Glenrothes (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 56°11′49″N 3°10′23″W / 56.197°N 3.173°W / 56.197; -3.173

Glenrothes is a British Parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons. It was created for the 2005 general election.

The seat is currently held by Peter Grant, of the Scottish National Party (SNP). He has held the seat since the 2015 general election after gaining the seat from the Labour Party who had held the seat since its creation.

Boundaries

The current boundaries centre on Glenrothes itself, moving south and west to include Cardenden, and a small section of Kirkcaldy. The northern and western areas include Leslie, and Markinch. In the east, the seat contains Leven, Kennoway and Methil.

History

Glenrothes was created for the 2005 general election, mostly replacing Central Fife, but incorporating small parts of Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline East.

Creation in 2005–2008

The first holder of the newly created seat was John MacDougall, who died 13 August 2008,^[1] triggering a by-election.

2008

In the 2008 by election Lindsay Roy was elected, the Labour majority falling by around 4000 votes, with the Labour vote increasing by 3%, the SNP making significant gains from the lower-placed Conservative and the Liberal Democrat candidates.^[2]

2010 General election

With the 2010 election, the Labour share of the vote increased by 10% at the expense of the SNP candidate. The winner's total reached 62% of the votes cast which places the seat in the top decile of seats won and therefore indicates a safe seat majority. Relative to the 2005 general election the swing against the SNP was less accentuated than relative to the by-election at 4.45% of the vote on the standard two-party measure of swing, which is comparable to the national swing.

Members of Parliament

Elections

References