Alexander Neil is a Scottish politician who served as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing from 2012 to 2014 and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice,Communities and Pensioners' Rights from 2014 to 2016. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),he was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 2011 until his retirement in 2021.
Annabelle Janet Ewing is a Scottish politician and lawyer who has served as Deputy Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament,alongside Liam McArthur,since May 2021. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),she has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Cowdenbeath constituency since 2016,having previously been an MSP for the Mid Scotland and Fife region from 2011 to 2016.
Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the UK House of Commons,located in central Scotland within the North Lanarkshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
Coatbridge and Bellshill is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.
Karen Whitefield is a Scottish Labour politician. She was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Airdrie and Shotts constituency from 1999 to 2011.
Motherwell and Wishaw is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of North Lanarkshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also 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.
The 1994 Monklands East by-election was held on 30 June 1994,following the death of the Leader of the Labour Party John Smith,Member of Parliament (MP) for Monklands East in Scotland,on 12 May.
Salsburgh is a semi-rural former coal mining village in greenbelt farmland within the district of North Lanarkshire,Scotland. The closest major towns to the village are Shotts,three miles southeast,and Airdrie three miles northwest.
Scottish Asian is a term defined within the 2011 Scottish census as including people of Bangladeshi,Chinese,Indian,Pakistani or other Asian ancestry resident in Scotland. Their parents or grandparents are normally Asian immigrants. It can also refer to people who are of dual Scottish and Asian ancestry. It combines Asian ethnic background with Scottish national identity.
Anne McLaughlin is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North East from 2019 to 2024,and previously from 2015 to 2017. She has been SNP Spokesperson for International Development since 2023.
Pamela Ann Catherine Nash is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Motherwell,Wishaw and Carluke since 2024. She previously served as Chief Executive of Scotland in Union,a campaign group launched in March 2015 to help keep Scotland within the United Kingdom. Between 2010 and 2015 she was the Labour MP for Airdrie and Shotts.
Neil Charles Gray is a Scottish politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care since 2024. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP),he has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Airdrie &Shotts since 2021. Gray previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the equivalent Westminster seat from 2015 to 2021. He served as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy,Fair Work and Energy from 2023 to 2024,and Minister for Culture,Europe and International Development from 2022 to 2023.
Kirsten Frances Oswald is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician first elected as the Member of the UK Parliament (MP) for East Renfrewshire in 2015;she was unseated at the 2017 snap election but subsequently re-elected at the 2019 election. She served as the deputy leader of the SNP parliamentary party from 2020 to 2022,as well as Chairman and Business Convener of the Scottish National Party from 2018 to 2023.
Richard Leonard is a British politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2021. He has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP),as one of the additional members for the Central Scotland region,since 2016. He ideologically identifies as a socialist,democrat and internationalist.
David Melvyn Linden is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow East from the 2017 General Election until May 2024. He served as the SNP Spokesperson for Work and Pensions from 2021 to 2022 and the Spokesperson for Housing,Communities and Local Government in the House of Commons from 2020 to 2021.
The 2021 Airdrie and Shotts by-election was held in the UK parliament constituency of Airdrie and Shotts following the resignation of the sitting member (MP),Neil Gray,to run for the corresponding seat in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election. This was necessitated by Scottish National Party (SNP) rules banning its members from sitting as an MSP and an MP at the same time. It took place on 13 May 2021,a week after the Scottish Parliament elections,to reduce COVID-19 transmission risk.
The 2024 general election was held on 4 July 2024. 57 Scottish Westminster seats were contested. The election saw a resurgence of Labour within Scotland,with the party winning 37 seats,an increase of 36 from the previous election and becoming the largest party in Scotland for the first time since 2010. The Liberal Democrats also saw gains,increasing their Scottish representation in Parliament from four seats to six. The Scottish National Party,the dominant party in Scotland since 2007,saw a collapse of support in which they lost 39 seats,bringing their total from 48 seats won at the previous election to nine. This was their worst Westminster election result since 2010. The Conservative Party lost one seat,taking their total down to five. Turnout dropped to 59%,eclipsed for the first time by a preceding Scottish Parliament election (63.5%). This was a reduction in turnout of 8.4% from 2019 and in a few constituencies the turnout was down 10%.
Kenneth Stevenson is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Airdrie and Shotts since 2024.
