2010 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

Last updated

2010 United Kingdom general election [1]
Flag of Scotland.svg
  2005 6 May 2010 (2010-05-06) 2015  

All 59 Scottish seats to the House of Commons
Turnout63.8%, Increase2.svg3.2%
 First partySecond party
  Gordon Brown official (cropped).jpg Nick Clegg official portrait.jpg
Leader Gordon Brown Nick Clegg
Party Labour Liberal Democrats
Leader since 24 June 2007 18 December 2007
Last election41 seats, 39.5%11 seats, 22.6%
Seats before4111
Seats won4111
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote1,035,528465,471
Percentage42.0%18.9%
SwingIncrease2.svg2.5%Decrease2.svg3.7%
UK seats25857

 Third partyFourth party
  Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg Davidcameron (cropped).jpg
Leader Alex Salmond David Cameron
Party SNP Conservative
Leader since 3 September 2004 6 December 2005
Last election6 seats, 17.7%1 seat, 15.8%
Seats before61
Seats won61
Seat changeSteady2.svgSteady2.svg
Popular vote491,386412,855
Percentage19.9%16.7%
SwingIncrease2.svg2.2%Increase2.svg0.9%
UK seats6306

2010 UK General election in Scotland.svg
Coloured according to the winning party's vote share in each constituency

A general election was held in the United Kingdom on 6 May 2010 and all 59 seats in Scotland were contested. The election result in Scotland was unusual in that there wasn't any change of seats from the 2005 general election, although the Labour Party took back two seats that it had lost in by-elections. This was the last general election at which the Labour Party won a majority of seats and plurality of votes in Scotland until 2024.

Contents

Contesting parties

Since 2005, the Scottish National Party had come first in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election as well as the 2009 European election. They had also won the Glasgow East by-election in 2008, which was one of the safest Labour seats in the UK. This boosted the party's confidence and the party's leader Alex Salmond set the ambitious target of 20 seats in the general election. Salmond himself was standing down as an MP because he wanted to focus more on his job as First Minister of Scotland. In the election, the party only increased their share of the vote by 2.3% and had their number of seats reduced to six after being overwhelmingly defeated in the Glasgow East constituency.

The Scottish Labour Party had held the majority of seats in Scotland in every general election since 1959. This is usually attributed to the North-South divide in British politics, where Scotland and the North of England tend to return mostly Labour MP's whereas the South of England tends to vote mostly for the Conservatives. Many prominent government officials were representing Scottish constituencies, such as the Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Chancellor Alistair Darling. In the election, the Labour Party in Scotland increased its share of the vote by 2.5% and re-gained the Glasgow East and Dunfermline and West Fife constituencies giving them 41 out of 59 seats in Scotland.

The Scottish Conservative Party had not held the majority of Scottish seats in a general election since 1955 and it lost all eleven of its seats in the election of 1997. Since 2001, the party had only held one Westminster seat in Scotland. In 2005, following the re-organisation of Scottish constituencies, that seat was Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, a mostly rural constituency near the Scottish borders. However, the party had 11 target seats within Scotland for the election and party officials such as William Hague had predicted a 'Tory breakthrough' for Scotland. [2] Following the election, the Conservative vote in Scotland increased by roughly 1% but with only the 1 seat being retained.

During the 2005 election, the Scottish Liberal Democrats achieved 11 Scottish seats in Westminster and saw this figure increased to 12 following the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election in 2006. Two former Liberal Democrat leaders, Charles Kennedy and Menzies Campbell represent Scottish constituencies. In the election, the Liberal Democrat vote fell in Scotland and the party was once again left with 11 seats.

Minor parties such as the UK Independence Party, the British National Party and the Scottish Green Party all contested more Scottish seats than they did in the 2005 election. The Socialist Workers Party and Solidarity (a splinter group of the Scottish Socialists) took part in the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition for the election. The Scottish Socialist Party had contested all of the Scottish constituencies in 2005 but because of party splits, it fielded only 10 candidates for the 2010 election.

If proportional representation had been used, and hypothetically there was no change in voter behaviour, then the Labour Party would have had 25 seats (-16), the SNP would have had 12 (+6), the Liberal Democrats would have had 11 (No Change), and the Conservatives would have had 10 (+9).

Campaign events

Scottish Leader's debates

In correspondence with the main Leader's debates, featuring David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg, three televised debates were broadcast with representatives from the four main parties in Scotland. The first debate was broadcast on STV on 20 April, the second on Sky News on 25 April and the third on BBC One Scotland on 2 May.

The representatives from each of the main parties were:

Target seats

Labour Party

RankConstituencyWinning party 2005 Swing RequiredLabour's place 2005Result
1 Dundee East SNP 0.49%2ndSNP hold
2 Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Conservative 1.95%2ndCON hold
3 East Dunbartonshire Liberal Democrats 4.35%2ndLD hold
4 Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Liberal Democrats 4.69%2ndLD hold

Scottish National Party

RankConstituencyWinning party 2005 Swing RequiredSNP's place 2005Result
1 Ochil and South Perthshire Labour 0.74%2ndLAB hold
2 Dundee West Labour 7.28%2ndLAB hold
3 Kilmarnock and Loudoun Labour 9.81%2ndLAB hold
4 Aberdeen North Labour 9.28%3rdLAB hold

Liberal Democrats

RankConstituencyWinning party 2005 Swing RequiredLiberal Democrat's place 2005Result
1 Edinburgh South Labour 0.48%2ndLAB hold
2 Aberdeen South Labour 1.62%2ndLAB hold
3 Edinburgh North and Leith Labour 2.53%2ndLAB hold

Conservative Party

RankConstituencyWinning party 2005 Swing RequiredConservative's place 2005Result
1 Perth and North Perthshire SNP 1.66%2ndSNP hold
2 Angus SNP 2.1%2ndSNP hold
3 Dumfries and Galloway Labour 2.87%2ndLAB hold
4 Stirling Labour 5.46%2ndLAB hold

Overall results

2010 map of Scottish Constituencies - Results ScotlandParliamentaryConstituency2010Results.svg
2010 map of Scottish Constituencies - Results
PartySeatsSeats
change
Seats contestedLost depositsVotes % %
change
Labour 4105901,035,52842.0+2.5
Liberal Democrats 110590465,47118.9-3.7
SNP 60590491,38619.9+2.2
Conservative 105912412,85516.7+0.9
UKIP 00343317,2230.7+0.3
Scottish Green 00201916,8270.7-0.3
BNP 0013138,9100.4+0.3
TUSC 0010103,5300.1New
Scottish Socialist 0010103,1570.1-1.7
Socialist Labour 00551,6730.0-
Christian 00118350.0New
Trust 00115340.0New
Liberal 00113890.0New
Scottish Jacobite 00222900.0New
Communist 00222370.0New
Turnout2,465,72263.8

1 Philip Lardner, the Conservative candidate for North Ayrshire and Arran was disowned by the Conservative Party for comments he posted on his website, calling homosexuality 'abnormal'. It was too late for him to be replaced and he still read as the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party candidate on the ballot paper.

Votes summary

Popular vote
Labour
42.00%
SNP
19.93%
Liberal Democrats
18.88%
Conservative
16.74%
UKIP
0.70%
Greens
0.68%
Other
1.07%
Parliament seats
Labour
69.49%
Liberal Democrats
18.64%
SNP
10.17%
Conservative
1.69%

Results by constituency

Winning party in each constituency is marked in bold.

Constituency Labour  % Lib Dems  % SNP  % Conservative  %Others %Notes
Aberdeen North 16,74644.4%7,00118.6%8,38522.2%4,66612.4%9032.4%SNP target #4
Aberdeen South 15,72236.5%12,21628.4%5,10211.9%8,91420.7%1,0802.5%Lib Dem target #1
Airdrie and Shotts 20,84958.2%2,8988.1%8,44123.5%3,1338.7%5281.5%
Angus 6,53517.2%4,09010.8%15,02039.6%11,73830.9%5771.5%Conservative target #2
Argyll and Bute 10,27422.7%14,29231.6%8,56318.9%10,86124.0%9452.0%
Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock 21,63247.1%4,2649.3%8,27618.0%11,72125.5%N/A
Banff and Buchan 5,38214.0%4,36511.3%15,86843.3%11,84130.8%1,0102.6%Largest swing recorded in Scotland (10.6 SNP to CON)
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk 5,00310.2%22,23045.4%4,4979.2%16,55533.8%7291.5% Michael Moore's Seat
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross 7,08124.6%11,90741.4%5,51619.2%3,74413.0%5201.8%
Central Ayrshire 20,95047.7%5,23611.9%8,36419.0%8,94320.4%4221.0%
Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill 27,72866.6%3,5198.5%7,01416.9%3,3748.1%N/A
Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East 23,54957.2%3,9249.5%9,79423.8%3,4078.3%4761.2%
Dumfries and Galloway 23,95045.9%4,6088.8%6,41912.3%16,50131.6%6951.3%Conservative target #3
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale 13,26328.9%9,08019.8%4,94510.8%17,45738.0%1,1472.5%Conservative's only Scottish seat, Labour target #2
Dundee East 13,52933.3%4,28510.6%15,35037.8%6,17715.2%7961.9%Labour target #1
Dundee West 17,99448.5%4,23311.4%10,71628.9%3,4619.3%7222.0%SNP target #2
Dunfermline and West Fife 22,63946.3%17,16935.1%5,20110.6%3,3056.8%6331.3%Regained by Labour after by-election loss to Lib Dems
East Dunbartonshire 16,36734.1%18,55138.7%5,05410.5%7,43115.5%5451.1%Labour target #3
East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow 26,24151.1%5,0529.9%11,73823.0%6,61313.0%1,3022.6%
East Lothian 21,91944.6%8,22816.9%7,88316.0%9,66119.7%1,4102.9%
East Renfrewshire 25,98750.8%4,7209.2%4,5358.9%15,56730.4%3720.7% Jim Murphy's seat
Edinburgh East 17,31443.4%7,75119.4%8,13320.4%4,35810.9%2,3095.8%
Edinburgh North and Leith 17,74037.5%16,01633.8%4,5689.6%7,07914.9%1,8253.8%Lib Dem target #2
Edinburgh South 15,21534.7%14,89934.0%3,3547.7%9,45221.6%8802.0%
Edinburgh South West 19,47342.8%8,19418.0%5,53012.2%11,02624.3%1,2392.7% Alistair Darling's seat
Edinburgh West 12,88127.7%16,68435.9%6,11513.2%10,76723.2%N/A
Falkirk 23,20745.7%5,22510.3%15,36430.3%5,69811.2%1,2832.5%
Glasgow Central 15,90852.0%5,01016.4%5,35717.5%2,1587.1%2,1397.0%
Glasgow East 19,79761.6%1,6175.0%7,95724.7%1,4534.5%1,3404.1%Regained by Labour after by-election loss to SNP
Glasgow North 13,18144.5%9,28331.3%3,53011.9%2,0397.1%1,5305.2%
Glasgow North East 20,10068.3%2,2627.7%4,15814.1%1,5695.3%1,3204.4%
Glasgow North West 19,23354.1%5,62215.8%5,43015.3%3,5379.9%1,7605.0%
Glasgow South 20,73651.7%4,73911.8%8,07820.1%4,59211.5%1,9494.9%
Glasgow South West 19,86362.5%2,8709.0%5,19216.3%2,0846.6%1,7724.9%
Glenrothes 25,24762.3%3,1087.7%8,79921.7%2,9227.2%4251.0%
Gordon 9,81120.1%17,57536.0%10,82722.2%9,11118.7%1,4512.9%
Inverclyde 20,93356.0%5,00713.3%6,57717.5%4,50212.0%4331.2%
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 10,40722.1%19,17240.7%8,80318.7%6,27813.3%2,4265.2% Danny Alexander's seat, Labour target #4
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 24,46052.5%3,4197.3%12,08226.0%6,59214.2%N/ASNP target #3
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath 29,55964.5%4,2699.3%6,55014.3%4,2589.3%1,1662.6% Gordon Brown's seat, largest majority of any Scottish seat
Lanark and Hamilton East 23,25850.0%5,24911.3%9,78021.0%6,98115.0%1,2862.7%
Linlithgow and East Falkirk 25,63449.8%6,58912.8%13,08125.4%6,14611.9%N/A
Livingston 23,21548.5%5,31611.1%12,42425.9%5,15810.8%1,7943.7%
Midlothian 18,44947.0%6,71117.1%8,10020.6%4,66111.9%1,3213.3%
Moray 7,00717.1%5,96514.5%16,27339.7%10,68326.1%1,0852.6%
Motherwell and Wishaw 23,91061.1%3,8409.8%7,10418.2%3,6609.4%6091.6%
Na h-Eileanan an Iar 4,83832.9%1,0977.5%6,72345.7%6474.4%1,4129.6%
North Ayrshire and Arran 21,86047.4%4,63010.0%11,96525.9%7,21215.6%4491.0%
North East Fife 6,86917.1%17,76344.3%5,68514.2%8,71521.8%1,0322.6% Menzies Campbell's seat
Ochil and South Perthshire 19,13137.9%5,75411.4%13,94427.6%10,34220.5%1,2982.6%SNP target #1
Orkney and Shetland 2,06110.7%11,98962.0%2,04210.6%2,03210.5%1,2226.3%Safest Lib Dem seat in the UK
Paisley and Renfrewshire North 23,61354.0%4,59710.5%8,33319.1%6,38114.6%7831.8%
Paisley and Renfrewshire South 23,84259.6%3,8129.5%7,22818.1%3,9799.9%1,1372.8% Douglas Alexander's seat
Perth and North Perthshire 7,92316.4%5,95412.3%19,11839.6%14,73930.5%5341.1%Conservative target #1
Ross, Skye and Lochaber 5,26515.1%18,33552.6%5,26315.1%4,26012.2%1,7154.9% Charles Kennedy's seat
Rutherglen and Hamilton West 28,56660.8%5,63612.0%7,56416.1%4,5409.7%6751.4%
Stirling 19,55841.8%6,79714.5%8,09117.3%11,20423.9%1,1412.4%Conservative target #4
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine 6,15913.6%17,36238.4%7,08615.7%13,67830.3%9102.0%
West Dunbartonshire 25,90561.3%3,4348.1%8,49720.1%3,2427.7%1,1882.8%

Superlatives

Labour Party

Scottish National Party

Liberal Democrats

Conservative Party

Minor parties' highest shares

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References

  1. Election 2010 United Kingdom - National Results BBC News
  2. "William Hague predicts Tory election "breakthrough" in Scotland". www.newstatesman.com. 8 April 2010.
  3. "Twitter abuse candidate removed". BBC News. 9 April 2010.
  4. "Tory suspended over gay comments". BBC News. 27 April 2010.