North East Fife (UK Parliament constituency)

North East Fife is a county constituency in Fife, Scotland, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Wendy Chamberlain of the Liberal Democrats since the 2019 general election.

Not to be confused with North East Fife (Scottish Parliament constituency).
North East Fife
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of North East Fife in Scotland
Major settlementsCupar, Leuchars
Current constituency
Created1983
Member of ParliamentWendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrats)
Created fromEast Fife

The seat was created in 1983, and was held by the Conservative Party for four years, before being represented by Menzies Campbell from 1987 to 2015. Campbell was elected as a member of the Liberal Party, which later merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democrats. At the 2015 general election, the seat was gained by Stephen Gethins of the Scottish National Party (SNP). Gethins held his seat at the 2017 general election by just two votes over Elizabeth Riches of the Liberal Democrats, making the seat the most marginal in the United Kingdom. In the 2019 general election, Chamberlain defeated Gethins to regain the seat for the Liberal Democrats; this was the SNP's only loss of the election.

Boundaries

1983–2005: North East Fife District.

2005–present: The area of the Fife Council other than those parts in the constituencies of Dunfermline and West Fife, Glenrothes, and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

North East Fife constituency is in the region of Fife in Scotland. Fife has the River Tay on its northern coast, and the Firth of Forth to the south. The famous golf and university town of St Andrews is the major settlement in the seat. Others include Cupar, Newport-on-Tay, Newburgh, Auchtermuchty, and Anstruther.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[1] Party
1983Barry HendersonConservative
1987 Menzies Campbell Liberal
1992 Liberal Democrats
2015 Stephen Gethins SNP
2019 Wendy Chamberlain Liberal Democrats

Election results

Elections in the 2010s
General election 2019: North East Fife[2][3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Wendy Chamberlain 19,763 43.1 +10.2
SNP Stephen Gethins 18,447 40.2 +7.3
Conservative Tony Miklinski 5,961 13.0 -11.1
Labour Wendy Haynes 1,707 3.7 -5.9
Majority 1,316 2.9 N/A
Turnout 45,878 75.3 +4.1
Liberal Democrats gain from SNP Swing +1.5

The seat was notable in several respects in the 2019 general election: it was the SNP's only loss of the election,[4] and was the seat with the largest decrease in vote share for the Conservative Party (after the special case of Chorley, where the party did not stand). The seat had the smallest Labour share of the vote in the United Kingdom at 3.7%,[5] The seat went from the most marginal seat in Britain at the 2017 general election to the fortieth most marginal in 2019 (measured by percentage majority).[6] The seat was the second most marginal Liberal Democrat-held seat at the election (after Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross), when measured by absolute majority.[7]

General election 2017: North East Fife[8][9][10][11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Stephen Gethins 13,743 32.9 -8.0
Liberal Democrats Elizabeth Riches 13,741 32.9 +1.6
Conservative Tony Miklinski 10,088 24.1 +7.8
Labour Rosalind Garton 4,026 9.6 +1.9
Independent Sovereign Democratic Britain Mike Scott-Hayward 224 0.5 New
Majority 2 0.004 -9.6
Turnout 41,822 71.3 -1.7
SNP hold Swing -4.8

North East Fife was the most marginal result in the country at the 2017 general election, with incumbent SNP MP Stephen Gethins seeing his majority cut from 4,344 votes (9.6%) to 2 votes (0.004%) ahead of the Liberal Democrat candidate, Elizabeth Riches. An alike result in Winchester at the 1997 general election was adjudicated and declared void and resulted in a legislative change in party naming rules.[13]

General election 2015: North East Fife[14][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Stephen Gethins 18,523 40.9 +26.7
Liberal Democrats Tim Brett 14,179 31.3 −13.0
Conservative Huw Bell 7,373 16.3 −5.5
Labour Brian Thomson 3,476 7.7 −9.6
Scottish Green Andrew Collins 1,387 3.1 New
Independent Mike Scott-Hayward 325 0.7 New
Majority 4,344 9.6 N/A
Turnout 45,263 73.0 +6.4
SNP gain from Liberal Democrats Swing +19.9
General election 2010: North East Fife[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell 17,763 44.3 −7.8
Conservative Miles Briggs 8,715 21.8 +2.3
Labour Mark Hood 6,869 17.1 +4.3
SNP Roderick Campbell 5,685 14.2 +3.8
UKIP Mike Scott-Hayward 1,032 2.6 +1.2
Majority 9,048 22.5 -10.1
Turnout 40,064 63.6 +1.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing −5.0

Elections in the 2000s

In 2005 the ward of Leven East was incorporated into this constituency from what was Central Fife.

General election 2005: North East Fife (new boundaries)[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell 20,088 52.1 +3.0
Conservative Mike Scott-Hayward 7,517 19.5 -3.4
Labour Tony King 4,920 12.8 -1.6
SNP Roderick Campbell 4,011 10.4 -0.3
Scottish Green James Park 1,071 2.8 N/A
UKIP Duncan Pickard 533 1.4 N/A
Scottish Socialist Jack Ferguson 416 1.1 -0.7
Majority 12,571 32.6 N/A
Turnout 38,556 62.1 N/A
Liberal Democrats win (new boundaries)
General election 2001: North East Fife[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell 17,926 51.7 +0.5
Conservative Mike Scott-Hayward 8,190 23.6 −2.9
Labour Claire Brennan 3,950 11.4 +1.1
SNP Kris Murray-Browne 3,596 10.4 −0.4
Scottish Socialist Keith White 610 1.8 New
Legalise Cannabis Leslie Von Goetz 420 1.2 New
Majority 9,736 28.1 +3.4
Turnout 34,692 56.0 −14.5
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +1.7

Elections in the 1990s
General election 1997: North East Fife[19]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell 21,432 51.2 +4.8
Conservative Adam Bruce 11,076 26.5 −12.0
SNP Colin Welsh 4,545 10.8 +2.2
Labour Charles Milne 4,301 10.3 +4.8
Referendum William Stewart 485 1.2 New
Majority 10,356 24.7 +16.8
Turnout 41,839 70.5 −7.3
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +8.4
General election 1992: North East Fife[20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrats Menzies Campbell 19,430 46.4 +1.6
Conservative Mary Scanlon 16,122 38.5 −2.7
SNP David Roche 3,589 8.6 +2.0
Labour Lynda Clark 2,319 5.5 −1.9
Scottish Green Tim Flynn 294 0.7 New
Liberal David Senior 85 0.2 New
Majority 3,308 7.9 +4.3
Turnout 41,839 77.8 +1.6
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +2.1

Elections in the 1980s
General election 1987: North East Fife[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Menzies Campbell 17,868 44.8 +4.6
Conservative Barry Henderson 16,421 41.2 −4.9
Labour Anthony Michael Edward Gannon 2,947 7.4 +0.9
SNP Francis David Roche 2,616 6.6 0.0
Majority 1,447 3.6 N/A
Turnout 39,852 76.2 +2.5
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +4.8
General election 1983: North East Fife[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Barry Henderson 17,129 46.1 -2.2
Liberal Menzies Campbell 14,944 40.2 +14.0
SNP John Hulbert 2,442 6.6 −6.6
Labour David Caldwell 2,429 6.5 −5.8
Ecology Timothy Flinn 242 0.6 New
Majority 2,185 5.9 −14.1
Turnout 37,186 73.7 −5.3
Conservative win (new seat)
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See also

References
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"
  2. "General Election 12 December 2019". Fife Council. Fife Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  3. "Fife North East parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  4. Uberoi, Cracknell & McGuiness 2020, p. 92.
  5. Uberoi, Cracknell & McGuiness 2020, p. 10.
  6. Uberoi, Cracknell & McGuiness 2020, pp. 71–72.
  7. Uberoi, Cracknell & McGuiness 2020, p. 16.
  8. "The full list of the Labour Party's general election candidates in Scotland". LabourList. 2017-05-02. Retrieved 2017-05-09. North East Fife – Rosalind Garton
  9. "SNP confirms Stephen Gethins to stand as Westminster candidate". Fife Herald. Johnston Press. 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-05-09. Stephen Gethins has been confirmed as the SNP candidate for North East Fife, aiming to return as its MP two years after first being elected.
  10. "Tony Miklinski for North East Fife". North East Fife Conservative and Unionist Association. 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2017-05-09. Tony Miklinski is the Scottish Conservative & Unionist candidate for North East Fife in the General Election.
  11. "Elizabeth Riches selected to fight North East Fife". Liberal Democrat Voice. 2017-04-28. Retrieved 2017-05-09. Former Fife Councillor and Depute Council Leader Elizabeth Riches has been selected to fight North East Fife.
  12. "UK parliamentary election statement of persons nominated and notice of poll for the constituencies of Dunfermline and West Fife; Glenrothes; Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath; and North-East Fife" (PDF). Fife Council. 2017-05-08. Retrieved 2017-05-12. The following persons have been and now stand nominated for election as a Member to serve in the UK Parliament for the above constituencies:
  13. "General election 2017: SNP wins Fife North East seat by just two votes". BBC. 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2017-06-15.
  14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. Fife Council, Elections (7 July 2014). "Elections - The Scottish Independence Referendum Results 2014". www.fifedirect.org.uk.
  16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  18. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  19. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  20. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  21. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  22. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

Works cited

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