Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results.
He originally worked in public relations, compiling election results in his spare time which were published by the Scottish Unionist Party.
In 1970 he moved from Anniesland Cross in Glasgow to Chichester in West Sussex and established another company, Parliamentary Research Services, which eventually took over all his activities.
His public relations background led to new lines of business including compilation of activities of members of parliament from votes in the House of Commons.
When the candidate selected to replace him dropped out, Craig found that his busy period was over and was himself nominated to fight the by-election caused by his own resignation.
He thought it absurd to increase postal voting facilities which might lead to widespread abuse because there were many ways of committing electoral fraud.
[12] Craig used the prefaces and forewords of his books to express opinions on the electoral system, arguing in 1977 that the increasing numbers of fringe and frivolous candidates in Parliamentary elections made it necessary to raise the level of the deposit required for a nomination to be valid.
When he spoke in support of his re-election, Craig had noted the presence of many unfamiliar faces and declared "I will oppose wets and Left Wing infiltrators who would like to destroy this great party from within".
[17] In November 1981 the Association had adopted a new policy under which it refused to pay election expenses for sitting councillors, although new candidates would be funded.
[20] Craig and his wife had their annual subscriptions returned by the Conservative Association in January 1983, which he denounced as "a back-door method of expulsion" and "a very nasty way of getting rid of someone.
[23] He could not come to terms with living on his own, and attempted suicide in 1988 by taking an overdose of pills;[25] the dedication of "Britain Votes 4" written in May 1988 records his thanks to family and friends as well as medical staff.
The cause of death was certified as carbon monoxide poisoning and the coroner returned a verdict of suicide as "from the circumstances and from the notes which have been left, I have no doubt he intended the result of what he did".
As can be seen from the above list, Craig's chronological reference works on British elections, long considered definitive in their accuracy, are spread over five volumes, covering the years 1832–85, 1885–1918, 1918–49, 1950–73 and 1974–83.