East Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)

East Renfrewshire (known as Eastwood from 1983 until 2005) is a constituency of the House of Commons, to the south of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post system of voting.

East Renfrewshire
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of East Renfrewshire in Scotland
Local government in ScotlandEast Renfrewshire
Electorate69,982 (2015)[1]
Major settlementsBarrhead, Busby, Clarkston, Eaglesham, Giffnock, Neilston, Netherlee, Newton Mearns, Thornliebank, Uplawmoor, Waterfoot
Current constituency
Created2005
Member of ParliamentKirsten Oswald (SNP)
Number of membersOne
Created fromEastwood[2]
1885–1983
Number of membersOne
Type of constituencyCounty constituency
Replaced byEastwood[3]
Created fromRenfrewshire

Before 1997, the constituency was the safest Conservative seat in Scotland.[4][5] In the 1997 Labour landslide, it was won by Jim Murphy who held the seat until Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party was elected in the 2015 SNP landslide. In 2017, the constituency returned to Conservative control for the first time in 20 years, when it was gained by Conservative candidate Paul Masterton. However in the 2019 election Oswald was re-elected, gaining the seat for the SNP once again.

The constituency has a mostly middle-class electorate and includes affluent areas.[6]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new Eastwood constituency.

The East Renfrewshire constituency was re-established for the 2005 general election, with the same boundaries as the previous Eastwood constituency. Despite the change of name, it is the only constituency in mainland Scotland whose boundaries were unchanged by the 2005 revision of Scottish constituencies.

Boundaries and local government areas

As created in 1885 the constituency was one of four covering the area of the county of Renfrewshire (except the burgh of Renfrew and the burgh of Port Glasgow, which were components of Kilmarnock Burghs until 1918). The four constituencies were: East Renfrewshire, West Renfrewshire, Paisley and Greenock. Greenock was enlarged and renamed Greenock and Port Glasgow in 1974.

From 1885 the constituency consisted of the parishes of Eastwood, Cathcart, Mearns and Eaglesham, and part of the parish of Govan.[7]

From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The Upper County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burghs of Paisley and Johnstone, together with so much of the burgh of Renfrew as is contained within the parish of Govan in the county of Lanark."

The constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, eight years after the creation of local government regions and districts in 1975. The new constituency, with revised boundaries, was called Eastwood.

In 1996 the area of the Eastwood constituency became, also, the East Renfrewshire unitary council area.

In 1999 a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Eastwood Westminster constituency.

In the widespread redistribution of Scottish seats for the 2005 general election, the name of the Eastwood Westminster constituency was changed back to East Renfrewshire.

Constituency profile and voting patterns

An outer suburban part of the Glasgow conurbation and the rural hinterland to the south-west of the city, East Renfrewshire is predominantly an affluent, middle-class commuter area with a high proportion of owner-occupiers and professionals. East Renfrewshire has the largest Jewish population of any seat in Scotland, with almost half of Scotland's Jewish population living in that area.

At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, East Renfrewshire returned a significant majority against Scottish independence; with a voter turnout of 90.4%, 41,690 votes were cast for "No" (63.2%) and 24,287 for "Yes" (36.8%). At the 2016 European Union membership referendum, a substantial majority of votes were cast in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in East Renfrewshire, with a turnout of 76.1% there were 39,345 "Remain" votes (74.3%) to 13,596 "Leave" votes (25.7%).[8]

The area was looked on as safely Conservative before the Labour Party gained the seat in their 1997 landslide victory. East Renfrewshire was subsequently viewed as a relatively safe Labour seat until the SNP gained the seat in their 2015 landslide.

At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the Eastwood constituency, covering a majority of the East Renfrewshire parliamentary constituency, returned Conservative Jackson Carlaw as its constituency MSP with a majority of 1,611 votes (4.5%). In what would prove to be their best performance at a general election in Scotland for 34 years, the Conservatives subsequently gained the East Renfrewshire seat at the 2017 general election; with Paul Masterton being elected with a majority of 4,712 (8.8%) votes over Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party. However, in the 2019 election Oswald regained the seat for the SNP with a majority of 5,426 or 9.8%, meaning the seat remains a marginal constituency.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[9]Party
1885 James Finlayson Liberal
1886 Hugh Shaw-Stewart Conservative
1906 Sir Robert Laidlaw Liberal
Jan 1910 John Gilmour Unionist
1918 Joseph Johnstone Coalition Liberal
1922 Robert Nichol Labour
1924 Alexander Munro MacRobert Unionist
1930 Douglas Douglas-Hamilton Unionist
1940 Guy Lloyd Unionist
1959 Betty Harvie Anderson Unionist/Conservative
1979 Allan Stewart Conservative
1983 constituency abolished: see Eastwood
2005 Jim Murphy Labour
2015 Kirsten Oswald SNP
2017 Paul Masterton Conservative
2019 Kirsten Oswald SNP

Election results

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: East Renfrewshire[10][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Kirsten Oswald 24,877 44.9 +13.7
Conservative Paul Masterton 19,451 35.1 -4.9
Labour Carolann Davidson 6,855 12.4 -14.3
Liberal Democrats Andrew McGlynn 4,174 7.5 +5.4
Majority 5,426 9.8 N/A
Turnout 55,357 76.6 -0.2
SNP gain from Conservative Swing +9.3
General election 2017: East Renfrewshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Paul Masterton 21,496 40.0 +18.0
SNP Kirsten Oswald 16,784 31.2 –9.4
Labour Blair McDougall 14,346 26.7 –7.4
Liberal Democrats Aileen Morton 1,112 2.1 +0.2
Majority 4,712 8.8 N/A
Turnout 53,805 76.8 –4.3
Conservative gain from SNP Swing +13.7
General election 2015: East Renfrewshire[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Kirsten Oswald[14] 23,013 40.6 +31.7
Labour Jim Murphy[15] 19,295 34.0 –16.8
Conservative David Montgomery[16] 12,465 22.0 –8.4
Liberal Democrats Graeme Cowie[17] 1,069 1.9 –7.3
UKIP Robert Malyn[18] 888 1.6 +0.9
Majority 3,718 6.6 N/A
Turnout 56,730 81.1 +3.8
SNP gain from Labour Swing +24.3
General election 2010: East Renfrewshire[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Jim Murphy 25,987 50.8 +6.9
Conservative Richard Cook 15,567 30.4 +0.5
Liberal Democrats Gordon MacDonald 4,720 9.2 –9.1
SNP Gordon Archer 4,535 8.9 +2.1
UKIP Donald McKay 372 0.7 New
Majority 10,420 20.4 +6.4
Turnout 51,181 77.3 +5.2
Labour hold Swing +3.2

Elections in the 2000s
General election 2005: East Renfrewshire[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Jim Murphy 20,815 43.9 –3.7
Conservative Richard Cook 14,158 29.9 +1.1
Liberal Democrats Gordon MacDonald 8,659 18.3 +5.4
SNP Osama Bhutta 3,245 6.8 –1.7
Scottish Socialist Ian Henderson 528 1.1 –0.6
Majority 6,657 14.0 –4.9
Turnout 47,405 72.1 +1.4
Labour hold Swing –2.4

Elections in the 1970s
General election 1979: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Allan Stewart 25,910 49.89 +8.54
Labour E Sullivan 12,672 24.40 +4.57
Liberal WGA Craig 9,366 18.03 +3.41
SNP J Pow 3,989 7.68 -15.52
Majority 13,238 25.49 +7.31
Turnout 51,937 80.58 +2.93
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Betty Harvie Anderson 19,847 41.35
SNP I Jenkins 11,137 23.20
Labour CJ Roberts 9,997 20.83
Liberal WGA Craig 7,015 14.62
Majority 8,710 18.15
Turnout 77.65
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Betty Harvie Anderson 25,713 50.62
Labour RS Stewart 10,227 20.13
Liberal WGA Craig 9,588 18.88
SNP S Watterson 5,268 10.37
Majority 15,486 30.49
Turnout 80.66
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1970: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Betty Harvie Anderson 29,163 52.07
Labour Jessie Carnegie 16,062 28.68
Liberal Olivia Watt 7,053 12.59
SNP John M. Buchanan 3,733 6.66 New
Majority 13,101 23.39
Turnout 76.16
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s
General election 1966: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Betty Harvie Anderson 28,017 53.17
Labour Robert Lochrie 17,426 33.07
Liberal James W McHardy 7,252 13.76
Majority 10,591 20.10
Turnout 79.88
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1964: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Betty Harvie Anderson 27,846 52.54
Labour James Gordon 16,503 31.14
Liberal Derek M H Starforth 8,655 16.33
Majority 11,343 21.40
Turnout 82.63
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1950s
General election 1959: Renfrewshire East[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Betty Harvie Anderson 29,672 58.65
Labour Arthur J Houston 14,579 28.82
Liberal Derek M H Starforth 6,339 12.53 New
Majority 15,093 29.83
Turnout 82.85
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1955: Renfrewshire East[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Guy Lloyd 30,959 68.30
Labour David J Phillips 14,371 31.70
Majority 16,588 36.60
Turnout 78.12
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1951: Renfrewshire East[23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Guy Lloyd 31,908 65.80
Labour David J Phillips 16,588 34.20
Majority 15,320 31.60
Turnout 81.74
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1950: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Guy Lloyd 31,650 65.44
Labour William L Taylor 16,716 34.56
Majority 14,934 30.88
Turnout 78.87
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1940s
General election 1945: Renfrewshire East
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Guy Lloyd 42,310 53.6 -2.0
Labour Co-op D. McArthur 36,634 46.4 +12.4
Majority 5,676 7.2 -14.4
Turnout 78,944 67.2 -8.7
Unionist hold Swing
1940 by-election: Renfrewshire East[24]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Guy Lloyd 34,316 80.7 +25.1
Ind. Labour Party Annie Maxton 8,206 19.3 New
Majority 26,110 61.4 +39.8
Turnout 42,522 43.4
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1930s
General election 1935: Renfrew Eastern[25]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Douglas Douglas-Hamilton 35,121 55.6 −3.8
Labour Co-op James Barr 21,475 34.0 +7.3
SNP Oliver Brown 6,593 10.4 −3.5
Majority 13,646 21.6 −11.1
Turnout 63,189 75.9 −4.8
Unionist hold Swing −6.6
General election 1931: Renfrew Eastern[26][27]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Douglas Douglas-Hamilton 27,740 59.38
Labour Co-op James Strain 12,477 26.71
National (Scotland) Oliver Brown 6,498 13.91
Majority 15,263 32.67
Turnout 80.67
Unionist hold Swing
1930 by-election: East Renfrewshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Douglas Douglas-Hamilton 19,753 53.6 +1.4
Ind. Labour Party Thomas Irwin 12,293 33.3 New
National (Scotland) William Brown 4,818 13.1 New
Majority 7,460 20.3 +15.9
Turnout 69.0 −17.8
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1920s
General election 1929: East Renfrewshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Alexander Munro MacRobert 18,487 52.2 −3.5
Labour John Martin Munro 16,924 47.8 +3.5
Majority 1,563 4.4 −7.0
Turnout 35,411 77.8 −5.7
Registered electors 45,525
Unionist hold Swing −3.7
1926 by-election: East Renfrewshire[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Alexander Munro MacRobert 11,817 52.0 −3.7
Labour John Martin Munro 10,889 48.0 +3.7
Majority 928 4.0 −7.4
Turnout 22,706 75.2 −8.3
Registered electors 30,211
Unionist hold Swing −3.7

Alexander Munro MacRobert was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland on 31 December 1925.[29]

General election 1924: Renfrewshire East[28]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Unionist Alexander Munro MacRobert 13,716 55.7 +13.4
Labour Robert Nichol 10,903 44.3 −0.3
Majority 2,813 11.4 N/A
Turnout 24,619 83.5 +7.6
Registered electors 29,493
Unionist gain from Labour Swing +6.9
General election 1923: Renfrewshire East[30]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Robert Nichol 9,857 44.6 +2.1
Unionist Frederick Lobnitz 9,349 42.3 +2.3
Liberal William Crawford 2,887 13.1 −4.4
Majority 508 2.3 −0.2
Turnout 22,093 75.9 −4.7
Registered electors 29,095
Labour hold Swing −0.1
General election 1922: Renfrewshire East[31]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Robert Nichol 9,708 42.5 +14.7
Unionist Frederick Lobnitz 9,158 40.0 New
Liberal Joseph Johnstone 4,013 17.5 −54.7
Majority 550 2.5 N/A
Turnout 22,879 80.6 +15.9
Registered electors 28,394
Labour gain from Liberal Swing +34.7

Elections in the 1910s
Johnstone
General election 1918: Renfrewshire East[32]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
C Liberal Joseph Johnstone 13,107 72.2 +25.3
Labour Robert Spence 5,048 27.8 New
Majority 8,059 44.4 N/A
Turnout 18,155 64.7 −24.2
Registered electors 28,066
Liberal gain from Unionist Swing N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.
General election December 1910: Renfrewshire East[33][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gilmour 10,063 53.1 +0.7
Liberal Ian Macpherson 8,883 46.9 −0.7
Majority 1,180 6.2 +1.4
Turnout 18,946 88.9 +2.0
Registered electors 21,314
Conservative hold Swing +0.7
General election January 1910: Renfrewshire East[33][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Gilmour 9,645 52.4 +2.7
Liberal Robert Laidlaw 8,771 47.6 −2.7
Majority 874 4.8 N/A
Turnout 18,416 87.9 +6.4
Registered electors 20,947
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +2.7

Elections in the 1900s
Laidlaw
General election 1906: Renfrewshire East[35][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Robert Laidlaw 6,896 50.3 New
Conservative Hugh Shaw-Stewart 6,801 49.7 N/A
Majority 95 0.6 N/A
Turnout 13,697 81.5 N/A
Registered electors 16,797
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing N/A
General election 1900: Renfrewshire East[36][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hugh Shaw-Stewart Unopposed
Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s
General election 1895: Renfrewshire East[36][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hugh Shaw-Stewart Unopposed
Conservative hold
General election 1892: Renfrewshire East[37][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hugh Shaw-Stewart 4,484 56.9 −4.1
Liberal John Gloag Murdoch[38] 3,397 43.1 +4.1
Majority 1,087 13.8 −8.2
Turnout 7,881 80.5 +5.2
Registered electors 9,792
Conservative hold Swing −4.1

Elections in the 1880s
General election 1886: Renfrewshire East[39][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Hugh Shaw-Stewart 3,806 61.0 +14.7
Lib-Lab James Samuelson 2,438 39.0 −14.7
Majority 1,368 22.0 N/A
Turnout 6,244 75.3 −6.5
Registered electors 8,295
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +14.7
General election 1885: Renfrewshire East[39][34]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal James Finlayson 3,642 53.7 N/A
Conservative Allan Gilmour, jun 3,144 46.3 N/A
Majority 498 7.4 N/A
Turnout 6,786 81.8 N/A
Registered electors 8,295
Liberal win (new seat)
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See also

References
  1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "UK general election data 2015 - results". The Electoral Commission; The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. "East Renfrewshire' UK Parliament, 5 May 2005". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  3. "'East Renfrewshire', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  4. "UK Polling Report". Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  5. McCall, Chris (10 November 2019). "East Renfrewshire: Brexit threatens to change election dynamic of bellwether seat". The Scotsman. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  6. Kemp, Jackie (22 January 2008). "Competition for places in East Renfrewshire state schools". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  7. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule, Part II
  8. "Revised estimates of leave vote in Westminster constituencies". Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  9. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 1)
  10. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". East Renfrewshire constituency. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  11. "Renfrewshire East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  12. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=14453&p=0
  14. "KirstenOswaldEastRenfrewshire". Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  15. "Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy 'remains Westminster candidate'". BBC News.
  16. "General election 2015 - Conservative candidate chosen for East Renfrewshire". ERNW. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  17. "East Renfrewshire Liberal Democrats". East Renfrewshire Liberal Democrats.
  18. "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
  19. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  20. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. http://tools.assembla.com/svn/grodt/uk/thc/files/marked_up/1959_marked_up.txt
  24. Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
  25. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  26. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  27. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 644. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
  28. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
  29. Oliver & Boyd's Edonburgh Almanack, 1927
  30. The Times, 8 December 1923
  31. The Times, 17 November 1922
  32. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  33. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  34. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  35. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  36. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  37. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
  38. "Significant Scots: John G [Gloag] Murdoch". Electric Scotland. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  39. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
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