Falkirk West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Falkirk West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Not to be confused with Falkirk West (UK Parliament constituency).

Falkirk West
county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Falkirk West shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyScottish National Party
MSPMichael Matheson
Council areaFalkirk

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, Falkirk West was reshaped as part of wider boundary reviews.

Electoral region
See also: Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region are Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Motherwell and Wishaw and Uddingston and Bellshill.

The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[1]

The Holyrood constituency covers a western portion of the Falkirk council area. The rest of the Falkirk area is covered by Falkirk East, which is also within the Central Scotland electoral region.

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the newly reshaped Falkirk West was formed from the following electoral wards:[2]

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 Dennis Canavan Independent
2007 Michael Matheson Scottish National Party

Election results

2010s
2016 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Michael Matheson 18,260 56.9 +1.6
Labour Mandy Telford 6,980 21.8 -13.2
Conservative Alison Harris 5,877 18.3 +10.9
Liberal Democrats Gillian Cole-Hamilton 966 3.0 +0.7
Majority 11,280 35.1 +14.8
Turnout 32,083 53.8 +3.9
SNP hold Swing +7.4
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Michael Matheson 15,607 55.3 +13.5
Labour Dennis Goldie 9,862 35.0 -4.3
Conservative Allan Finnie 2,086 7.4 -2.7
Liberal Democrats Callum Chomczuk 644 2.3 -6.5
Majority 5,745 20.3 N/A
Turnout 28,199 47.9 -3.8
SNP win (new boundaries)

2000s
2007 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Michael Matheson 12,068 41.9 +24.1
Labour Dennis Goldie 11,292 39.2 +21.8
Conservative Stephen O'Rourke 2,887 10.0 +3.7
Liberal Democrats Callum Chomczuk 2,538 8.8 +6.0
Majority 776 2.7 N/A
Turnout 28,785 51.7 +1.1
SNP gain from Independent Swing +1.2
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Dennis Canavan 14,703 55.69 +0.71
SNP Michael Matheson 4,703 17.81 +0.03
Labour Lee Whitehill 4,589 17.38 -1.39
Conservative Iain Mitchell 1,657 6.28 +0.65
Liberal Democrats Jacqueline Kelly 748 2.83 -3.43
Majority 10,000 37.88 +1.67
Turnout 26,400 50.65 -12.39
Independent hold Swing

1990s
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Independent Dennis Canavan 18,511 54.98 +54.98
Labour Ross Martin 6,319 18.77 -40.58
SNP Michael Matheson 5,986 17.78 -5.65
Conservative Gordon Millar 1,897 5.63 -6.46
Liberal Democrats Jane Hook 1,889 6.26 -0.97
Majority 12,192 36.21 N/A
Turnout 34,602 63.04 N/A
Independent win (new seat)

Notes
  1. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Falkirk West: Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (map, 2015), Falkirk Council
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