Motherwell and Wishaw (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency).

Motherwell and Wishaw
Burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Motherwell and Wishaw shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	57,740 (2022) [1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Clare Adamson
Council area	North Lanarkshire

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 (first past the post) method of election. It has also been one of nine 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. Following the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries, Falkirk West will form part of the new Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region from the 2026 Scottish Parliament election onwards.

The seat has been held by Clare Adamson of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

See also: Central Scotland and Lothians West (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region are: Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Falkirk West, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse and Uddingston and Bellshill. The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

From 2026, the other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland and Lothians West region will be Airdrie, Almond Valley, Bathgate, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Falkirk West, and Uddingston and Bellshill. ^[2]

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2005

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies. ^[3]

On the 2011 boundaries, the Holyrood constituency has been one of four covering the North Lanarkshire council area, the others being Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth; Uddingston and Bellshill spans parts of both North and South Lanarkshire. All five formed part of the Central Scotland electoral region. From 2026 Airdrie and Shotts will be replaced by the Airdrie seat, and the other North Lanarkshire seats will undergo boundary changes. All five seats will form part of the new Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region.

The electoral wards used in the 2011 version of Motherwell and Wishaw are listed below. All of these wards are part of North Lanarkshire. ^[4]

• In full: Motherwell West, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig, Murdostoun, and Wishaw
• In part: Motherwell North (shared with Uddingston and Bellshill)

Following the second review of Scottish Parliament boundaries, the following North Lanarkshire Council electoral wards were used to redefine the seat: ^[5]

• In full: Motherwell West, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig, Murdostoun, and Wishaw
• In part: Motherwell North, Fortissat.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

The seat had always elected Labour MSPs (until 2016), it was a safe Labour seat from 1999 until 2011. The MSP from 1999 was the former First Minister, Lord Jack McConnell. The MSP John Pentland won the seat on McConnell's retirement in 2011, but the national SNP landslide of that year turned it for the first time from safe Labour into a Labour-SNP marginal with just two percentage points separating Pentland and his nearest opponent, the SNP's Clare Adamson. Adamson defeated Pentland to gain the seat in 2016.

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Jack McConnell	Labour
	2011	John Pentland
	2016	Clare Adamson	SNP

Election results

2021

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Motherwell and Wishaw ^{[6] [7] [8]}

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Clare Adamson [a]	18,156	53.2	0.7	15,672	45.9	1.8
	Labour	Martine Nolan	10,343	30.3	0.8	8,429	24.7	1.8
	Conservative	Nathan Wilson	4,472	13.1	0.6	5,911	17.3	3.0
	Green					1,951	5.7	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Veart	557	1.6	1.0	520	1.5	0.3
	Alba					496	1.5	New
	All for Unity					278	0.8	New
	Independent Green Voice					254	0.7	New
	Scottish Family					228	0.7	New
	Scottish Libertarian	Mark Meechan	254	0.7	New	94	0.3	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					86	0.3	New
	Reform					63	0.2	New
	UKIP	Neil Wilson	173	0.5	N/A	62	0.2	2.2
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					62	0.2	New
	Independent	Paddy Hogg				49	0.1	New
	Communist	Daniel Lambe	194	0.6	New
Majority			9,437	22.9	1.5
Valid Votes			34,149			34,155
Invalid Votes			84			74
Turnout			34,233	58.9	7.7	34,229	58.9	7.6
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

Scottish Parliament Election 2016: Motherwell and Wishaw ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Clare Adamson [a]	15,291	52.5	11.1	13,952	47.7	5.8
	Labour	John Pentland [b]	9,068	31.1	12.7	7,751	26.5	12.2
	Conservative	Meghan Gallacher	3,991	13.7	6.5	4,169	14.3	7.9
	Green					1,080	3.7	2.5
	UKIP					698	2.4	1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Finlayson	761	2.6	1.1	516	1.8	0.6
	RISE					389	1.3	New
	Solidarity					332	1.1	0.8
	Scottish Christian					298	1.0	1.2
	Independent	Deryck Beaumont				48	0.2	New
Majority			6,223	21.4	N/A
Valid Votes			29,111			29,233
Invalid Votes			133			38
Turnout			29,244	51.2	5.5	29,271	51.3	5.5
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing		11.9
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency Incumbent member for this constituency

Scottish Parliament Election 2011: Motherwell and Wishaw ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Pentland	10,713	43.8	N/A	9,473	38.7	N/A
	SNP	Clare Adamson [a]	10,126	41.4	N/A	10,252	41.9	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Burgess	1,753	7.2	N/A	1,564	6.4	N/A
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	945	3.9	N/A	906	3.7	N/A
	Scottish Christian	Tom Selfridge	547	2.2	N/A	529	2.2	N/A
	Socialist Labour					338	1.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Beverley Hope	367	1.5	N/A	302	1.2	N/A
	Green					296	1.2	N/A
	BNP					237	1.0	N/A
	UKIP					119	0.5	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					112	0.5	N/A
	Solidarity					85	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Hugh O'Donnell				61	0.2	N/A
	Others					211	0.9	N/A
Majority			587	2.4	N/A
Valid Votes			24,451			24,485
Invalid Votes			63			51
Turnout			24,514	45.7	N/A	24,536	45.8	N/A
	Labour win (new boundaries)
Notes Elected on the party list

2000s

Scottish Parliament Election 2007: Motherwell and Wishaw^{[ citation needed ]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McConnell	12,574	48.1	−6.0
	SNP	Marion Fellows	6,636	25.4	+7.8
	Conservative	Diane Huddleston	1,990	7.6	−2.4
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	1,702	6.5	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Douglas	1,570	6.0	+1.8
	Scottish Christian	Thomas Selfridge	1,491	5.7	New
	ATP	Richard Leat	187	0.7	New
Majority			5,928	22.7	−13.8
Rejected ballots			970	3.7
Turnout			26,150	48.5	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Scottish Parliament Election 2003: Motherwell and Wishaw^{[ citation needed ]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McConnell	13,739	54.12	+8.21
	SNP	Lloyd Quinan	4,480	17.65	−11.62
	Conservative	Mark Nolan	2,542	10.01	−2.17
	Scottish Socialist	John Milligan	1,961	7.72	New
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	1,597	6.29	+6.29
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Legg	1,069	4.21	−2.04
Majority			9,259	36.47	+19.84
Turnout			25,388	49.03	−8.63
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

Scottish Parliament Election 1999: Motherwell and Wishaw^{[ citation needed ]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McConnell	13,925	45.9	N/A
	SNP	Jim McGuigan	8,879	29.3	N/A
	Conservative	William Gibson	3,694	12.2	N/A
	Socialist Labour	John Milligan	1,941	6.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Spillane	1,895	6.2	N/A
Majority			5,046	16.6	N/A
Turnout			30,334	57.1	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes

Citations

1. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 27.
2. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 28.
3. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
4. "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 194. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
5. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 142.
6. "Central Scotland Region: Notice of Poll and Statement of Persons Nominated". North Lanarkshire Council . 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
7. Constituencies A-Z | Motherwell and Wishaw, BBC News; retrieved 7 May 2021
8. "Scottish Parliament Elections 6 May 2021". North Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
9. "Central Scotland – 2016 Results and 2021 Candidates". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
10. "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
11. "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2021.

Bibliography

• "Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. April 2025. Retrieved 6 November 2011.

External links

• "Motherwell and Wishaw constituency map (2026 boundaries)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
• "Motherwell and Wishaw constituency map (2011 boundaries)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland . Retrieved 7 July 2021.

Preceded by Fife Central

Constituency represented by the First Minister 2001–2007

Succeeded by Gordon