Kirkcaldy (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Kirkcaldy (UK Parliament constituency).
Kirkcaldy
Scottish Parliament
county constituency
Kirkcaldy shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created 1999
MSP David Torrance
Council area Fife
Party Scottish National Party

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, 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

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.

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.

In boundary changes to take effect at the 2011 election, the newly drawn Kirkcaldy will be formed from the following electoral wards;

Constituency profile

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.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Marilyn Livingstone Labour
2003
2007
2011 David Torrance Scottish National Party

Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Kirkcaldy
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP David Torrance 12,579 45.2 +11.9
Labour Marilyn Livingstone 12,397 44.6 -0.5
Conservative Ian McFarlane 2,007 7.2 -1.3
Liberal Democrats John Mainland 820 2.9 -10.1
Majority 182 0.7
Turnout 27,803 46.0
SNP gain from Labour Swing +6.2
Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Kirkcaldy
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marilyn Livingstone 10,627 43.9 -2.8
SNP 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
SNP 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 -4.6%
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Kirkcaldy
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Marilyn Livingstone 13,645 48.14 N/A
SNP 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

Footnotes

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