Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)

Dunfermline East was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.

Not to be confused with Dunfermline East (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Dunfermline East
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Outline map
Boundary of Dunfermline East in Scotland for the 2001 general election
Major settlementsCowdenbeath
1983–2005
SeatsOne
Created fromCentral Fife
Dunfermline
Replaced byKirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath
Dunfermline & West Fife
Glenrothes

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election from parts of the seats of Central Fife and Dunfermline. It was abolished for the 2005 general election as part of a major revision in the composition of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland.

Most of Dunfermline East and its neighbouring constituency Kirkcaldy now make up the new seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. The remaining parts of the seat were moved to the new Dunfermline and West Fife and Glenrothes constituencies.

The constituency's name was something of a misnomer as it never actually included any part of the town of Dunfermline, all of which was located in the Dunfermline West seat. Cowdenbeath was the largest town in the constituency.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Dunfermline District electoral divisions of Aberdour/Dalgety Bay/North Queensferry, Ballingry/Lochore, Cowdenbeath/Gray Park, Dunfermline/Rosyth, Hill of Beath/Crossgates/Cowdenbeath, Inverkeithing/Rosyth, Kelty/Lumphinnans, and Lochgelly, and the Kirkcaldy District electoral division of Auchterderran.

1997–2005: The Dunfermline District electoral divisions of Aberdour and Mossside, Benarty and Lumphinans, Cowdenbeath, Dalgety Bay, Inverkeithing and North Queensferry, Kelty, Lochgelly, and Rosyth East and South, and the Kirkcaldy District electoral division of Cardenden and Kinglassie.

Members of Parliament

The constituency's only MP was Gordon Brown of the Labour Party, who was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1992 to 1997 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, when he became Prime Minister.

ElectionMember[1]Party
1983 Gordon Brown Labour

Election results

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Dunfermline East[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gordon Brown 18,515 51.5 -10.5
Liberal David Harcus 7,214 20.1
Conservative Clive Shenton 6,764 18.8 -2.8
SNP George Hunter 2,573 7.2 -6.8
Communist Alex Maxwell 864 2.4
Majority 11,301 31.4
Turnout 35,930 72.0
Labour win (new seat)

General election 1987: Dunfermline East[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gordon Brown 25,381 64.5 +13.0
Conservative Clive Shenton 5,792 14.8 −4.0
Liberal Elizabeth Harris 4,122 10.5 −9.6
SNP Alice McGarry 3,901 10.0 +2.8
Majority 19,589 49.7 +18.3
Turnout 39,196 76.6 +4.6
Labour hold Swing +8.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Dunfermline East[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gordon Brown 23,692 62.4 −2.1
Conservative Mark E. Tennant 6,248 16.5 +1.7
SNP John V. Lloyd 5,746 15.1 +5.1
Liberal Democrats Teresa Martin Little 2,262 6.0 −4.5
Majority 17,444 45.9 -3.8
Turnout 37,948 75.6 −1.0
Labour hold Swing −2.4

General election 1997: Dunfermline East[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gordon Brown 24,441 66.8 +4.4
SNP John James Ramage 5,690 15.6 +0.5
Conservative Iain Grant Mitchell 3,656 10.0 −6.5
Liberal Democrats Jim Tolson 2,164 5.9 −0.1
Referendum Thomas Dunsmore 632 1.7 New
Majority 18,751 51.2 +6.3
Turnout 36,583 69.6 −7.0
Labour hold Swing +2.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Dunfermline East[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Gordon Brown 19,487 64.8 −2.0
SNP Johnny Joseph James Mellon 4,424 14.7 −0.9
Conservative Stuart Roy Randall 2,838 9.4 −0.6
Liberal Democrats John Maciver Mainland 2,281 7.6 +1.7
Scottish Socialist Andrew Jackson 770 2.6 New
UKIP Thomas Dunsmore 286 1.0 New
Majority 15,063 50.1 -1.1
Turnout 30,086 57.0 −12.6
Labour hold Swing -1.4

References
  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
  2. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  6. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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