Kirkcaldy (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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Kirkcaldy
Scottish Parliament county constituency
Kirkcaldy shown within the
Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created: 1999
MSP: Marilyn Livingstone
Party: Labour
Council area: Fife

Kirkcaldy 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 East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, 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 Kirkcaldy Westminster constituency was divided between Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

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

Kirkcaldy covers a southern portion of the council area, south of Fife Central and east of Dunfermline East.

[edit] Description of the constituency

The constituency includes the town of Kirkcaldy and some popular seaside resorts, such as Burntisland and Kinghorn. Though coastal, it is dependent upon both light and heavy industry, their decline leading to above-average unemployment. In Westminster elections the area has been safely held by Labour since 1945.

[edit] Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Kirkcaldy
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marilyn Livingstone 10,627 43.9 -2.8
Scottish National Party Chris Harvie 8,005 33.1 +8.4
Liberal Democrats Alice Soper 3,361 13.9 +2.9
Conservative David Potts 2,202 9.1 -1.5
Majority 2,622 10.8
Turnout 24,195 47.7
Labour hold Swing -5.6%
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Kirkcaldy
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marilyn Livingstone 10,235 46.7 -1.5
Scottish National Party Colin Welsh 5,411 24.7 -7.7
Liberal Democrats Alex Cole-Hamilton 2,417 11.0 +1.8
Conservative Mike Scott-Hayward 2,332 10.6 +0.4
Scottish Socialist Rudi Vogels 1,544 7.0 +7.0
Majority 4,824 22.0 N/A
Turnout 21,939 44.2
Labour hold Swing -1.5%
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Kirkcaldy
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marilyn Livingstone 13,645 48.14 N/A
Scottish National Party Stewart Hosie 9,170 32.35 N/A
Conservative Mike Scott-Hayward 2,907 10.26 N/A
Liberal Democrats John Mainland 2,620 9.24 N/A
Majority 4,475 15.79 N/A
Turnout 28,342
Labour hold Swing N/A

[edit] Footnotes

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


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