Scottish Westminster constituencies from 2005
As a result of the Fifth Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, Scotland is covered by 59 constituencies of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament - 19 Burgh constituencies and 40 County constituencies. Constituencies marked * appear on the Central Area Enlargement.
| Overview |
| 1708 to 1832 |
| 1832 to 1868 |
| 1868 to 1885 |
| 1885 to 1918 |
| 1918 to 1950 |
| 1950 to 1955 |
| 1955 to 1974 |
| 1974 to 1983 |
| 1983 to 1997 |
| 1997 to 2005 |
| 2005 to present |
Constituencies and council areas
The Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland related the boundaries of new constituencies to those of Scottish local government council areas and to local government wards. Apart from a few minor adjustments, the council area boundaries dated from 1996 and the ward boundaries dated from 1999. Some council areas were grouped to form larger areas and, within these larger areas, some constituencies straddle council area boundaries.
The same council area and ward boundaries were in use when the new constituencies were first used in 2005, but ward boundaries have changed since then. New wards were introduced for the 2007 Scottish local government elections.
Current MPs
Scottish National Party Conservative Labour Liberal Democrats Alba
The aggregate votes of all Scottish constituencies for the 2019 general election are as follows:
| Party | Votes | % | Change from 2017 | Seats | Change from 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish National Party | 1,242,380 | 45.0% |  8.1% |
48 | 13 |
| Conservative | 692,939 | 25.1% |  3.5% |
6 | 7 |
| Labour | 511,838 | 18.6% | 8.5% |
1 | 6 |
| Liberal Democrats | 263,417 | 9.5% | 2.7% |
4 | 0 |
| Greens | 28,122 | 1.0% | 0.8% |
0 | 0 |
| Brexit | 13,243 | 0.5% | new | 0 | 0 |
| Others | 7,122 | 0.3% | 0.4% |
0 | 0 |
| Total | 2,759,061 | 100.0 | 59 |
List of constituencies by party
Proposed boundary changes
See 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies for further details.
Background
The Boundary Commission for Scotland submitted their final proposals in respect of the Sixth Periodic Review of Westminster Constituencies (the 2018 review) in September 2018. Although the proposals were immediately laid before Parliament they were not brought forward by the Government for approval. Accordingly, they did not come into effect for the 2019 election which took place on 12 December 2019, and which was contested using the constituency boundaries in place since 2010.
Under the terms of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011, the Sixth Review was based on reducing the total number of MPs from 650 to 600 and a strict electoral parity requirement that the electorate of all constituencies should be within a range of 5% either side of the electoral quota.
On 24 March 2020, the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, Chloe Smith, issued a written statement to Parliament setting out the Government's thinking with regard to parliamentary boundaries. Subsequently, the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 2020 ("the Act") was passed into law on 14 December 2020. This formally removed the duty to implement the 2018 review and set out the framework for future boundary reviews. The Act provided that the number of constituencies should remain at the current level of 650, rather than being reduced to 600, while retaining the requirement that the electorate should be no more than +/- 5% from the electoral quota.
Process
The Act specified that the next review should be completed no later than 1 July 2023 and the Boundary Commission formally launched the 2023 Review on 5 January 2021. In accordance with the provisions of the Act, the number of constituencies allocated to Scotland will decrease by 2, from 59 to 57. This includes the protected constituencies of Na h-Eileanan an Iar and Orkney and Shetland.
As part of public consultations for the ongoing 2023 review of Westminster constituency boundaries, the Boundary Commission for Scotland released its initial proposals on 14 October 2021.[3] Following two periods of public consultation, revised proposals were published on 8 November 2022. Final proposals will be published by 1 July 2023.
Proposed seats
Under the revised proposals the following constituencies for Scotland would come into effect at the next general election:[4]
| Council areas | Constituencies | Electorate |
|---|---|---|
| Orkney and Shetland CC (continuing) | 34,824 | |
| Na h-Eileanan an Iar | Na h-Eileanan an Iar CC (continuing) | 21,177 |
| Aberdeen North BC (continuing) | 76,895 | |
| Aberdeen South BC (continuing) | 76,560 | |
| Aberdeenshire Central CC
(previously existed as Aberdeen and Kincardine Central 1918-1950) |
76,897 | |
| Aberdeenshire North and Moray East CC | 69,802 | |
| Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber CC | 71,707 | |
| Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross CC (continuing) | 72,632 | |
| Inverness-shire and Wester Ross CC | 73,971 | |
| Nairn, Strathspey and Moray West CC | 76,914 | |
| West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine CC (continuing) | 73,634 | |
| Bathgate and Linlithgow CC | 71,650 | |
| Clackmannanshire and Forth Valley CC | 77,046 | |
| Dundee East and Arbroath CC | 76,810 | |
| Dundee West BC (continuing) | 75,298 | |
| Dunfermline and East Ochils CC | 71,456 | |
| Falkirk CC (continuing) | 76,734 | |
| Glenrothes CC (continuing) | 70,004 | |
| Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath CC (continuing) | 69,800 | |
| Livingston CC (continuing) | 75,454 | |
| North East Fife CC (continuing) | 70,452 | |
| North Tayside CC (restored; previously existed 1983-2005) | 77,006 | |
| Perth and Loch Leven CC | 76,323 | |
| Stirling CC (continuing) | 70,085 | |
| East Lothian and Lammermuirs CC | 71,287 | |
| Edinburgh East BC (continuing) | 75,705 | |
| Edinburgh North and Leith BC (continuing) | 76,770 | |
| Edinburgh South BC (continuing) | 70,980 | |
| Edinburgh South West BC (continuing) | 73,315 | |
| Edinburgh West BC (continuing) | 76,723 | |
| Midlothian CC (continuing) | 71,210 | |
| Airdrie CC | 72,795 | |
| Bearsden and Campsie Fells CC | 71,195 | |
| Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk CC (continuing) | 73,779 | |
| Coatbridge and Bellshill BC | 72,507 | |
| Dumfries and Galloway CC (continuing) | 76,863 | |
| Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale CC (continuing) | 71,646 | |
| East Kilbride and Strathaven CC | 75,161 | |
| Hamilton and Clyde Valley CC | 74,577 | |
| Kilsyth Hills and Cumbernauld CC | 74,483 | |
| Motherwell and Clydesdale North CC | 69,943 | |
| Rutherglen BC (restored; previously existed 1918-1983;
Glasgow Rutherglen 1983-2005) |
71,612 | |
| West Dunbartonshire CC (continuing) | 70,286 | |
| Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock CC (continuing) | 72,057 | |
| Central Ayrshire CC (continuing) | 69,779 | |
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun CC (continuing) | 74,801 | |
| North Ayrshire and Arran CC (continuing) | 73,588 | |
| East Renfrewshire | East Renfrewshire (continuing) | 72,959 |
| Glasgow North BC (continuing) | 73,210 | |
| Glasgow North East BC (continuing) | 75,236 | |
| Glasgow South BC (continuing) | 71,344 | |
| Glasgow South East BC | 69,748 | |
| Glasgow South West BC (continuing) | 70,431 | |
| Glasgow West BC | 72,499 | |
| Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West CC | 70,476 | |
| Paisley and Renfrewshire North BC (continuing) | 69,899 | |
| Paisley and Renfrewshire South CC (continuing) | 69,797 |
Results history
Primary data source: House of Commons research briefing - General election results from 1918 to 2019[5]
Percentage votes
Key:
CON - Conservative Party, including the National Liberal Party up to 1966 and the Unionist Party up to 1964
LAB - Labour Party
LIB - Liberal Party up to 1979; SDP-Liberal Alliance 1983 & 1987; Liberal Democrats from 1992
SNP - Scottish National Party
Other - includes Scottish Green Party, UK Independence Party and Brexit Party (2019)
Seats
CON - Conservative Party, including the National Liberal Party up to 1966 and the Unionist Party up to 1964
LAB - Labour Party (2001 & 2005 - includes the Speaker, Michael Martin)
LIB - Liberal Party up to 1979; SDP-Liberal Alliance 1983 & 1987; Liberal Democrats from 1992
OTH - 1945 - Independent Labour Party (3); Communist Party (1); Independent Unionist (John Mackie) (1); 1959 - Independent Unionist (David Robertson)
SNP - Scottish National Party
See also
- List of Great Britain and UK Parliament constituencies in Scotland from 1707 for graphical representation by party
- Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions for seats in the Scottish Parliament
- Scottish Westminster constituencies 1918 to 1950
Footnotes
- MacAskill defected to the Alba Party from the SNP on 27 March 2021.
- Hanvey defected to the Alba Party from the SNP on 27 March 2021.
References
- Baker, Carl; Uberoi, Elise; Cracknell, Richard (28 January 2020). "General Election 2019: full results and analysis".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - "Constituencies A-Z - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
- "Boundary Commission for Scotland consults on new boundaries for UK Parliament constituencies in Scotland" (PDF) (Press release). Boundary Commission for Scotland. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
- "Boundary Commission for Scotland - revised proposals" (PDF). pp. 5–6.
- Watson, Christopher; Uberoi, Elise; Loft, Philip (17 April 2020). "General election results from 1918 to 2019".
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)