West Dunbartonshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 55°57′58″N 4°30′22″W / 55.966°N 4.506°W / 55.966; -4.506

West Dunbartonshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Dunbartonshire in Scotland.
Subdivisions of Scotland	Scotland
Major settlements	West Dunbartonshire
Current constituency
Created	2005 (2005)
Member of Parliament	Gemma Doyle (Labour Co-op)
Number of members	One
Created from	Dumbarton Clydebank & Milngavie
1950 (1950)–1983 (1983)
Number of members	One
Created from	Dunbartonshire Dumbarton Burghs
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Scotland

West 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 and covers the same area as the county of West Dunbartonshire.

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

The current MP is Gemma Doyle of the Labour Party, elected at the 2010 general election.

Boundaries

Historic

The historic constituency was created under the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, and first used in the 1950 general election.^[1]

As created in 1950, the constituency was one of two covering the county of Dunbarton. The other was East Dunbartonshire. The two new constituencies replaced the earlier constituencies of Dunbartonshire and Dumbarton Burghs.^[1]

West Dunbartonshire covered the Helensburgh, Old Kilpatrick, and Vale of Leven districts of the county and the burghs of Cove and Kilcreggan, Dumbarton, and Helensburgh.^[1]

For the 1951 general election the constituency boundaries were adjusted to take account of a change to the boundaries of the Old Kilpatrick district.^[1]

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 West Dunbartonshire, and the boundaries of 1951 and 1955 were used also in the general elections of 1959, 1964, 1966 and 1970.^[1]

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 West Dunbartonshire became one of three constituencies covering the county. The other two were East Dunbartonshire and Central Dunbartonshire. West Dunbartonshire now covered the Helensburgh and Vale of Leven districts and the burghs of Cove and Kilcreggan, Dumbarton, and Helensburgh.^[1]

February 1974 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]}

Current

West Dunbartonshire as one of the council areas of Scotland

The existing constituency was created as a result of the Fifth Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, It covers and is entirely within the West Dunbartonshire council area.^[2]

The area of the constituency was previously divided between the Dumbarton and Clydebank and Milngavie constituencies.^[2] It includes the population centres of Clydebank, Dumbarton and Alexandria.

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.

Member of Parliament, 2005 to present

• 2005 – 2010: John McFall, Labour Co-operative, previously MP for Dumbarton, since 1987.
• 2010 – present: Gemma Doyle, Labour Co-operative

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: West Dunbartonshire[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Gemma Doyle	25,905	61.3	+9.4
	SNP	Graeme McCormick	8,497	20.1	−1.6
	Liberal Democrat	Helen Watt	3,434	8.1	−6.3
	Conservative	Martyn McIntyre	3,242	7.7	+1.2
	UKIP	Mitch Sorbie	683	1.6	+0.8
	Socialist Labour	Katharine McGavigan	505	1.2	N/A
Majority			17,408	41.2	+11.0
Turnout			42,266	64.0	+2.6
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	+5.5

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: West Dunbartonshire
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	John McFall	21,600	51.9%	-11.6
	SNP	Tom Chalmers	9,047	21.8%	-2.2
	Liberal Democrat	Niall Walker	5,999	14.4%	+12.0
	Conservative	Campbell Murdoch	2,679	6.4%	+1.4
	Scottish Socialist	Les Robertson	1,708	4.1%	-0.9
	UKIP	Bryan Maher	354	0.9%	+0.9
	Christian Vote	Marlon Dawson	202	0.5%	+0.5
Majority			12,553	30.2%
Turnout			41,589	61.3	-2.9
	Labour Co-op hold		Swing	-4.7

The current West Dunbartonshire constituency was formed in 2005 from parts of the earlier Dumbarton, and Clydebank and Milngavie constituencies.

Members of Parliament, 1950 to 1983

• 1950 Adam McKinlay
• 1951 Tom Steele
• 1970 Ian Campbell

Election results

Elections in the 1970s

General Election Oct 1974: West Dunbartonshire [4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ian Campbell	15,511
	SNP	A. Murray	13,697
	Conservative	R.R. MacDonald	9,421
	Liberal	J.D. Murricane	2,029
Majority			1,814

Elections in the 1950s

General Election 1959: West Dunbartonshire [5]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tom Steele	22,105
	Conservative	N.M. Glen	19,964
Majority			2,141

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, 1972
2. ^ ^{a b} Boundary Commission for Scotland website
3. ^ BBC - Election 2010 - Dunbartonshire West
4. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1977
5. ^ Whitaker's Almanack, 1963

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)