Dunfermline East (Scottish Parliament constituency)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dunfermline East
Scottish Parliament burgh constituency
Dunfermline East shown within the
Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created: 1999
MSP: Helen Eadie
Party: Labour
Council area: Fife

Dunfermline East 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 nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Contents

[edit] Electoral region

See also Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Ochil, Perth, Stirling and Tayside North.

The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area, all of the Stirling council area and parts of the Angus 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 a pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies[1]. The Dunfermline East Westminster constituency was divided between Dunfermline and West Fife and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

The Holyrood constituency of Dunfermline East is one of five Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies covering the Fife council area, the others being Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East and Kirkcaldy. All are entirely within the council area.

Dunfermline East covers a south-western portion of the council area, with Dunfermline West to the west, Fife Central to the northeast and Kirkcaldy to the east.

[edit] Description of the constituency

The constituency contains no part of the town of Dunfermline, which is within the Dunfermline West constituency. (The pre-existing Westminster constituency was created during the period, 1975 to 1996, of local government regions and districts, when there was Dunfermline district of the Fife local government region. In 1996, regions and districts were replaced with unitary council areas.)

Cowdenbeath is the largest town in the constituency, and most of the constituency area was once part of the Fife coalfield, on the north bank of the Firth of Forth. The region has economic troubles, and the closure of the Rosyth naval base and the troubles at the naval dockyard have not helped.

Statistically, this is one of Labour’s safest seats in Scotland. In the House of Commons, there has been a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the area since 1950. Gordon Brown, now Prime Minister, was MP for the Dunfermline East Westminster constituency from 1983 to 2005. He is now MP for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, where his majority at the last general election was over 15,000.

[edit] Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Helen Eadie Labour
2003
2007

[edit] Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Dunfermline East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie 10,995 44.8 -5.2
Scottish National Party Ewan Dow 7,002 28.5 +10.1
Conservative Graeme Brown 3,718 15.1 +4.4
Liberal Democrats Karen Utting 2,853 11.6 +5.4
Majority 3,993 16.3
Turnout 24,568 48.1 +2.9
Labour hold Swing -7.6
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Dunfermline East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie 11,552 19.9 -6.0
Scottish National Party Janet Law 4,262 18.4 -8.2
Conservative Stuart Randall 2,485 10.7 +0.9
Independent Campaign for Local Hospital Services Brian Walker Stewart 1,890 8.2 +8.2
Scottish Socialist Linda Graham 1,537 6.6 +6.6
Liberal Democrats Rodger Spillane 1,428 6.2 -1.5
Majority 7,290 31.5
Turnout 23,154 45.2
Labour hold Swing +1.1
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Dunfermline East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie 16,574 55.89 N/A
Scottish National Party David McCarthy 7,877 26.56 N/A
Conservative Carrie Ruxton 2,931 9.88 N/A
Liberal Democrats Fred Lawson 2,276 7.67 N/A
Majority 8,697 29.33
Turnout 29,658
Labour hold Swing

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland


v • d • e
Electoral regions and Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament Flag of Scotland
Central Scotland
Glasgow
Highlands and Islands
Lothians
Mid Scotland and Fife
Central Fife  · Dunfermline East · Dunfermline West · Kirkcaldy · North East Fife · North Tayside · Ochil · Perth · Stirling
North East Scotland
South of Scotland
West of Scotland