2005–2024: Under the Fifth Review, the boundaries were defined in accordance with the ward structure in place on 30 November 2004. Further to reviews of local government ward boundaries which came into effect in 2007 and 2017, but did not affect the parliamentary boundaries, the constituency comprised the following wards or part wards:
2024–present: Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was subject to minor boundary changes, losing the part of the Nith ward, offset by the gain of a further part of the Lochar ward. The remainder of the Clydesdale East ward was also added.[4][5]
Constituency profile
One of the largest seats in terms of area, the constituency is predominantly rural and is very sparsely populated. It stretches from 10 miles outside of Edinburgh in the northeast all the way down to Gretna at the border with England. It is also the only seat in Scotland that has been held by the Conservatives in every election since its creation. It contains some very affluent areas as well as some more working-class areas; however, it is a large rural seat where farming is a big source of employment. The M74, which is the main road between Scotland and England, runs through the constituency as do the West Coast Mainline and Glasgow South Western railway lines. Its largest towns are Dumfries (Most of which is within the neighbouring seat of Dumfries and Galloway), Annan, Biggar, Gretna/Gretna Green, Langholm, Lockerbie, Moffat and Peebles. The seat also contains the Southern Upland Way, a popular walk for tourists in the south of Scotland.
Clydesdale had been a safe Labour seat since the 1980s, and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale had been a Liberal/Liberal Democrat seat since 1983.
Following the boundary review for the 2005 general election, Labour held a clear majority of 12% over the Conservatives, according to calculations of notional results (an estimate of how the seat would have voted if it had existed at the previous election) and the seat was 96th[6] on the Conservatives' target list. The Liberal Democrats finished in a close third place at the election. However, former Conservative MSPDavid Mundell was successful in gaining the seat from Labour, with a swing of 8.0%. This left him as the sole Conservative MP representing a Scottish constituency at the 2005 general election,[7] after the Conservative MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, Peter Duncan was defeated when standing at the new Dumfries and Galloway constituency,[8] and Conservative attempts to gain Angus from the SNP ended in failure.
In 2010, Mundell was re-elected, with an increased majority. In 2015, after the SNP landslide victory in Scotland, he narrowly defeated the SNP candidate, Emma Harper by 798 votes, and was the only Scottish Conservative MP elected.[9] However, following the SNP's losses at the 2017 snap general election, the Conservatives gained 12 seats in Scotland, with Mundell increasing his majority to 9,441 votes. Mundell was re-elected at the 2019 general election, but with a reduced majority of 3,781 votes, in an election where the SNP made gains across Scotland at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives. Although his vote share fell considerably, Mundell was re-elected at the 2024 election with a slightly increased majority of 4,242 votes, as the SNP vote fell even further, with Labour coming in a close third.
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