Motherwell and Wishaw 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.
The current MSP is
John PentlandJohn Pentland is a Scottish politician representing the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency in the Scottish Parliament.He has been a member of the Labour Party for over 30 years, holding numerous branch and CLP positions....
Electoral region
- See also Central Scotland Scottish Parliament 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...
,
Falkirk WestFalkirk West 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...
and
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....
.
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...
.
The region itself is described as the 2nd safest
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
seat in Scotland. However, during the 2011 Scottish Parliament Elections, Labour held their seat with the smallest majority since 1999.
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 constituencyMotherwell and Wishaw is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1974, mostly from Motherwell...
. 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 is one of five covering 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...
, the others being
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...
and
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...
. All five are within the Central Scotland electoral region.
Three of the five constituencies are entirely within the North Lanarkshire area. Coatbridge and Chryston straddles the boundary with the
East Dunbartonshire 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...
, which is otherwise within the West of Scotland region, and Hamilton North and Bellshill straddles the boundary with 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....
, which is otherwise divided between the Central Scotland, Glasgow and South of Scotland regions.
Motherwell and Wishaw covers a south-western portion of the North Lanarkshire area, south of Hamilton North and Bellshill and west of Aidrie and Shotts.
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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Jack McConnellJack Wilson McConnell, Baron McConnell of Glenscorrodale is a British Labour life peer in the House of Lords. He was third First Minister of Scotland from 2001 to 2007, making him the longest serving First Minister in the history of the Scottish Parliament...
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LabourThe Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
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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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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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John Pentland John Pentland is a Scottish politician representing the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency in the Scottish Parliament.He has been a member of the Labour Party for over 30 years, holding numerous branch and CLP positions....
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LabourThe Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
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Election results
Scottish Senior Citizens, Scottish Christians and Liberal Democrats all gained under 5% of the poll and thus lost their deposit
Footnotes