Airdrie and Shotts (UK Parliament constituency)
Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the UK House of Commons, located in central Scotland within the North Lanarkshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Airdrie and Shotts | |
---|---|
Burgh constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Airdrie and Shotts in Scotland for the 2005 general election | |
Subdivisions of Scotland | North Lanarkshire |
Major settlements | Airdrie, Caldercruix, Shotts |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 |
Member of Parliament | Neil Gray (SNP) |
Created from | Monklands East |
Overlaps | |
Scottish Parliament | Central Scotland |
The constituency has existed since 1997; however, it underwent significant boundary changes in 2005. Before 2015, it could have been described as a safe seat for the Labour Party, who held it with a majority of over 12,000 votes until Neil Gray of the Scottish National Party was elected at that year's general election. Former MPs for the constituency include: Pamela Nash, former Baby of the House, John Reid, former Labour Home Secretary and Defence Secretary, and Helen Liddell, former Labour Scottish Secretary.
It is a generally working-class, urban seat, and contains the towns of Airdrie, Calderbank, Chapelhall, Glenmavis and Shotts.
Boundaries and history
1997–2005: The Monklands District electoral divisions of Airdrie North and Airdrie South, and the Motherwell District electoral division of Fortissat.
2005–present: The North Lanarkshire Council wards of Academy, Airdrie Central, Airdrie North,[1] Airdrie South,[1] Benhar, Calderbank, Chapelhall, Clarkston, Craigneuk and Petersburn, Dykehead, Holytown, New Monkland West, Newarthill, Newmains, North Cairnhill and Coatdyke, Plains and Caldercruix, Salsburgh, South East Cairnhill and Gartlea, Stane, and Whinhall.
The majority of the newly created constituency maintains the boundaries of its predecessor. From North Lanarkshire come Holytown and Newarthill. This seat is positioned on either side of the M8 motorway to Glasgow.
Small semi-urban towns such as Stane, Dykehead and Shotts were added to Airdrie in the 1997 redistribution to form this seat, the predecessor of which was Monklands East. An area in the eastern part of Coatbridge is also part of the constituency.
The 2005 changes saw the seat lose some territory to Motherwell and Wishaw whilst gaining part of Hamilton North and Bellshill. It proved to be a Labour Party stronghold from its creation until the Scottish National Party gained it at the 2015 general election, with Neil Gray winning the seat from Pamela Nash by 8,779 votes. Gray's majority dipped to just 195 in the 2017 election. However, in the 2019 election he won by 5,201 votes.[2]
Members of Parliament
Election | Member[3] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Helen Liddell | Labour | |
2005 | John Reid | Labour | |
2010 | Pamela Nash | Labour | |
2015 | Neil Gray | Scottish National Party | |
Election results
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Neil Gray | 17,929 | 45.0 | +7.4 | |
Labour | Helen McFarlane | 12,728 | 31.9 | −5.2 | |
Conservative | Lorraine Nolan | 7,011 | 17.6 | −5.6 | |
Liberal Democrats | William Crossman | 1,419 | 3.6 | +1.5 | |
Scottish Green | Rosemary McGowan | 685 | 1.7 | New | |
Majority | 5,201 | 13.1 | +12.6 | ||
Turnout | 39,863 | 62.3 | +3.1 | ||
SNP hold | Swing | +6.3 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Neil Gray | 14,291 | 37.6 | −16.3 | |
Labour | Helen McFarlane | 14,096 | 37.1 | +3.0 | |
Conservative | Jennifer Donnellan | 8,813 | 23.2 | +15.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ewan McRobert | 802 | 2.1 | +0.6 | |
Majority | 195 | 0.5 | −19.3 | ||
Turnout | 38,002 | 59.2 | −6.9 | ||
SNP hold | Swing | -9.7 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Neil Gray | 23,887 | 53.9 | +30.4 | |
Labour | Pamela Nash | 15,108 | 34.1 | −24.0 | |
Conservative | Eric Holford | 3,389 | 7.7 | −1.0 | |
UKIP | Matthew Williams | 1,088 | 2.5 | New | |
Liberal Democrats | John Love | 678 | 1.5 | −6.6 | |
Independent | Deryck Beaumont | 136 | 0.3 | New | |
Majority | 8,779 | 19.8 | New | ||
Turnout | 44,286 | 66.3 | +8.8 | ||
SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +27.2 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Pamela Nash | 20,849 | 58.2 | −0.9 | |
SNP | Sophia Coyle | 8,441 | 23.5 | +7.0 | |
Conservative | Ruth Whitfield | 3,133 | 8.7 | −1.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Love | 2,898 | 8.1 | −3.4 | |
Independent | John McGeechan | 528 | 1.5 | New | |
Majority | 12,408 | 34.7 | −7.8 | ||
Turnout | 35,849 | 57.5 | +4.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | −3.9 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | John Reid | 19,568 | 59.0 | +0.4 | |
SNP | Malcolm Balfour | 5,484 | 16.5 | −2.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Helen Watt | 3,792 | 11.4 | +3.5 | |
Conservative | Stuart Cottis | 3,271 | 9.9 | +3.8 | |
Scottish Socialist | Fraser Coats | 706 | 2.1 | −1.6 | |
Scottish Independence Party | Joseph Rowan | 337 | 1.0 | New | |
Majority | 14,084 | 42.5 | +3.6 | ||
Turnout | 33,158 | 53.5 | −0.9 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.5 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Helen Liddell | 18,478 | 58.2 | −3.6 | |
SNP | Alison Lindsay | 6,138 | 19.3 | −5.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Love | 2,376 | 7.5 | +3.3 | |
Conservative | Gordon McIntosh | 1,960 | 6.2 | −2.7 | |
Scottish Unionist | Mark Dempsey | 1,439 | 4.5 | New | |
Scottish Socialist | Kenny McGuigan | 1,171 | 3.7 | New | |
Socialist Labour | Chris Herriot | 174 | 0.5 | New | |
Majority | 12,340 | 38.9 | +1.5 | ||
Turnout | 31,736 | 54.4 | −17.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +0.7 |
Elections in the 1990s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Helen Liddell | 25,460 | 61.8 | N/A | |
SNP | Keith R.A. Robertson | 10,048 | 24.4 | N/A | |
Conservative | Nicholas H. Brook | 3,660 | 8.9 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Richard G. Wolseley | 1,719 | 4.2 | N/A | |
Referendum | Crawford Semple | 294 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Majority | 15,412 | 37.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 41,181 | 71.4 | N/A | ||
Labour win (new seat) |
See also
External links
- Politics Resources (Election results from 1922 onwards)
- Electoral Calculus (Election results from 1955 onwards)
References
- Baxter, Martin (14 September 2018). "Seat Details". Electoral Calculus. Electoral Calculus Ltd. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- "Airdrie & Shotts parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
- "UK Parliamentary Elections 2019". northlanarkshire.gov.uk. North Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- "Airdrie & Shotts parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- "Election Data 2017". Politics Resources. Archived from the original on 1 April 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
- "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "Election results". 5 May 2015.
- "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Airdrie & Shotts". news.bbc.co.uk.
- "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.