Falkirk East (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Falkirk East (Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac an Ear) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Falkirk. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Not to be confused with Falkirk East (UK Parliament constituency).

Falkirk East
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Falkirk East shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population80,482 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyScottish National Party
MSPMichelle Thomson
Council areaFalkirk

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. Ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the boundaries of the seat were reformed and reshaped.[2][3]

The seat has been held by Michelle Thomson of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region
See also: Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region are: Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk West, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Motherwell and Wishaw and Uddingston and Bellshill.

The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[4] The Holyrood constituency was subsequently itself redrawn for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, with the newly shaped Falkirk East being formed from the following electoral wards:[5]

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 Cathy Peattie Labour
2011 Angus MacDonald SNP
2021 Michelle Thomson

Election results

2020s
2021 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East[6][7]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Michelle Thomson 18,417 47.4 Decrease4.0 16,432 42.1 Decrease4.7
Labour Co-op Allyson Black 10,832 27.9 Increase2.0 8,516 21.8 Decrease0.5
Conservative Neil Benny 7,618 19.6 Increase0.1 8,800 22.5 Increase2.7
Liberal Democrats Paul Rolfe 1,007 2.6 Decrease0.6 912 2.3 Increase0.1
Independent Peter Krykant 971 2.5 New
Scottish Green 2,333 6.0 Increase1.3
Alba 629 1.6 New
All for Unity 325 0.8 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 220 0.6 New
Scottish Family 220 0.6 New
Independent Green Voice 205 0.5 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 127 0.3 New
Reform UK 97 0.2 New
Independent Paddy Hogg 84 0.2 New
UKIP 83 0.2 Decrease2.3
Libertarian 76 0.2 New
Majority 7,585 19.5 Decrease6.0
Valid Votes 38,845 39,059
Invalid Votes 115
Turnout 38,960 62.9 Increase8.8
SNP hold Swing Decrease6.0
Notes

    2010s
    2016 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East[8]
    Party Candidate Constituency Regional
    Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
    SNP Angus MacDonald 16,720 51.4 Increase0.6 15,199 46.4 Decrease3.9
    Labour Craig Martin 8,408 25.9 Decrease12.3 7,281 22.3 Decrease7.5
    Conservative Callum Laidlaw 6,342 19.5 Increase11.1 6,450 19.8 Increase12.0
    Scottish Green 1,537 4.7 Increase2.2
    UKIP 812 2.5 Increase1.8
    Liberal Democrats James Munro 1,054 3.2 Increase0.6 716 2.2 Increase0.4
    Scottish Christian 279 0.9 Decrease0.1
    Solidarity 154 0.5 Increase0.3
    RISE 96 0.3 New
    Independent Deryck Beaumont 63 0.2 New
    Majority 8,312 25.5 Increase12.9
    Valid Votes 32,524 32,587
    Invalid Votes 105 45
    Turnout 32,629 54.1 Increase4.0 32,632 54.1 Increase4.0
    SNP hold Swing Increase6.5
    Notes
      2011 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East[9]
      Party Candidate Constituency Regional
      Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
      SNP Angus MacDonald 14,302 50.8 N/A 14,221 50.5 N/A
      Labour Cathy Peattie[lower-alpha 1] 10,767 38.2 N/A 8,401 29.8 N/A
      Conservative Lynn Munro 2,372 8.4 N/A 2,212 7.8 N/A
      Scottish Green 706 2.5 N/A
      All-Scotland Pensioners Party 649 2.3 N/A
      Liberal Democrats Ross Laird 727 2.6 N/A 534 1.9 N/A
      BNP 310 1.1 N/A
      Scottish Christian 282 1.0 N/A
      Socialist Labour 280 1.0 N/A
      UKIP 208 0.7 N/A
      Independent Hugh O'Donnell 81 0.3 N/A
      Scottish Socialist 60 0.2 N/A
      Solidarity 35 0.1 N/A
      Others 206 0.7 N/A
      Majority 3,535 12.6 N/A
      Valid Votes 28,168 28,185
      Invalid Votes 80 64
      Turnout 28,248 50.1 N/A 28,249 50.1 N/A
      SNP win (new boundaries)
      Notes
      1. Incumbent member for this constituency

      2000s
      2007 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East
      Party Candidate Votes % ±%
      Labour Cathy Peattie 13,184 43.5 -8.1
      SNP Annabelle Ewing 11,312 37.3 +9.8
      Conservative Scott Campbell 3,701 12.2 +2.3
      Liberal Democrats Natalie Maver 2,136 7.0 +1.0
      Majority 1,872 6.2 -18.0
      Turnout 30,333 53.1 +4.0
      Labour hold Swing -9.0
      2003 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East
      Party Candidate Votes % ±%
      Labour Cathy Peattie 14,235 51.65 +5.53
      SNP Keith Brown 7,576 27.49 -5.75
      Conservative Tom Calvert 2,720 9.87 +0.12
      Liberal Democrats Karen Utting 1,651 5.99 -1.21
      Scottish Socialist Mhairi McAlpine 1,377 5.00 New
      Majority 6,659 24.16 +12.28
      Turnout 27,559 49.06 -12.35
      Labour hold Swing

      1990s
      1999 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East
      Party Candidate Votes % ±%
      Labour Cathy Peattie 15,721 45.12 N/A
      SNP Keith Brown 11,582 33.24 N/A
      Conservative Alastair Orr 3,399 9.75 N/A
      Liberal Democrats Gordon Macdonald 2,509 7.20 N/A
      Socialist Labour Raymond Stead 1,643 4.67 N/A
      Majority 4,139 11.88 N/A
      Turnout 34,845 61.41 N/A
      Labour win (new seat)

      Notes
      1. Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
      2. First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Archived 17 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine Boundary Commission for Scotland
      3. Scottish Parliament Constituencies Order OPSI
      4. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
      5. Falkirk East: Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (map, 2015), Falkirk Council
      6. Constituencies A-Z | Falkirk East, BBC News; retrieved 7 May 2021
      7. "Scottish Parliamentary election results". Falkirk Council. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
      8. "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
      9. "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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