Dundee West (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Dundee West (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Dundee West
Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Dundee West in Scotland.
Subdivisions of Scotland	Angus/City of Dundee
Current constituency
Created	1950 (1950)
Member of Parliament	Jim McGovern (Labour)
Created from	Dundee
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Scotland

Dundee West is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.

The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the two-seat Dundee constituency was split into two single seat constituencies: Dundee East and Dundee West.

Boundaries

The constituency is one of two covering the City of Dundee council area, the other being Dundee East. Current boundaries were first used in the 2005 general election.

As well as covering an eastern portion of the city area, the West constituency also includes, to the north and west, part of the Angus council area. Similarly, the east constituency includes, to the north and east, another part of the Angus council area.

Prior to the 2005 election, both constituencies were entirely within the city area, and north-eastern and north-western areas of the city were within the Angus constituency. Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the older boundaries.

Politics and history of the constituency

Dundee West is a safe seat for the Labour. Its voters have traditionally been more loyal to the Labour Party than its neighbour Dundee East having elected only Labour MPs since the 1950s. Labour's majority was reduced in 2005 by the SNP's Joe Fitzpatrick despite changes to the boundaries which should have favoured Labour suggesting that the constituency might be becoming more marginal, although the gap widened again in 2010.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [1]	Party
	1950	John Strachey	Labour
	1963 by-election	Peter Doig	Labour
	1979	Ernie Ross	Labour
	2005	Jim McGovern	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Dundee West[2]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim McGovern	17,994	48.5	+3.9
	SNP	Jim Barrie	10,716	28.9	-1.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Barnett	4,233	11.4	-3.0
	Conservative	Colin Stewart	3,461	9.3	+1.0
	Independent	Andy McBride	365	1.0	+1.0
	Trade Unionist & Socialist	Jim McFarlane	357	1.0	+1.0
Majority			7,278	19.6
Turnout			37,126	59	+2.8
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.5

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Dundee West (new boundaries)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim McGovern	16,468	44.6	n/a
	SNP	Joe Fitzpatrick	11,089	30.0	n/a
	Liberal Democrat	Nykoma Garry	5,323	14.4	n/a
	Conservative	Christopher McKinlay	3,062	8.3	n/a
	Scottish Socialist	Jim McFarlane	994	2.7	n/a
Majority			5,379	14.6	n/a
Turnout			36,936	56.1	n/a

General Election 2001: Dundee West
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernie Ross	14,787	50.6	−3.2
	SNP	Gordon Archer	7,987	27.3	+4.1
	Conservative	Ian Hail	2,656	9.1	−4.1
	Liberal Democrat	Elizabeth Dick	2,620	9.0	+1.3
	Scottish Socialist	Jim McFarlane	1,192	4.1	N/A
Majority			6,800	23.3
Turnout			29,242	54.4	−13.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Dundee West[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernie Ross	20,875	53.8	+4.8
	SNP	John Dorward	9,016	23.2	-0.4
	Conservative	Neil Powrie	5,015	13.2	-5.3
	Liberal Democrat	Elizabeth Dick	2,972	7.7	+0.2
	Scottish Socialist	Mary Ward	428	1.1	N/A
	Referendum Party	J. MacMillan	411	1.1	N/A
Majority			11,859
Turnout			38,717	67.7	-2.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Dundee West[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernie Ross	20,498	49.0
	SNP	Keith Brown	9,894	23.6
	Conservative	Andrew Spearman	7,746	18.5
	Liberal Democrat	Dr Elizabeth G. Dick	3,132	7.5
	Scottish Green	Elly Hood	432	1.0
	Natural Law	Donald Arnold	159	0.4	N/A
Majority			10,604
Turnout			41,861	69.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Dundee West[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernie Ross	24,916	53.4
	Conservative	JA Donnelly	8,390	18.0
	SNP	Alasdair Morgan	7,164	15.3
	Social Democrat	R Lonie	5,922	12.7
	Communist	S.R. Matthewson	308	0.7
Majority			16,526	35.4
Turnout			46,700	75.41
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1983: Dundee West[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernie Ross	20,288	43.46
	Conservative	D. Senior	10,138	21.72
	Social Democrat	Mrs Elizabeth G. Dick	7,976	17.09
	SNP	J. Lynch	7,973	17.08
	Ecology	P. Marks	302	0.65
Majority			10,150	21.75
Turnout			46,677	74.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: Dundee West [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ernie Ross	23,654	47.25
	SNP	Jim Fairlie	13,197	26.36
	Conservative	I. Stevenson	12,892	25.75
	Communist	R. Mennie	316	0.63
Majority			10,457	20.89
Turnout			50,059	78.4
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election Oct 1974: Dundee West [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Doig	19,480	41.01
	SNP	Jim Fairlie	16,678	35.11
	Conservative	C.G. Findlay	8,769	18.46
	Liberal	R. Hewett	2,195	4.62
	Communist	H. McLevy	381	0.80
Majority			2,802	5.90
Turnout				74.32
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election Feb 1974: Dundee West [7]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Doig	22,193	43.03
	Conservative	M. Tomison	15,745	30.53
	SNP	Jim Fairlie	12,959	25.13
	Communist	H. McLevy	673	1.31
Majority			6,448	12.50
Turnout				81.26
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Dundee West [8]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Doig	26,271	51.54
	Conservative	J.A. Payne	19,449	38.16
	SNP	J.A. Shepherd	4,441	8.71
	Communist	H. McLevy	809	1.59
Majority			6,822	13.38
Turnout				76.26
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General Election 1966: Dundee West [9]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Muir Doig	26,705	53.71
	Conservative	C.A. MacNab	18,345	36.90
	Liberal	J.W. Cruddas	3,454	6.95
	Communist	David P. Bowman	1,217	2.45
Majority			8,360	16.81
Turnout				79.90
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Dundee West [10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Muir Doig	27,090	53.34
	Unionist	H.C. Scarlett	22,473	44.25
	Communist	David P. Bowman	1,228	2.42
Majority			4,617	9.09
Turnout				81.50
	Labour hold		Swing

By-election 1963: Dundee West [11]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Muir Doig	22,449
	Unionist	Dr. Robert R. Taylor[12]	17,494
	SNP	Dr. James C. Lees	3,285
	Communist	David P. Bowman	1,170
Majority			4,955
Turnout				71.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: Dundee West [13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rt Hon John Strachey	25,847
	Unionist	Dr Robert R. Taylor	25,143
	Communist	David P. Bowman	1,087
Majority			714
Turnout				82.94
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Dundee West [14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rt Hon John Strachey	26,082	50.52
	Unionist	G.H.M. Pirie	24,208	46.89
	Communist	David P. Bowman	1,335	2.59
Majority			1,874	3.63
Turnout				82.70
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Dundee West [15]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rt Hon John Strachey	29,020	51.60
	Liberal	John Junor	25,714	45.72
	Communist	David P. Bowman	1,508	2.68
Majority			3,306	5.88
Turnout				86.80
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Dundee West [16]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rt Hon John Strachey	28,386	53.50
	Unionist	Henry Scrymgeour-Wedderburn	23,685	44.64
	Liberal	C.J. Canning	986	1.86
Majority			4,701	8.86
Turnout				88.08

References

1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
2. ^ Dundee East, UKPollingReport
3. ^ ^{a b} "Aristotle: Dundee West", Guardian Unlimited
4. ^ ^{a b} [1]
5. ^ [2]
6. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1977
7. ^ [3]
8. ^ [4]
9. ^ [5]
10. ^ [6]
11. ^ The Times, 22 Nov 1963
12. ^ and National Liberal
13. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1963
14. ^ [7]
15. ^ [8]
16. ^ [9]

Coordinates: 56°30′15″N 3°05′05″W / 56.50417°N 3.08472°W / 56.50417; -3.08472