Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)

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Dunfermline and West Fife
Former county constituency
for the House of Commons
DunfermlineWestFifeConstituency.svg
Boundary of Dunfermline and West Fife in Scotland
Major settlements Dunfermline, Inverkeithing, North Queensferry, Rosyth
2005–2024
Created from Dunfermline West and Dunfermline East

Dunfermline and West Fife was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies. The current MP is Douglas Chapman of the Scottish National Party (SNP).

Contents

The Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was held in early 2006, due to the death of the sitting MP, Rachel Squire. Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats was the surprise winner, by some 1,800 votes, in what was seen as a safe Labour seat. [1] However, he lost the seat to Labour's Thomas Docherty at the 2010 general election. Chapman then won the seat in the SNP's Scottish landslide in the 2015 general election. [2]

Further to the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to boundary changes which will include the small town of Dollar in Clackmannanshire. As a consequence, it was renamed Dunfermline and Dollar , first contested at the 2024 general election. [3] Graeme Downie, of The Scottish Labour Party successfully was elected as the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline and Dollar on Thursday 4th July 2024.

Boundaries

Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
Map of boundaries 2005-2024

This constituency was formed in 2005 from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies.

Rosyth and Inverkeithing in the southeast are the only large population centres on the coast. To the north and west of Dunfermline is more rugged and robust Fife countryside. The whole seat was up against the Firth of Forth.

Places in Dunfermline and West Fife constituency

Royal burghs

Burghs, towns, and large villages (Over 1,000 population)

Electoral wards of Dunfermline and small, outlying villages


Members of Parliament

Rachel Squire (Labour) was the MP for Dunfermline West constituency from 1992 until the major revision of the composition of Scottish parliamentary constituencies for the 2005 general election. Gordon Brown was MP for the neighbouring Dunfermline East constituency from which some territory was given to Dunfermline and West Fife.

Squire won the new seat in the 2005 general election and held it until her death on 5 January 2006. The subsequent by-election was held on 9 February 2006, which Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie won in a shock defeat for Labour. The Liberal Democrats also gained the Dunfermline West Scottish Parliamentary constituency from Labour in the 2007 Holyrood Parliament elections.

In the 2010 general election, the Labour candidate Thomas Docherty won the seat back. In the 2015 general election the seat was won by the SNP's Douglas Chapman.

ElectionMember [4] Party
2005 Rachel Squire Labour
2006 by-election Willie Rennie Liberal Democrat
2010 Thomas Docherty Labour
2015 Douglas Chapman SNP

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

2019 general election: Dunfermline and West Fife [5] [6] [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Douglas Chapman 23,727 44.4 +8.9
Labour Co-op Cara Hilton 13,02824.4−9.5
Conservative Moira Benny11,20721.0−3.7
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Bell4,2628.0+2.1
Scottish Green Mags Hall1,2582.4New
Majority10,69920.0+18.4
Turnout 53,48269.8+2.4
SNP hold Swing +9.2
2017 general election: Dunfermline and West Fife [8] [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Douglas Chapman 18,121 35.5 −14.8
Labour Co-op Cara Hilton 17,27733.9+2.2
Conservative Belinda Hacking12,59324.7+12.8
Liberal Democrats James Calder3,0195.9+1.9
Majority8441.6−17.0
Turnout 51,01067.4−4.2
SNP hold Swing -8.4
2015 general election: Dunfermline and West Fife [10] [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNP Douglas Chapman 28,096 50.3 +39.7
Labour Thomas Docherty 17,74431.7−14.6
Conservative James Reekie6,62311.9+5.1
Liberal Democrats Gillian Cole-Hamilton [12] 2,2324.0−31.1
Scottish Green Lewis Campbell [13] 1,1952.1New
Majority10,35218.6N/A
Turnout 55,89071.6+5.2
SNP gain from Labour Swing +27.1
2010 general election: Dunfermline and West Fife [14]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Thomas Docherty 22,639 46.3 −1.1
Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie 17,16935.1+14.9
SNP Joe McCall5,20110.6−8.3
Conservative Belinda Hacking3,3056.8−3.5
UKIP Otto Inglis6331.3−0.2
Majority5,47011.2−16.0
Turnout 48,94766.4+6.5
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 2000s

2006 by-election: Dunfermline and West Fife
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Willie Rennie 12,391 35.8 +15.6
Labour Catherine Stihler 10,59130.6−16.8
SNP Douglas Chapman 7,26121.0+2.1
Conservative Carrie Ruxton2,7027.8−2.5
Scottish Socialist John McAllion 5371.60.0
Scottish Christian George Hargreaves 4111.2New
Abolish Forth Bridge Tolls PartyTom Minogue3741.1New
UKIP Ian Borland2080.6−0.9
Common Good Dick Rodgers1030.3New
Majority1,8005.2N/A
Turnout 34,57847.9−12.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing +16.24
2005 general election: Dunfermline and Fife West [15]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Rachel Squire 20,111 47.4 −7.1
Liberal Democrats David Herbert8,54920.2+5.9
SNP Douglas Chapman 8,02618.9+1.1
Conservative Roger Smillie4,37610.3+0.6
Scottish Socialist Susan Archibald6891.6−0.8
UKIP Ian Borland6431.5+0.1
Majority11,56227.2−13.0
Turnout 42,39459.9+2.3
Labour hold Swing -6.5

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References

  1. ↑ "Lib Dems deliver blow to Labour". BBC News. 10 February 2006.
  2. ↑ "Everything you need to know about the Scottish National Party's 56 MPs". BT.com. 13 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Boundary Commission Scotland 2023 Review Report
  4. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
  5. ↑ "General Election 12 December 2019". Fife Council. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  6. ↑ "Dunfermline & West Fife parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" . Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  7. ↑ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  8. ↑ "Dunfermline & West Fife parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News . Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  10. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  11. ↑ Fife Council, Elections (7 July 2014). "Elections - The Scottish Independence Referendum Results 2014". www.fifedirect.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  12. ↑ "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats. 4 March 2015. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "Updates".
  14. ↑ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. ↑ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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