Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (UK Parliament constituency)
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
CowdenbeathKirkcaldy2024Constituency.svg
Location within Scotland
Major settlements Burntisland, Cowdenbeath, Dalgety Bay, Kinghorn, Kirkcaldy, Lochgelly
Current constituency
Created 2005 (as Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Member of Parliament Melanie Ward (Scottish Labour)
Created from Kirkcaldy and Dunfermline East

Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy is a county constituency representing the areas around the towns of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, in Fife, Scotland, in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Contents

It was previously represented by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown from 2005 until 2015, who had been MP for the Dunfermline East constituency from 1983–2005 until boundary changes. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007 and as UK Prime Minister from 2007 to 2010.

Prior to the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the seat had different boundaries and was known as Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. [1]

Boundaries

Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of boundaries 2005–2024

The constituency is bounded by Ochil and South Perthshire to the north, Dunfermline and West Fife to the west and Glenrothes to the east.

Along with Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, the towns of Burntisland, Dalgety Bay, Inverkeithing, Dysart, Kelty, and Lochgelly and the villages of Aberdour, Auchtertool, Ballingry, Crosshill, Glencraig, Kinghorn, Lochore and Lumphinnans make up the constituency. [2]

2005–2024: The Fife Council wards of Aberdour and Burntisland West; Auchtertool and Burntisland East; Ballingry and Lochore; Bennochy and Valley; Cowdenbeath Central; Crosshill and Lochgelly North; Dalgety Bay East; Dalgety Bay West and Hillend; Inverkeithing; Dunnikier; Dysart and Gallatown; Glebe Park, Pathhead and Sinclairtown; Hayfield and Balsusney; Kelty; Kinghorn and Invertiel; Linktown and Kirkcaldy Central; Lumphinnans and Lochgelly South; Oakfield and Cowdenbeath North; Raith and Longbraes; Smeaton and Overton; Templehall East; and Templehall West.

2024–present: The Fife Council wards of Dunfermline North, Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy, Kirkcaldy North, Kirkcaldy Central, Kirkcaldy East, and Cowdenbeath.

Members of Parliament

The first Member of Parliament after the seat's creation in 2005, was the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown; who had previously represented Dunfermline East from 1983 to 2005, and later succeeded Tony Blair as Prime Minister in 2007. At the general election of 2010, Brown was re-elected as an MP, but was defeated as Prime Minister, and soon resigned as Leader of the Labour Party. He announced that he would continue to serve as an Opposition backbencher, [3] and did not retire from the Commons until the 2015 general election, which he did not contest. On that occasion, the SNP won parliamentary representation in the area for the first time, in line with the party's landslide victory throughout Scotland at that election. In 2017, Labour regained the seat from the SNP, with Lesley Laird winning over the SNP incumbent Roger Mullin by 259 votes. [4] [5] Laird was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland less than a week later on 14 June 2017. [6]

In 2019, Neale Hanvey unseated Laird with a majority of 1,243 votes. Hanvey was suspended from the SNP before the election for use of anti-Semitic language in social media posts. Although Hanvey was suspended from the SNP, he was still listed as such on the ballot and his victory is recorded as an SNP gain from Labour. [5] It is the only known time in which a candidate has won a seat and sat as an independent following a suspension from their party. [4] He was later re-admitted to the party in June 2020. [7] Hanvey defected from the SNP to join the new Alba Party in late March 2021, becoming Alba's second MP after Kenny MacAskill of East Lothian. [8]

ElectionMemberParty
2005 Gordon Brown Labour
2015 Roger Mullin SNP
2017 Lesley Laird Labour
2019 Neale Hanvey Independent 1
2020 SNP
2021 Alba Party
2024 Melanie Ward Labour

1After nominations for the 2019 general election closed, the Scottish National Party suspended Neale Hanvey and withdrew all support for his campaign on 28 November 2019 due to allegations of antisemitism.

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy [9] [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Melanie Ward 18,662 45.7 +16.2
SNP Lesley Backhouse11,41428.0−8.3
Conservative Jonathan Gray3,2037.8−14.4
Reform UK Sonia Davidson3,1287.7+5.7
Liberal Democrats Fraser Graham1,5933.9−2.6
Scottish Green Mags Hall1,5563.8+0.3
Alba Neale Hanvey 1,1322.8N/A
Scottish Libertarian Calum Paul1260.3N/A
Majority7,24817.7N/A
Turnout 40,81456.8−10.2
Registered electors 71,845
Labour gain from SNP Swing +12.2

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath [11] [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Neale Hanvey 116,568 35.2 −1.1
Labour Lesley Laird 15,32532.6−4.2
Conservative Kathleen Leslie9,44920.1−3.2
Liberal Democrats Gillian Cole-Hamilton 2,9036.2+3.8
Scottish Green Scott Rutherford1,6283.5New
Brexit Party Mitch William1,1322.4New
Majority1,2432.6N/A
Turnout 47,00564.5+1.0
SNP gain from Labour Swing +1.6

1After nominations for the 2019 general election closed, the Scottish National Party suspended Neale Hanvey and withdrew all support for his campaign on 28 November 2019 due to allegations of antisemitism. [13]

General election 2017: Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Lesley Laird 17,016 36.8 +3.4
SNP Roger Mullin 16,75736.3−15.9
Conservative Dave Dempsey10,76223.3+13.4
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Wood1,1182.4+0.1
UKIP David Coburn 5401.2−1.1
Majority2590.5N/A
Turnout 46,19363.5−6.1
Labour gain from SNP Swing +9.8
General election 2015: Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath [14] [15] [16]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Roger Mullin 27,628 52.2 +37.9
Labour Co-op Kenny Selbie17,65433.4−31.1
Conservative Dave Dempsey5,2239.9+0.6
UKIP Jack Neill1,2372.3+0.6
Liberal Democrats Callum Leslie1,1502.3−7.0
Majority9,97418.8N/A
Turnout 52,89269.6+7.4
SNP gain from Labour Swing +34.6

General election 2010: Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath [17] [15]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 29,559 64.5 +6.4
SNP Douglas Chapman 6,55014.3−0.2
Liberal Democrats John Mainland4,2699.3−3.7
Conservative Lindsay Paterson4,2589.3−1.0
UKIP Peter Adams7601.7+0.5
Independent Susan Archibald1840.4New
Independent Donald MacLaren1650.4New
Land PartyDerek Jackson570.1New
Majority23,00950.2+6.6
Turnout 45,80262.2+3.8
Labour hold Swing +3.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath [18]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 24,278 58.1 −0.4
SNP Alan Bath6,06214.5−4.1
Liberal Democrats Alex Cole-Hamilton 5,45013.0+3.8
Conservative Stuart Randall4,30810.3−0.3
Scottish Socialist Steve West6661.6−1.1
UKIP Peter Adams5161.2+0.8
Scottish Senior Citizens James Parker4251.0
Independent Elizabeth Kwantes470.1
Independent Pat Sargent440.1
Majority18,21643.6+3.7
Turnout 41,79658.4
Labour win (new seat)

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife</span> Council area of Scotland

Fife is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire. By custom it is widely held to have been one of the major Pictish kingdoms, known as Fib, and is still commonly known as the Kingdom of Fife within Scotland. A person from Fife is known as a Fifer. In older documents the county was very occasionally known by the anglicisation Fifeshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North East Fife (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983 onwards

North East Fife is a county constituency in Fife, Scotland, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Wendy Chamberlain of the Liberal Democrats since the 2019 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenrothes and Mid Fife (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards

Glenrothes and Mid Fife is a constituency in Scotland in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, represented by Richard Baker of the Labour Party since the 2024 general election. The seat was previously held by Peter Grant of the Scottish National Party (SNP). The seat includes the major settlements of Glenrothes, Levenmouth, Lochgelly, Kelty and Cardenden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1983-2005

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Circle Line</span> Railway line in Eastern Scotland, UK

The Fife Circle Line is the local rail service north from Edinburgh. It links towns of south Fife and the coastal towns along the Firth of Forth before heading to Edinburgh. Operationally, the service is not strictly a circle route, but, rather, a point to point service that reverses at the Edinburgh end, and has a large bi-directional balloon loop at the Fife end.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fife Constabulary</span> Law enforcement agency

Fife Constabulary was the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council area of Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkcaldy (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Kirkcaldy is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. Also, it is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife 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.

St Columba's RC High School is a six-year comprehensive Roman Catholic secondary school, located in Dunfermline in Fife, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballingry</span> Town in Fife, Scotland

Ballingry ; Scots: Ballingry, Bingry, Scottish Gaelic: Baile Iongrach) is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is near the boundary with Perth and Kinross, north of Lochgelly. It has an estimated population (2016) of 5,940. The once separate villages of Ballingry, Lochore, Crosshill, and Glencraig are now somewhat joined together as the part of the Benarty area. Ballingry, along with its neighbour Lochgelly, is one of Fife's 'regeneration areas' and is classed as in need of regeneration economically and socially.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunfermline (district)</span> Former local gov. district in Scotland

Dunfermline was a local government district in the Fife region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996, lying to the south-west of the regional capital Glenrothes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirkcaldy (district)</span> Former local gov. district in Scotland

Kirkcaldy was a local government district in the Fife region of Scotland from 1975 to 1996. The district was named after the town of Kirkcaldy but also covered a wider area, including the Fife regional capital of Glenrothes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)</span> Constituency of the Scottish Parliament

Cowdenbeath is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Fife. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Fife Council election</span> 2017 Scottish local government election

Elections to Fife Council were held on 4 May 2017, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 22 wards created as a result of the Local Government Commission for Scotland's 5th review which was published in September 2016, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 75 councillors elected; a decrease of three seats from 2012 as one ward, The Lochs, was abolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesley Laird</span> Former Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party

Lesley Margaret Laird is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2017 to 2019, and Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland during the same period. Laird was a Member of Fife Council from 2012 to 2018 and served as the Deputy Leader of the Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neale Hanvey</span> Scottish politician (born 1964)

James Neale Hanvey is a Scottish nationalist politician who served as the Leader of the Alba Party in the House of Commons from 2021 to 2024, and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2019 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Fife Council election</span> Fife Council election

Elections to Fife Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay (ward)</span>

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay is one of the 22 wards used to elect members of the Fife council. It elects three Councillors. The boundary covers the settlements of Inverkeithing, Hillend and Dalgety Bay.

References

  1. ↑ Boundary Commission Scotland 2023 Review Report
  2. ↑ "Gordon Brown Constituency Website". Archived from the original on 20 May 2010. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  3. ↑ "Brown to remain as backbench MP", BBC News, 13 May 2010
  4. 1 2 "Axed SNP candidate elected to Westminster". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  5. 1 2 "Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Notes on the Reshuffle". New Socialist. 18 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 January 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Smith, Craig (1 June 2020). "Fife MP 'welcomed back' into SNP after six-month suspension". The Courier. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  8. ↑ Matthews, James [@jamesmatthewsky] (28 March 2021). "NEW: Neale Hanvey becomes second Westminster MP to defect from SNP to Alex Salmond's Alba Party. Follows Kenny MacAskill. @SkyNews" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 28 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021– via Twitter.
  9. ↑ "Fife General Election Results 2024". Fife Council. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "Dunfermline and Dollar results". BBC News. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  11. ↑ "General Election 12 December 2019". Fife Council. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  12. ↑ "Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath parliamentary constituency – Election 2019" . Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "SNP drop candidate over claims of anti-Semitism". BBC News . 28 November 2019. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. 1 2 Fife Council, Elections (7 July 2014). "Elections – The Scottish Independence Referendum Results 2014". www.fifedirect.org.uk.
  16. ↑ "Candidates to be MP (PPCs) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath in the UK 2015 general election". YourNextMP. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the prime minister
2007–2010		Succeeded by
Preceded by Constituency represented by the chancellor of the Exchequer
2005–2007		Succeeded by

56°05′57″N3°16′25″W / 56.09917°N 3.27361°W / 56.09917; -3.27361

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.