Airdrie and Shotts (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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

Not to be confused with Airdrie and Shotts (UK Parliament constituency).

Airdrie and Shotts
burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Airdrie and Shotts shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyScottish National Party
MSPAlex Neil
Council areaNorth Lanarkshire

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

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region are Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Falkirk West, 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 is one of four covering the North Lanarkshire council area, the others being Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Motherwell and Wishaw and Uddingston and Bellshill. All five are within the Central Scotland electoral region.

Three of the four constituencies are entirely within the North Lanarkshire area. Uddingston and Bellshill straddles the boundary with the South Lanarkshire council area.

The electoral wards used in the creation of Airdrie and Shotts are:

  • In full: Airdrie North, Airdrie Central, Airdrie South, Fortissat

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 Karen Whitefield Labour
2011 Alex Neil SNP

Election results

2010s
2016 Scottish Parliament election: Airdrie and Shotts
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Alex Neil 13,954 52.5 +2.3
Labour Richard Leonard 7,762 29.2 -12.6
Conservative Eric Holford 4,164 15.7 +9.9
Liberal Democrats Louise Young 693 2.6 +0.4
Majority 6,192 23.3 +14.9
Turnout 26,573 49.3 +3.4
SNP hold Swing +7.5
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Airdrie and Shotts
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Alex Neil 11,984 50.2 +10.1
Labour Karen Whitefield 9,983 41.8 -0.9
Conservative Robert Crozier 1,396 5.8 -2.6
Liberal Democrats John Love 531 2.2 -3.0
Majority 2,001 8.4 N/A
Turnout 23,894 45.9 -1.2
SNP win (new boundaries)

2000s
2007 Scottish Parliament election: Airdrie and Shotts
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Karen Whitefield 11,907 43.8 -12.8
SNP Sophia Coyle 10,461 38.5 +17.6
Conservative Iain McGill 2,370 8.7 -0.1
Liberal Democrats Robert Gorrie 1,452 5.4 0.0
Scottish Voice Mev Brown 970 3.6 New
Majority 1,446 5.3 -33.2
Rejected ballots 1536 2.7
Turnout 27,160 47.1 +2.8
Labour hold Swing -15.2
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Airdrie and Shotts
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Karen Whitefield 14,209 59.0 +4.8
SNP Gil Paterson 5,232 20.9 -7.3
Conservative Alan Melville 2,203 8.8 -0.8
Scottish Socialist Fraser Coates 2,096 8.4 New
Liberal Democrats Kevin Lang 1,346 5.4 -1.7
Majority 8,977 38.1 +11.1
Turnout 25,086 46.3 -11.3
Labour hold Swing

1990s
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Airdrie and Shotts
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Karen Whitefield 18,338 55.21 N/A
SNP Gil Paterson 9,353 28.16 N/A
Conservative Patrick Ross-Taylor 3,177 9.57 N/A
Liberal Democrats David Miller 2,345 7.06 N/A
Majority 8,985 27.05 N/A
Turnout 33,213 57.58 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes
  1. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 2007-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
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