Dunfermline East (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Dunfermline East was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election.

Not to be confused with Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency).

Dunfermline East
Former burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Dunfermline East shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created1999
Abolished2011
Council areaFife

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, parts of the Dunfermline East constituency were merged with the old Dunfermline West seat to form a single Dunfermline constituency, while a new constituency of Cowdenbeath was created from the remaining area.

Electoral region
See also Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region

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 Dunfermline East Westminster constituency was divided between Dunfermline and West Fife and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

The Holyrood constituency of Dunfermline East was 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 were entirely within the council area.

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

Constituency profile

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 was one of Labour’s safest seats in Scotland. In the House of Commons, there had been a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the area since 1950. Gordon Brown, the former Prime Minister, was MP for the Dunfermline East Westminster constituency from 1983 to 2005. He was subsequently MP for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, where his majority at the 2010 general election was over 15,000.

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 Helen Eadie Labour
2011 Constituency abolished; see Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline

Election results
2007 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie 10,995 44.8 -5.2
SNP 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 -15.2
Turnout 24,568 48.1 +2.9
Labour hold Swing -7.6
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie 11,552 49.9 -6.0
SNP 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 +2.2
Turnout 23,154 45.2
Labour hold Swing +15.8
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline East
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie 16,574 55.89 N/A
SNP 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 N/A
Turnout 29,658 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes
  1. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived September 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
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