Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)

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Dunfermline East
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
DunfermlineEast1997Constituency.svg
Boundary of Dunfermline East in Scotlandfor the 2001 general election
Major settlements Cowdenbeath
19832005
SeatsOne
Created from Central Fife
Dunfermline
Replaced by Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath
Dunfermline & West Fife
Glenrothes

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.

Contents

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election from parts of the seats of Central Fife and Dunfermline. It was abolished for the 2005 general election as part of a major revision in the composition of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland.

Most of Dunfermline East and its neighbouring constituency Kirkcaldy now make up the new seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. The remaining parts of the seat were moved to the new Dunfermline and West Fife and Glenrothes constituencies.

The constituency's name was something of a misnomer as it never included any part of the town of Dunfermline, all of which was located in the Dunfermline West seat. Cowdenbeath was the largest town in the constituency.

Boundaries

1983–1997: The Dunfermline District electoral divisions of Aberdour/Dalgety Bay/North Queensferry, Ballingry/Lochore, Cowdenbeath/Gray Park, Dunfermline/Rosyth, Hill of Beath/Crossgates/Cowdenbeath, Inverkeithing/Rosyth, Kelty/Lumphinnans, and Lochgelly, and the Kirkcaldy District electoral division of Auchterderran.

1997–2005: The Dunfermline District electoral divisions of Aberdour and Mossside, Benarty and Lumphinans, Cowdenbeath, Dalgety Bay, Inverkeithing and North Queensferry, Kelty, Lochgelly, and Rosyth East and South, and the Kirkcaldy District electoral division of Cardenden and Kinglassie.

Members of Parliament

The constituency's only MP was Gordon Brown of the Labour Party, who was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1992 to 1997 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, when he became Prime Minister.

ElectionMember [1] Party
1983 Gordon Brown Labour

Election results

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Dunfermline East [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 18,515 51.5 −10.5
Liberal David Harcus7,21420.1
Conservative Clive Shenton6,76418.8−2.8
SNP George Hunter2,5737.2−6.8
Communist Alex Maxwell8642.4
Majority11,30131.4
Turnout 35,93072.0
Labour win (new seat)

General election 1987: Dunfermline East [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 25,381 64.5 +13.0
Conservative Clive Shenton5,79214.8−4.0
Liberal Elizabeth Harris4,12210.5−9.6
SNP Alice McGarry3,90110.0+2.8
Majority19,58949.7+18.3
Turnout 39,19676.6+4.6
Labour hold Swing +8.5

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Dunfermline East [4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 23,692 62.4 −2.1
Conservative Mark E. Tennant6,24816.5+1.7
SNP John V. Lloyd5,74615.1+5.1
Liberal Democrats Teresa Martin Little2,2626.0−4.5
Majority17,44445.9−3.8
Turnout 37,94875.6−1.0
Labour hold Swing −2.4

General election 1997: Dunfermline East [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 24,441 66.8 +4.4
SNP John Ramage5,69015.6+0.5
Conservative Iain Mitchell3,65610.0−6.5
Liberal Democrats Jim Tolson 2,1645.9−0.1
Referendum Thomas Dunsmore6321.7New
Majority18,75151.2+6.3
Turnout 36,58369.6−7.0
Labour hold Swing +2.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Dunfermline East [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon Brown 19,487 64.8 −2.0
SNP Johnny Mellon4,42414.7−0.9
Conservative Stuart Randall2,8389.4−0.6
Liberal Democrats John Mainland2,2817.6+1.7
Scottish Socialist Andrew Jackson7702.6New
UKIP Thomas Dunsmore2861.0New
Majority15,06350.1−1.1
Turnout 30,08657.0−12.6
Labour hold Swing -1.4

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References

  1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
  2. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  3. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  4. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  5. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  6. "Election Data 2001". 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 chancellor of the Exchequer
1997–2005
Succeeded by