Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Strathkelvin and Bearsden is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Strathkelvin and Bearsden
county constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Strathkelvin and Bearsden shown within the West Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Rona Mackay
Council area	East Dunbartonshire

Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West and Renfrewshire South.

The region covers part of the Argyll and Bute council area, the East Dunbartonshire council area, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde council area, North Ayrshire council area, the Renfrewshire council area and the West Dunbartonshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was abolished in favour of new constituencies.[1]

The rest of East Dunbartonshire is represented by the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.

For the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the boundaries of the seat were altered to include the following electoral wards:

• Bearsden South, Campsie and Kirkintilloch North, Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South, Bishopbriggs North and Torrance, Bishopbriggs South, Kirkintilloch East and Twechar

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Sam Galbraith	Labour
	2001	Brian Fitzpatrick	Labour
	2003	Jean Turner	Independent
	2007	David Whitton	Labour
	2011	Fiona McLeod	SNP
	2016	Rona Mackay

Election results

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Rona Mackay	17,060	43.5	+1.3
	Conservative	Andrew Polson	8,960	22.9	+9.8
	Labour	Margaret Mccarthy	8,288	21.1	-15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Katy Gordon	4,880	12.5	+4.8
Majority			8,100	20.6	+15.3
Turnout			39,188	62.6	+6.2
	SNP hold		Swing

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Fiona McLeod	14,258	42.2	N/A
	Labour	David Whitton	12,456	36.9	N/A
	Conservative	Stephen Fraser	4,438	13.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Macdonald	2,600	7.7	N/A
Majority			1,802	5.3	N/A
Turnout			33,752	56.4	N/A
	SNP win (new boundaries)

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Whitton	11,396	31.1	+1.2
	SNP	Robin Easton	8,008	21.9	+8.2
	Independent	Jean Turner	6,742	18.4	-12.7
	Conservative	Stephanie Fraser	5,178	14.2	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Cathy McInnes	4,658	12.7	-1.3
	Scottish Christian	Bob Handyside	613	1.7	New
Majority			3,388	9.2	N/A
Turnout			36,595	60.6
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jean Turner	10,988	31.1	+12.9
	Labour	Brian Fitzpatrick	10,550	29.9	-20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Swinson	4,950	14.0	+4.2
	SNP	Fiona McLeod	4,846	13.7	-8.4
	Conservative	Rory O'Brien	4,002	11.3	-5.1
Majority			438	1.2	N/A
Turnout			35,336
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Scottish Parliament by-election, 2001: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Fitzpatrick	15,401	37.0	-13.7
	Independent	Jean Turner	7,572	18.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	John Morrison	7,147	17.2	+7.4
	SNP	Janet Law	6,457	15.5	-6.6
	Conservative	Charles Ferguson	5,037	12.1	-4.3
Majority			7,829	18.8	-9.8
Turnout			41,614
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sam Galbraith	21,505	50.7	N/A
	SNP	Fiona McLeod	9,384	22.1	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Ferguson	6,934	16.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Howarth	4,144	9.8	N/A
	Anti-Drug	Maxi Richards	423	1.0	N/A
Majority			12,121	28.6	N/A
Turnout			49,324		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Notes and references

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