Kirkcaldy (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Scottish Parliament constituency infobox
Name = Kirkcaldy
Type = county


Region = Mid Scotland and Fife
Year = 1999
MSP = Marilyn Livingstone
Party = Labour
Council = Fife
Kirkcaldy is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

:"See also "Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Dunfermline East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Ochil, Perth, Stirling and Tayside North.

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 [See [http://www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk/ "The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland] "] . The Kirkcaldy Westminster constituency was divided between Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

The Holyrood constituency of Kirkcaldy is one of five Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies covering the Fife council area, the others being Dunfermline East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central and Fife North East. All are entirely within the council area.

Kirkcaldy covers a southern portion of the council area, south of Fife Central and east of Dunfermline East.

Description of the constituency

The constituency includes the town of Kirkcaldy and some popular seaside resorts, such as Burntisland and Kinghorn. Though coastal, it is dependent upon both light and heavy industry, their decline leading to above-average unemployment. In Westminster elections the area has been safely held by Labour since 1945.

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Marilyn Livingstone
votes = 10,627
percentage = 43.9
change = -2.8 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Chris Harvie
votes = 8,005
percentage = 33.1
change = +8.4 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Alice Soper
votes = 3,361
percentage = 13.9
change = +2.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = David Potts
votes = 2,202
percentage = 9.1
change = -1.5 Election box majority
votes = 2,622
percentage = 10.8
change = Election box turnout
votes = 24,195
percentage = 47.7
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish Labour Party
loser =
swing = -5.6%

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Marilyn Livingstone
votes = 10,235
percentage = 46.7
change = -1.5 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Colin Welsh
votes = 5,411
percentage = 24.7
change = -7.7 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Alex Cole-Hamilton
votes = 2,417
percentage = 11.0
change = +1.8 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = Mike Scott-Hayward
votes = 2,332
percentage = 10.6
change = +0.4 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Rudi Vogels
votes = 1,544
percentage = 7.0
change = +7.0Election box majority
votes = 4,824
percentage = 22.0
change = N/AElection box turnout
votes = 21,939
percentage = 44.2
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish Labour Party
loser =
swing = -1.5%

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Marilyn Livingstone
votes = 13,645
percentage = 48.14
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Stewart Hosie
votes = 9,170
percentage = 32.35
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = Mike Scott-Hayward
votes = 2,907
percentage = 10.26
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = John Mainland
votes = 2,620
percentage = 9.24
change = N/AElection box majority
votes = 4,475
percentage = 15.79
change = N/AElection box turnout
votes = 28,342
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish Labour Party
loser =
swing = N/A

Footnotes