Paisley North is a constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

 of the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The 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...

 (Holyrood

Scottish Parliament Building

The 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

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 first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the West of Scotland electoral region

Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions

Scottish 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 nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation

Proportional representation

Proportional 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, 2011, the city of Paisley

Paisley

Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area...

 will be split between two new constituencies. Paisley

Paisley (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Paisley is a new constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It will elect one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

 will largely replace Paisley North and Paisley South

Paisley South (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Paisley South is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

. Renfrewshire North and West

Renfrewshire North and West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Renfrewshire North and West is a constituency of the devolved Scottish Parliament located in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands. It was first created for the 2011 elections...

 will take some parts of the north west of Paisley.

Electoral region

See also West of Scotland Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the West of Scotland region are Dumbarton

Dumbarton (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Dumbarton is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

, Clydebank and Milngavie

Clydebank and Milngavie (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Clydebank and Milngavie is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

, Cunninghame North

Cunninghame North (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Cunninghame North is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elects one MSP by the first past the post method of election once every four years...

, Eastwood

Eastwood (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Eastwood is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

, Greenock and Inverclyde

Greenock and Inverclyde (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Greenock and Inverclyde is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

, Paisley South

Paisley South (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Paisley South is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

, Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Strathkelvin and Bearsden is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

 and West Renfrewshire

West Renfrewshire (Scottish Parliament constituency)

West Renfrewshire was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the first past the post method of election...

The region covers the West Dunbartonshire council area

West Dunbartonshire

West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East...

, the East Renfrewshire council area

East Renfrewshire

East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde...

, the Inverclyde councila area

Inverclyde

Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west...

, most of the Renfrewshire council area

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, most of the East Dunbartonshire council area

East Dunbartonshire

This 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...

, part of the Argyll and Bute council area

Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...

 and part of the North Ayrshire council area

North Ayrshire

North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South...

.

Constituency boundaries

The Paisley North constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999

Scottish Parliament election, 1999

The 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 constituency

Paisley North (UK Parliament constituency)

Paisley North was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system....

. In 2005

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The 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, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was abolished in favour of new constituencies.

Council areas

The Holyrood constituency is within the Renfrewshire council area. The rest of the Renfrewshire area is covered by the Paisley South, West Renfrewshire and Glasgow Govan

Glasgow Govan (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Glasgow Govan was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election....

 constituencies.

The West Renfrewshire constituency also covers a portion of the Inverclyde council area, and the Glasgow Govan constituency also covers a portion of the Glasgow City council area.

Glasgow Govan is in the Glasgow electoral region.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999 Scottish Parliament election, 1999 The 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...	Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander Wendy Alexander is a Scottish politician and the former Member of the Scottish Parliament for Paisley North. She held various Scottish Government cabinet posts and was the leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament from 2007-2008...	Labour Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
	2003 Scottish Parliament election, 2003 The 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...
	2007 Scottish Parliament election, 2007 The 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...

Election results