Falkirk West is a
constituencyScottish Parliament constituencies and regions were first used in 1999, in the first general election of the Scottish Parliament , created by the Scotland Act 1998....
of the
Scottish ParliamentThe Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
(
HolyroodThe Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament held their first debate in the new building on 7...
). It elects one
Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP)Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the Central Scotland
electoral regionScottish Parliament constituencies and regions were first used in 1999, in the first general election of the Scottish Parliament , created by the Scotland Act 1998....
, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of
proportional representationProportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
for the region as a whole.
From the
Scottish Parliament election, 2011The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to...
, Falkirk West will be reshaped as part of wider boundary reviews.
Electoral region
The other nine constituencies of the South of Scotland region are
Airdrie and ShottsAirdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
Coatbridge and ChrystonCoatbridge and Chryston is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
Cumbernauld and KilsythCumbernauld and Kilsyth is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
East KilbrideEast Kilbride is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
Falkirk EastFalkirk East is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
Hamilton North and BellshillHamilton North and Bellshill is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
Hamilton SouthHamilton South is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
,
Kilmarnock and LoudounKilmarnock and Loudoun was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election....
and
Motherwell and WishawMotherwell and Wishaw is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
.
The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the
North Lanarkshire council areaNorth Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
, part of the
South Lanarkshire council areaSouth Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages....
, part of the
East Ayrshire council areaEast Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway...
and a small part of the
East Dumbartonshire council areaThis article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of...
.
Constituency boundaries and council area
The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in
1999The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members...
, with the name and boundaries of an existing
Westminster constituencyFalkirk West was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. Together with a portion of Falkirk East, it was replaced by Falkirk.-Members of Parliament:...
. In
2005The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.
The Holyrood constituency covers a western portion of the Falkirk council area. The rest of the Falkirk area is covered by
Falkirk EastFalkirk East is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
, which is also within the Central Scotland electoral region.
From the Scottish Parliament election, 2011, the newly reshaped Falkirk West will be formed from the following electoral wards:
- In full; Denny and Banknock
Banknock is a village within the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. The village is west-southwest of Falkirk, east-northeast of Kilsyth and north-northeast of Cumbernauld....
, Bonnybridge and Larbert, Falkirk North
- In part; Carse
In Scottish geography, a Carse is an area of low-lying, typically alluvial and fertile land occupying certain Scottish river valleys, such as that of the River Forth.-Carse of Forth :...
, KinnairdKinnaird can refer to:* Kinnaird, Gowrie, village in Gowrie * Kinnaird, Atholl, village in Atholl * Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, estate of the Bruces of Airth* Kinnaird, British Columbia...
and TrystTryst may refer to:*A meeting of two lovers, as in courtship*Tryst , a book by Elswyth Thane*Tryst , a play by Karoline Leach*A nightclub at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel...
, Falkirk South
Member of the Scottish Parliament
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1999The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members...
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Dennis Canavan Dennis Andrew Canavan is a Scottish politician, and was an Independent Member of the Scottish Parliament for Falkirk West.-Early life:He was born in Cowdenbeath....
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Independent In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
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2003The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive...
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2007The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...
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Michael MathesonMichael Matheson is the Public Health Minister in the Scottish Government. He has been an SNP Member of the Scottish Parliament since 1999, first representing Central Scotland and, since 2007, the Falkirk West constituency....
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Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
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2011The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to...
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Election results
Liberal Democrats gained under 5% of the poll and thus lost their deposit