Rutherglen and Hamilton West (UK Parliament constituency)
Rutherglen and Hamilton West | |
---|---|
Burgh constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Rutherglen and Hamilton West in Scotland | |
Subdivisions of Scotland | South Lanarkshire |
Major settlements | Blantyre, Burnbank, Burnside, Cambuslang, Hillhouse, Newton, Rutherglen |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2005 |
Member of Parliament | Michael Shanks (Scottish Labour) |
Created from | Glasgow Rutherglen and Hamilton South |
Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which was created for the 2005 general election. It covers almost all of the former constituency of Glasgow Rutherglen and most of the former constituency of Hamilton South, and it elects one member of parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Margaret Ferrier, an independent since the whip was withdrawn on 1 October 2020 after an incident relating to a breach of the COVID-19 pandemic regulations, won the seat at the 2019 snap general election for the Scottish National Party, she had previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017.[1]
This led to a recall petition, which ran until 31 July 2023.[2] On 1 August, South Lanarkshire Council confirmed the recall petition had been successful, as more than 10% of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West electorate had signed. As a result, Margaret Ferrier lost her seat and the seat immediately became vacant. A by-election was held on 5 October to elect a new Member of Parliament.[3]
Historically a safe Labour seat, in 2015 it was gained by the Scottish National Party when they won a record 56 of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons; ending 51 years of Labour Party dominance at UK general elections in Scotland. Two years later at the 2017 general election, the seat was taken back by Labour by just 265 votes. Coincidentally in the neighbouring Lanark and Hamilton East, sitting MP Angela Crawley held her seat by just 266 votes.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to boundary changes which will entail the loss of "Hamilton West". Therefore it will be revert to the name of Rutherglen, to be first contested at the next general election.[4]
Boundaries
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency covers part of the South Lanarkshire council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow and Lanark and Hamilton East constituencies. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency also covers part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area and part of the Scottish Borders council area.
The terms of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West name refer to the town of Rutherglen and the west of the town of Hamilton.[5]
The constituency is composed of the electoral wards:
- In full: Blantyre, Cambuslang East, Cambuslang West, Rutherglen Central and North, Rutherglen South.
- In part: Hamilton North and East, Hamilton South, Hamilton West and Earnock.
Constituency profile
Rutherglen and Hamilton West is an urban seat in Greater Glasgow. It contains commuter areas into the city of Glasgow, with train travel times as short as 15 minutes away from the city centre.
The seat can be understood as socially divided, and it contains many areas of high deprivation, particularly on the outskirts of Rutherglen, eastern Cambuslang, Blantyre and western Hamilton, however parts of central Rutherglen, western Cambuslang and the Earnock area of Hamilton have markedly lower rates of deprivation.[6][7][8][9]
The seat itself voted approximately 62% in favour of remaining within the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum[10] and voters in the constituency voted approximately 50% No, 50% Yes in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.[11] Historically dominated by Labour, Margaret Ferrier of the SNP gained the seat for the party for the first time in 2015, lost the seat to Labour in 2017, before regaining it in 2019 with an increased majority. The seat is regarded as an important battleground constituency between Labour and the SNP, having changed hands three times in the past 10 years.[12]
At the 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election, Low Blantyre and the Bankhead and Fernhill areas of Rutherglen voted Labour, while the Burnside area of Rutherglen voted Liberal Democrat, and the rest of the constituency voted SNP.[13]
Overall, the town of Rutherglen was the SNP's poorest performing area, Blantyre was Labour and the SNP's best performing area, and Cambuslang and Hamilton sat close to the constituency average.
Members of Parliament
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Michael Shanks | 17,845 | 58.6 | +24.1 | |||||||||||||||||
SNP | Katy Loudon | 8,399 | 27.6 | –16.6 | |||||||||||||||||
Conservative | Thomas Kerr | 1,192 | 3.9 | –11.1 | |||||||||||||||||
Liberal Democrats | Gloria Adebo | 895 | 2.9 | –2.3 | |||||||||||||||||
Scottish Green | Cameron Eadie | 601 | 2.0 | New | − class="vcard" | Reform UK | David Stark | 403 | 1.3 | New | − | − class="vcard" | Scottish Family | Niall Fraser | 319 | 1.0 | New | − | |||
Scottish Socialist | Bill Bonnar | 271 | 0.9 | New | |||||||||||||||||
ISP | Colette Walker | 207 | 0.7 | New | |||||||||||||||||
TUSC | Christopher Sermanni | 178 | 0.6 | New | |||||||||||||||||
Independent | Andrew Daly | 81 | 0.3 | New | |||||||||||||||||
Volt | Ewan Hoyle | 46 | 0.2 | New | |||||||||||||||||
No description | Prince Ankit Love, Emperor of India | 34 | 0.1 | New | |||||||||||||||||
No description | Garry Cooke | 6 | 0.0 | New | |||||||||||||||||
Majority | 9,446 | 31.0 | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 30,477 | 37.2 | –29.3 | ||||||||||||||||||
Labour gain from SNP | Swing | +20.4 |
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Margaret Ferrier | 23,775 | 44.2 | +7.2 | |
Labour Co-op | Ged Killen | 18,545 | 34.5 | –3.0 | |
Conservative | Lynne Nailon | 8,054 | 15.0 | –4.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark McGeever | 2,791 | 5.2 | +1.0 | |
UKIP | Janice MacKay | 629 | 1.2 | +0.3 | |
Majority | 5,230 | 9.7 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 53,794 | 66.5 | +3.0 | ||
SNP gain from Labour Co-op | Swing | +5.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Ged Killen | 19,101 | 37.5 | +2.3 | |
SNP | Margaret Ferrier | 18,836 | 37.0 | –15.6 | |
Conservative | Ann Le Blond | 9,941 | 19.5 | +11.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Robert Brown | 2,158 | 4.2 | +2.4 | |
UKIP | Caroline Santos | 465 | 0.9 | –1.4 | |
Independent | Andy Dixon | 371 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 265 | 0.5 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 50,872 | 63.5 | –5.1 | ||
Labour Co-op gain from SNP | Swing | +8.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Margaret Ferrier | 30,279 | 52.6 | +36.5 | |
Labour Co-op | Tom Greatrex | 20,304 | 35.2 | –25.6 | |
Conservative | Taylor Muir | 4,350 | 7.6 | –2.1 | |
UKIP | Janice Mackay[23] | 1,301 | 2.3 | +0.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Tony Hughes | 1,045 | 1.8 | –10.2 | |
CISTA | Yvonne Maclean | 336 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 9,975 | 17.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 57,615 | 69.6 | +8.1 | ||
SNP gain from Labour Co-op | Swing | +31.1 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Tom Greatrex | 28,566 | 60.8 | +5.2 | |
SNP | Graeme Horne | 7,564 | 16.1 | +2.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ian Robertson | 5,636 | 12.0 | –6.4 | |
Conservative | Malcolm Macaskill | 4,540 | 9.7 | +1.3 | |
UKIP | Janice Murdoch | 675 | 1.4 | +0.3 | |
Majority | 21,002 | 44.7 | +7.5 | ||
Turnout | 46,981 | 61.5 | +3.0 | ||
Labour Co-op hold | Swing | +1.5 |
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour Co-op | Tommy McAvoy | 24,054 | 55.6 | –4.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ian Robertson | 7,942 | 18.4 | +6.7 | |
SNP | Margaret Park | 6,023 | 13.9 | –1.3 | |
Conservative | Peter Crerar | 3,621 | 8.4 | –0.2 | |
Scottish Socialist | Bill Bonnar | 1,164 | 2.7 | –1.9 | |
UKIP | Janice Murdoch | 457 | 1.1 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 16,112 | 37.2 | |||
Turnout | 43,261 | 58.5 | |||
Labour Co-op win (new seat) |
References
- Specific
- ^ a b "MP Margaret Ferrier's Covid Parliament trip 'indefensible'". BBC News. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- ^ "Scotland's first recall petition published with details of where to sign". HeraldScotland. 9 June 2023. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
- ^ "Margaret Ferrier: Covid breach MP loses seat after recall petition". BBC. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
- ^ "Boundary Commission Scotland 2023 Review Report" (PDF). Boundary Commission Scotland.
- ^ "UK Parliament constituencies 2005 onwards: Rutherglen and Hamilton West" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation)". Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.
- ^ Rutherglen and Cambuslang communities at top of list of most deprived areas in Scotland, Edel Kenealy, Daily Record, 8 September 2016
- ^ Shock stats show Rutherglen has more unemployment, highest rate of alcohol and drug admissions and more social work referrals than anywhere else in South Lanarkshire, Daily Record, 19 December 2018
- ^ Rutherglen and Cambuslang areas among Scotland's poorest, according to Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation stats, Daily Record, 12 February 2020
- ^ "Revised estimates of leave vote in Westminster constituencies". Retrieved 26 October 2016.
- ^ Council, South Lanarkshire. "South Lanarkshire Council area breakdown Elections – South Lanarkshire Council".
- ^ "Scotland 'key battleground' for Labour at next UK general election, Scottish Fabians report finds".
- ^ "South Lanarkshire Council 2022". 14 April 2022.
- ^ From a pawnbrokers to Parliament - Tommy McAvoy looks back on a career that took him to the House of Lords, Marc McLean, Daily Record, 11 September 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Rutherglen and Hamilton West By-election - Thursday 5 October 2023". South Lanarkshire Council. 12 September 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
- ^ Meighan, Craig (6 October 2023). "Scottish Labour wins key Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election". STV News. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
- ^ "UK Parliamentary general election - Thursday 12 December 2019". South Lanarkshire Council. South Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ "Rutherglen & Hamilton West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ Council, South Lanarkshire. "UK Parliamentary General Election Results South Lanarkshire Council 2015 Elections - South Lanarkshire Council". www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk.
- ^ "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/downloads/download/631/uk_parliamentary_election_results_2010 [dead link]
- General