Airdrie and Shotts (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 55°50′42″N 3°53′31″W / 55.845°N 3.892°W / 55.845; -3.892

Airdrie and Shotts
Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Airdrie and Shotts in Scotland for the 2005 general election.
Subdivisions of Scotland North Lanarkshire
Current constituency
Created 1997
Member of parliament Neil Gray (SNP)
Created from Monklands East
Overlaps
Scottish Parliament Central Scotland
European Parliament constituency Scotland

Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in central Scotland within the North Lanarkshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.

The constituency has existed since 1997; however, it underwent significant boundary changes in 2005. Before 2015 it could have been described as a safe seat for the Labour Party, who held it with a majority of over 12,000 votes until its current MP, Neil Gray of the Scottish National Party, was elected in that year's general election. Former MPs for the constituency include Pamela Nash, former Baby of the House, John Reid, former Labour Home Secretary and Defence Secretary, and Helen Liddell, former Labour Scottish Secretary.

It is a generally working class, urban seat, and contains the towns of Airdrie, Calderbank, Chapelhall, Glenmavis and Shotts.

Boundaries and history

1997-2005: The Monklands District electoral divisions of Airdrie North and Airdrie South, and the Motherwell District electoral division of Fortissat.

2005-present: The North Lanarkshire Council wards of Academy, Airdrie Central, Benhar, Calderbank, Chapelhall, Clarkston, Craigneuk and Petersburn, Dykehead, Holytown, New Monkland West, Newarthill, Newmains, North Cairnhill and Coatdyke, Plains and Caldercruix, Salsburgh, South East Cairnhill and Gartlea, Stane, and Whinhall.

The majority of the newly created constituency maintains the boundaries of its predecessor. From North Lanarkshire come Holytown and Newarthill. This seat is positioned on either side of the M8 motorway to Glasgow.

Small semi-urban towns such as Stane, Dykehead and Shotts were added to Airdrie in the 1997 redistribution to form this seat, the predecessor of which was Monklands East. An area in the eastern part of Coatbridge is also part of the constituency.

The 2005 changes saw the seat lose some territory to Motherwell and Wishaw whilst gaining part of Hamilton North and Bellshill. It proved to be a Labour Party stronghold from its creation until the SNP won it in 2015.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[1]Party
1997 Helen Liddell Labour
2005 John Reid Labour
2010 Pamela Nash Labour
2015 Neil Gray Scottish National Party

Election results

Elections of the 2010s

General Election 2015: Airdrie and Shotts[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Neil Gray 23,887 53.9 +30.4
Labour Pamela Nash 15,108 34.1 −24.0
Conservative Eric Holford 3,389 7.7 −1.0
UKIP Matthew Williams 1,088 2.5 +2.5
Liberal Democrat John Love 678 1.5 −6.6
Independent Deryck Beaumont 136 0.3 N/A
Majority 8,779 19.8
Turnout 44,286 66.3 +8.8
SNP gain from Labour Swing +27.2
General Election 2010: Airdrie and Shotts[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Pamela Nash 20,849 58.2 −0.9
SNP Sophia Coyle 8,441 23.5 +7.0
Conservative Ruth Whitfield 3,133 8.7 −1.1
Liberal Democrat John Love 2,898 8.1 −3.4
Independent John McGeechan 528 1.5 N/A
Majority 12,408 34.6
Turnout 35,849 57.5 +2.8
Labour hold Swing −3.9

Elections of the 2000s

General Election 2005: Airdrie and Shotts[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour John Reid 19,568 59.0 +0.8
SNP Malcolm Balfour 5,484 16.5 −2.8
Liberal Democrat Helen Watt 3,792 11.4 +3.9
Conservative Stuart Cottis 3,271 9.9 −3.7
Scottish Socialist Fraser Coats 706 2.1 −1.6
Scottish Independence Party Joseph Rowan 337 1.0 N/A
Majority 14,084 42.5
Turnout 33,158 53.5 −0.7
Labour hold Swing +1.5
General Election 2001: Airdrie and Shotts[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Helen Liddell 18,478 58.2 −3.6
SNP Mrs. Alison Jean Lindsay 6,138 19.3 −5.1
Liberal Democrat John Love 2,376 7.5 +3.3
Conservative Gordon McIntosh 1,960 6.2 −2.7
Scottish Unionist Mark Dempsey 1,439 4.5 N/A
Scottish Socialist Kenny McGuigan 1,171 3.7 N/A
Socialist Labour Christ Herriot 174 0.5 N/A
Majority 12,340 38.9
Turnout 31,736 54.4 −17.0
Labour hold Swing

Elections of the 1990s

General Election 1997: Airdrie and Shotts[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Helen Liddell 25,460 61.8 N/A
SNP Keith R.A. Robertson 10,048 24.4 N/A
Conservative Nicholas H. Brook 3,660 8.9 N/A
Liberal Democrat Richard G. Wolseley 1,719 4.2 N/A
Referendum Crawford Semple 294 0.7 N/A
Majority 15,412 37.4 N/A
Turnout 41,181 71.4 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

References

  1. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)
  2. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  3. ↑ http://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=31684
  4. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  5. ↑ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/election2010/results/constituency/803.stm
  6. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.