East Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 55°58′34″N 4°12′40″W / 55.976°N 4.211°W / 55.976; -4.211

East Dunbartonshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of East Dunbartonshire in Scotland.
Local government in EastDunbartonshire	East Dunbartonshire
Current constituency
Created	2005 (2005)
Member of Parliament	Jo Swinson (Liberal Democrat)
Number of members	One
Created from	Strathkelvin & Bearsden Clydebank & Milngavie Coatbridge & Chryston
1950 (1950)–1983 (1983)
Number of members	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Dunbartonshire Dumbarton Burghs
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Scotland

East Dunbartonshire is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

The current constituency was first used in the 2005 general election. There was also an earlier East Dunbartonshire constituency, from 1950 to 1983.

Boundaries

Council areas grouped by the Fifth Periodical Review

East Dunbartonshire and North Lanarkshire

Current

The existing constituency was created as a result of the Fifth Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, as one of two covering the East Dunbartonshire council area and one of five covering the East Dunbartonshire council area and the North Lanarkshire council area.^[1]

The East Dunbartonshire constituency is entirely within the East Dunbartonshire council area, and the rest of the council area is covered by the Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East constituency, which also covers part of the North Lanarkshire council area. The rest of the North Lanarkshire area is covered by the Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, and Motherwell and Wishaw constituencies.^[1]

The East Dunbartonshire constituency replaced most of the Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency and some of the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency and some of the Coatbridge and Chryston constituency.^[1]

The Fifth Periodical Review did not affect the boundaries of Scottish Parliament constituencies, which retain the boundaries of Westminster constituencies prior to implementation of the results of the review.

Historic

The historic constituency was created under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, and first used in the 1950 general election.^[2]

As created in 1950, the constituency was one of two covering the county of Dunbarton. The other was West Dunbartonshire. The two new constituencies replaced the earlier constituencies of Dunbartonshire and Dumbarton Burghs.^[2]

East Dunbartonshire covered the Cumbernauld, Kirkintilloch, and New Kilpatrick districts of the county and the burghs of Clydebank, Kirkintilloch, and Milngavie.^[2]

For the 1951 general election the constituency boundaries were adjusted to take account of a change to the boundaries of the burgh of Clydebank.^[2]

The results of the First Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission were implemented for the 1955 general election, but there was no change to the boundaries of East Dunbartonshire, and the boundaries of 1951 and 1955 were used also in the general elections of 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970.^[2]

The results of the Second Periodical Review were implemented for the February 1974 general election. The review took account of population growth in the county of Dunbarton, caused by overspill from the city of Glasgow into the new town of Cumbernauld and elsewhere,^{[citation needed]} and East Dunbartonshire became one of three constituencies covering the county. East Dunbartonshire now covered the Kirkintilloch and Cumbernauld districts of the county and the burghs of Bearsden, Cumbernauld, and Kirkintilloch, but it lost Clydebank and Milngavie to the new constituency of Central Dunbartonshire. These boundaries were used also for the general elections of October 1974 and 1979.^{[citation needed]}

In 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, Scottish counties were abolished in favour of regions and districts and islands council areas, and the county of Dunbarton was divided between several districts of the new region of Strathclyde. The Third Periodical Review took account of new local government boundaries, and the results were implemented for the 1983 general election.^{[citation needed]}

Members of Parliament

MPs 1950–1983

Election		Member [3]	Party
	1950	David Kirkwood	Labour
	1951	Cyril Bence	Labour
	1970	Hugh McCartney	Labour
	Feb 1974	Barry Henderson	Conservative
	Oct 1974	Margaret Bain	SNP
	1979	Norman Hogg	Labour
	1983	constituency abolished

MPs since 2005

Election		Member [3]	Party
2005		constituency recreated
	2005	Jo Swinson	Liberal Democrat

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: East Dunbartonshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jo Swinson	18,551	38.69%
	Labour	Mary Galbraith	16,367	34.13%
	Conservative	Mark Nolan	7,431	15.50%
	SNP	Iain White	5,054	10.54%
	UKIP	James Beeley	545	1.14%
Majority			2,184	4.6%
Turnout			46,724	72,1	+10.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	{{{swing}}}

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: East Dunbartonshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Jo Swinson	19,533	41.8%	+14.7
	Labour	John Lyons	15,472	33.1%	-0.2
	Conservative	David Jack	7,708	16.5%	-6.0
	SNP	Chris Sagan	2,716	5.8%	-8.9
	Scottish Green	Stuart Callison	876	1.9%	+1.9
	Scottish Socialist	Pamela Page	419	0.9%	-1.5
Majority			4,061	8.7%
Turnout			46,724	72,1	+10.1
	Liberal Democrat gain from Labour		Swing	+7.4

The constituency of 1950 to 1983 has an unusual electoral history, in that in two consecutive general elections it was gained by the party in third place at the previous election. In October 1974 the SNP leapfrogged Labour to defeat the Tories, and in 1979 Labour leapfrogged the Tories to beat the SNP. Furthermore, the constituency went the opposite way to the nation in two consecutive changes of government. In February 1974, the Tories gained it from Labour, though losing nationally, while in 1979 Labour regained the seat from the SNP, though losing nationally. Apart from Ynys Mon in Wales, East Dunbartonshire is the only seat to have been be represented by the three main parties and the nationalists.

The October 1974 result was also particularly unusual since it produced both the smallest majority in the UK at that election, and the closest three-way result since 1945.

Elections in the 1970s

General Election 1979: East Dunbartonshire [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Norman Hogg	23,268	37.9
	Conservative	Michael Hirst	20,944	34.1
	SNP	Margaret Bain	12,654	20.6
	Liberal	R Waddell	4,600	7.5

General Election Oct 1974: East Dunbartonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Margaret Bain	15,551
	Conservative	Barry Henderson	15,529
	Labour	E.F. McGarry	15,122
	Liberal	J.A. Thompson	3,636

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: East Dunbartonshire [6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cyril Bence	27,942
	Conservative	David Colville Anderson VRD QC	24,593
	Communist	A.E. Henderson	2,200
Majority			3,349

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b c} Boundary Commission for Scotland website
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, 1972
3. ^ ^{a b} Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
4. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1980
5. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1977
6. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1963

See also