Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the House of Commons, located in the South of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting. It is currently represented in Westminster by the former Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell who has been the MP since 2005. He is a Conservative.

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale in Scotland
Major settlementsAnnan, Gretna Green, Kirkconnel, Lockerbie, Sanquhar
Current constituency
Created2005
Member of ParliamentDavid Mundell (Conservative)
Created fromDumfries, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale

The seat has a diverse electoral history, with the Dumfriesshire area being a longtime Conservative seat, the Clydesdale area being formerly safe Labour territory, and Tweeddale had been part of Liberal Democrat voting constituencies since the 1980s. Former Scottish Secretary, David Mundell[1] has held the seat since 2005, and from 2005 to 2017 was the only Conservative MP in Scotland.[2]

It is a predominately rural environment and the only large settlements are the towns of: Annan, Biggar, Gretna/Gretna Green, Langholm, Lockerbie, Moffat and Peebles.

Boundaries

As created by the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland the constituency is one of six covering the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area and the South Lanarkshire council area. The other five constituencies are: Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Dumfries and Galloway, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, Lanark and Hamilton East and Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency is predominantly rural, and the terms of the name refer to the former local government county of Dumfries, the Clydesdale area of the South Lanarkshire council area and the Tweeddale area of the Scottish Borders council area. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency excludes, however, most of the town of Dumfries, which is within the Dumfries and Galloway constituency.

The constituency covers the electoral wards of:

  • South Lanarkshire: Clydesdale East, Clydesdale South (in part)
  • Scottish Borders: Tweedale East, Tweedale West (in part)
  • Dumfries and Galloway: Mid and Upper Nithsdale, Annandale North, Annandale East and Eskdale, Annandale South, Nith (part), Lochar (part).

Politics

The seat's main predecessor seats: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale, all had distinct political influences. Dumfriesshire had been a Conservative/National Liberal seat from 1931-1997, but was lost to Labour's Russell Brown at the 1997 general election; in which the Conservatives lost all their Scottish seats. Clydesdale had been a safe Labour seat since the 1980s, and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale had been a Liberal/Liberal Democrat seat since 1983.

Following the boundary review for the 2005 general election, Labour held a clear majority of 12% over the Conservatives according to calculations of notional results (an estimate of how the seat would have voted if it had existed at the previous election) and the seat was 96th[3] in the Conservatives' target list. The Liberal Democrats finished in a close third place at the election. However, former Conservative MSP David Mundell was successful in gaining the seat from Labour, with a swing of 8.0%. This left him as the sole Conservative MP representing a Scottish constituency at the 2005 general election,[4] after the Conservative MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, Peter Duncan was defeated standing at the new Dumfries and Galloway constituency,[5] and Conservative attempts to gain Angus from the SNP ended in failure.

In 2010, Mundell was re-elected, with an increased majority. In 2015, after the SNP landslide victory in Scotland; he narrowly defeated the SNP candidate, Emma Harper by 798 votes, and was the only Scottish Conservative MP elected.[6]. However, following the SNP's losses at the 2017 snap general election, the Conservatives gained 12 seats in Scotland with Mundell increasing his majority to 9,441 votes.

Members of Parliament
Election Member Party
2005 David Mundell Conservative

Election results
Dumfriesshire election results

Elections in the 2010s
2019 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale[7][8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Mundell 22,611 46.0 3.4
SNP Amanda Burgauer 18,830 38.3 8.2
Labour Nick Chisholm 4,172 8.5 8.0
Liberal Democrats John Ferry 3,540 7.2 3.2
Majority 3,781 7.7 11.6
Turnout 49,153 71.9 0.5
Conservative hold Swing 5.8
2017 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Mundell 24,177 49.4 9.6
SNP Mairi McAllan 14,736 30.1 8.2
Labour Douglas Beattie 8,102 16.5 1.7
Liberal Democrats John Ferry 1,949 4.0 1.3
Majority 9,441 19.3 17.8
Turnout 48,964 72.4 3.7
Conservative hold Swing 8.9
2015 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale[10][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Mundell 20,759 39.8 +1.8
SNP Emma Harper 19,961 38.3 +27.5
Labour Archie Dryburgh 7,711 14.8 -14.1
UKIP Kevin Newton 1,472 2.8 +1.4
Liberal Democrats Amanda Kubie 1,392 2.7 -17.1
Scottish Green Jody Jamieson 839 1.6 +0.5
Majority 798 1.5 -7.6
Turnout 52,134 76.1 +7.2
Conservative hold Swing -12.9
2010 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Mundell 17,457 38.0 +1.8
Labour Claudia Beamish 13,263 28.9 −3.4
Liberal Democrats Catriona Bhatia 9,080 19.8 −0.5
SNP Aileen Orr 4,945 10.8 +1.7
UKIP Douglas Watters 637 1.4 +0.4
Scottish Green Alis Ballance 510 1.1 New
Majority 4,194 9.1 +5.2
Turnout 45,892 68.9 +1.3
Conservative hold Swing +2.6

Elections in the 2000s
2005 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative David Mundell 16,141 36.2 +11.4
Labour Sean Marshall 14,403 32.3 -4.6
Liberal Democrats Patsy Kenton 9,046 20.3 -1.5
SNP Andrew Wood 4,075 9.1 -5.2
Scottish Socialist Sarah MacTavish 521 1.2 -0.6
UKIP Tony Lee 430 1.0 +0.9
Majority 1,738 3.9
Turnout 44,616 67.6
Conservative win (new seat)
  • The boundaries of the constituency, and its predecessors, can be viewed at Scottish Boundaries Commission's Map Browser.
  • The boundaries of the constituency can also be viewed at the Ordnance Survey's Election Maps site.

References
  1. "Election 2015: David Mundell named new secretary of state for Scotland". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
  2. "Election 2005: Conservatives hail lone success". BBC News. 2005-05-06. Archived from the original on 2015-04-21. Retrieved 2015-05-11.
  3. "BBC NEWS - Election 2005 - Key Seats - Conservative". news.bbc.co.uk.
  4. "Election 2005: Results: Scotland". BBC News. 2005-05-23. Archived from the original on 2014-10-11. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
  5. Jones, Philip N. (2005-05-05). "General Election – Dumfries and Galloway County Constituency – May 2005". dumgal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  6. "Election 2015: Election results: Mapping Scotland's dramatic change". BBC News. 2015-05-08. Archived from the original on 2015-05-10. Retrieved 2015-05-10.
  7. "UK Parliamentary General Election - December 2019" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. Dumfries and Galloway Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  8. "Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  9. "Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale - 2017 Election Results - General Elections Online". electionresults.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  10. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. Haswell, Alex (2015-05-08). "UK Parliamentary Elections Results 2015 for the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and". dumgal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2015-05-09.
  12. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
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