Glasgow East (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow East is a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, located in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting. It is currently represented by David Linden of the Scottish National Party who has been the MP since 2017.

Glasgow East
Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Glasgow East in Scotland
Subdivisions of ScotlandCity of Glasgow
Major settlementsBaillieston, Carmyle, Easterhouse, Garrowhill, Shettleston
Current constituency
Created2005
Member of ParliamentDavid Linden (SNP)
Created fromGlasgow Baillieston
Glasgow Shettleston

It was once one of the safest seats for the Labour Party, the areas included in the constituency having returned solely Labour MPs since the 1930s. However, it achieved national prominence when a by-election in 2008 saw the Scottish National Party overturn a majority of over 13,000 votes to gain the seat. Since then, it has been tightly fought by Labour and the SNP. The 2017 general election result in the constituency was that election's tenth-closest result, a winning margin of 75 votes.

In 2019, Linden was re-elected with an increased majority of 5,566 votes, making the seat a comfortable SNP majority.[1]

The seat is entirely within the Glasgow City Council area, taking in the areas of: Baillieston, Carmyle, Easterhouse, Parkhead, Shettleston and Tollcross.

Boundaries

Glasgow East is one of seven constituencies covering the Glasgow City council area. All are entirely within the council area. Glasgow East comprises the pre-2007 Glasgow City wards of Baillieston, Barlanark, Braidfauld, Easterhouse, Garrowhill, Garthamlock, Greenfield, Mount Vernon, Parkhead, Queenslie, Shettleston, and Tollcross Park.

Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area was covered by ten constituencies, of which two straddled boundaries with other council areas. The Glasgow East constituency includes the area of the former Glasgow Baillieston constituency and parts of the former Glasgow Shettleston constituency.[2] Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the names and boundaries of the older Westminster constituencies.

Glasgow Baillieston had always been represented by MPs from the Labour Party until 2008, as was the predecessor Glasgow Provan constituency from its creation in 1955. Glasgow Shettleston was won by the Labour Party at every general election from 1950 onwards (in 1945 it was won by the Independent Labour Party). In 2008, the SNP succeeded in winning the seat from Labour in a by-election on a very large swing. Prior to the by-election, it had been one of the safest Labour seats in the UK. At the 2010 general election, the seat was regained for Labour by Margaret Curran from John Mason of the SNP; with a large majority of more than 11,000 votes.

The Glasgow East constituency contains part of the M8 motorway and main railway lines into the city centre; Celtic Park, the home ground of Celtic F.C. is located within the constituency.

It is one of the most deprived constituencies in the UK. Nearly 40% of adults smoke (UK average is 19.2%), and on average there are twenty-five drug-related deaths a year.[3] Average male life expectancy is 68, five years less than the Scottish average, while in the Shettleston area it is 63.[4] A 2008 World Health Organization report gave the average male life expectancy in Calton as 54, which is lower than it was before the Second World War.[5]

2008 by-election
Main article: Glasgow East by-election, 2008

On 28 June 2008, the sitting MP David Marshall announced he would step down because of a stress-related illness; he was appointed Steward of the Manor of Northstead on 30 June 2008, thus effectively resigning from the House of Commons.[6] Although the seat represented Labour's third-largest majority in Scotland, it faced a strong challenge from the Scottish National Party, hot on the heels of Labour's disastrous performance at the 2008 Henley by-election.[7] Nominations for candidates closed at 4pm on 9 July, and the election took place on 24 July.[8]

On 25 July 2008, and after a recount, the SNP candidate John Mason won the seat with a narrow majority of 365 votes over the Labour Party candidate, Margaret Curran.[9]

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[10] Party
2005 David Marshall Labour
2008 by-election John Mason SNP
2010 Margaret Curran Labour
2015 Natalie McGarry SNP
2015 Independent
2017 David Linden SNP

Elections

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: Glasgow East[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP David Linden 18,357 47.7 +8.9
Labour Kate Watson 12,791 33.2 -5.4
Conservative Thomas Kerr 5,709 14.8 -4.0
Liberal Democrats James Harrison 1,626 4.2 +2.6
Majority 5,566 14.5 +14.3
Turnout 38,483 57.1 +2.5
SNP hold Swing +7.1
General election 2017: Glasgow East[13][14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP David Linden 14,024 38.8 -18.1
Labour Kate Watson 13,949 38.6 +6.2
Conservative Thomas Kerr 6,816 18.8 +12.8
Liberal Democrats Matthew Clark 576 1.6 +0.8
UKIP John Ferguson 502 1.4 -1.2
Independent Karin Finegan 158 0.4 New
SDP Steven Marshall 148 0.4 New
Majority 75 0.2 -24.3
Turnout 36,175 54.6 -5.7
SNP hold Swing -12.2
See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Glasgow East
General election 2015: Glasgow East[15][16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Natalie McGarry 24,116 56.9 +32.2
Labour Margaret Curran 13,729 32.4 −29.2
Conservative Andrew Morrison 2,544 6.0 +1.5
UKIP Arthur Thackeray 1,105 2.6 +2.0
Scottish Green Kim Long 381 0.9 New
Liberal Democrats Gary McLelland 318 0.7 −4.3
Scottish Socialist Liam McLaughlan 224 0.5 −0.9
Majority 10,387 24.5 N/A
Turnout 42,417 60.3 +8.3
SNP gain from Labour Swing +30.7
General election 2010: Glasgow East[17][16][18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Margaret Curran 19,797 61.6 +0.9
SNP John Mason 7,957 24.7 +7.7
Liberal Democrats Kevin Ward 1,617 5.0 -6.8
Conservative Hamira Khan 1,453 4.5 -2.4
BNP Joe T Finnie 677 2.1 New
Scottish Socialist Frances Curran 454 1.4 -2.1
UKIP Arthur Thackeray 209 0.6 New
Majority 11,840 36.9 -6.8
Turnout 32,164 52.0 +3.8
Labour hold Swing +18.5

Elections in the 2000s
2008 Glasgow East by-election[19][20][21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP John Mason 11,277 43.1 +26.1
Labour Margaret Curran 10,912 41.7 -19.0
Conservative Davena Rankin 1,639 6.3 -0.6
Liberal Democrats Ian Robertson 915 3.5 -8.3
Scottish Socialist Frances Curran 555 2.1 -1.4
Solidarity Tricia McLeish 512 2.0 New
Scottish Green Eileen Duke 232 0.9 New
Independent Chris Creighton 67 0.3 New
Freedom-4-Choice Hamish Howitt 65 0.2 New
Majority 365 1.4 N/A
Turnout 26,219 42.2 -5.9
SNP gain from Labour Swing +22.5
General election 2005: Glasgow East[22][23][24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Marshall 18,775 60.7 -3.0
SNP Lachlan McNeill 5,268 17.0 -0.1
Liberal Democrats David Jackson 3,665 11.8 +6.0
Conservative Carl Thomson 2,135 6.9 +0.8
Scottish Socialist George Savage 1,096 3.5 -3.4
Majority 13,507 43.7 N/A
Turnout 30,939 48.2 N/A
Labour hold Swing N/A

See also

Notes and references
  1. Library, House of Commons (23 June 2017). "GE2017: Marginal seats and turnout".
  2. "Fifth Periodical Report, Boundary Commission for Scotland". Archived from the original on 21 September 2007.
  3. McSmith, Andy (12 June 2008). "Struggle for survival in Labour heartland". London: The Independent. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  4. Johnson, Simon (2 July 2008). "Glasgow as bad as the Gaza Strip, says SNP leader". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  5. "BBC News". 28 August 2008.
  6. "Manor of Northstead". hm-treasury.gov.uk. 2008. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  7. "Gordon Brown faces by-election test as veteran Scots MP David Marshal quits over illness". The Daily Record. 28 June 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  8. "Notice of By-election for the UK Parliament". Retrieved 12 July 2008.
  9. BBC Scotland election coverage, Friday 25 July 2008
  10. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
  11. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll".
  12. "Glasgow East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. Glasgow Young Scot, 20 Trongate (11 May 2017). "General Election 2017 - Glasgow candidates announced".
  14. "Glasgow East parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  15. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. election result♯25Aug15
  17. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. "Glasgow East: Constituency". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  19. Press Association (2 July 2008). "By-election candidates selected". Deeside Piper and Herald. Johnston Press Digital Publishing. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  20. "In full: Glasgow East candidates". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 July 2008. Retrieved 5 July 2008.
  21. "Freedom-4-Choice party registration". Register of political parties. Electoral Commission. 6 September 2006. Archived from the original on 20 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008.
  22. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  23. "Glasgow East". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 6 December 2013.
  24. "Election 2005 Result: Glasgow East". BBC. Retrieved 6 December 2013.

♯ This reference gives all recent Glasgow City Westminster election results. You select the year and then the constituency to view the result.

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