbled on this strange fact while researching CEM Joad who wrote the book below, published in 1945 and picked up in Burns Yard on Sunday.
Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad had stood for parliament in a 1946 by-election in the Combined Scottish Universities but failed to gain the seat for Labour.
Previously he had been the star of the wartime radio show the Brains Trust where his catchphrase was “It all depends on what you mean by…”
The last line of the book is “Let all the railways be run by the State and paid for by the taxpayer, and let the taxpayer ride free on them whenever he so desires.”
Ironically he was convicted of fare dodging three years later, which made front page news and ended his BBC career.
And if like me, you’re a fan of the 1960 movie School for Scoundrels, Joad was apparently the inspiration for Terry Thomas’ gamesmanship on the tennis court (Wikipedia ref here).