Airdrie and Shotts (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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**Airdrie and Shotts**
Scottish Parliament constituency

Airdrie and Shotts shown within the Central Scotland electoral region
Created:	1999
MSP:	Karen Whitefield
Party:	Labour
Council area:	North Lanarkshire (part)

Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

1 Electoral region
2 Constituency boundaries and council area
3 Member of the Scottish Parliament
4 Election results
5 Footnotes

[edit] Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Falkirk West, Hamilton North and Bellshill, Hamilton South, Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Motherwell and Wishaw.

The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area, part of the South Lanarkshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area and a small part of the East Dumbartonshire council area.

[edit] Constituency boundaries and council area

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies^[1].

The Holyrood constituency is one of five covering the North Lanarkshire council area, the others being Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Hamilton North and Bellshill and Motherwell and Wishaw. All five are within the Central Scotland electoral region.

Three of the five constituencies are entirely within the North Lanarkshire area. Coatbridge and Chryston straddles the boundary with the East Dunbartonshire council area, which is otherwise within the West of Scotland region, and Hamilton North and Bellshill straddles the boundary with the South Lanarkshire council area, which is otherwise divided between the Central Scotland, Glasgow and South of Scotland regions.

Airdrie and Shotts covers a south-eastern portion of the North Lanarkshire area, south of Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and west of Motherwell and Wishaw, Hamilton North and Bellshill, and Coatbridge and Chryston.

[edit] Member of the Scottish Parliament

The constituency is currently represented by Labour MSP Karen Whitefield.

[edit] Election results

Scottish parliamentary election, 2003: Airdrie and Shotts
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Whitefield	14,209	59.03	+0.47
	Scottish National Party	Gil Paterson	5,232	20.86	-7.30
	Conservative	Patrick Ross-Taylor	1,233	8.76	-0.81
	Scottish Socialist	Fraser Coates	2,096	8.36	+8.36
	Liberal Democrats	Kevin Lang	1,346	5.37	-1.69
Majority			8,977	35.78	+8.73
Turnout			25,086	46.26	-12.53
	Labour hold		Swing

Scottish parliamentary election, 1999: Airdrie and Shotts
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Karen Whitefield	18,338	55.21	N/A
	Scottish National Party	Gil Paterson	9,353	28.16	N/A
	Conservative	Patrick Ross-Taylor	3,177	9.57	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	David Miller	2,345	7.06	N/A
Majority			8,985	27.05	N/A
Turnout			33,213	57.58
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A