Strathkelvin and Bearsden (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Strathkelvin and Bearsden (UK Parliament constituency).

Strathkelvin and Bearsden
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Strathkelvin and Bearsden shown within the West Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland (2011 boundaries)
Electorate	63,895 (2022) [1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Rona Mackay
Council area	East Dunbartonshire

Strathkelvin and Bearsden is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of East Dunbartonshire. ^[2] Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole. ^[3]

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

Electoral region

See also: West Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are: Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Eastwood, Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and Cardonald, and Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley. ^[3] The region covers the whole of the council areas of East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, and West Dunbartonshire; and parts of the council areas of Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, and Glasgow. ^[4]

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2011

The Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, with the name and boundaries of the existing Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency of the UK House of Commons. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election the House of Commons constituencies in Scotland were altered, whilst the exisiting Scottish Parliament constituencies were retained, and there is now no longer any link between the two sets of boundaries. ^[5] The boundaries of the seat were altered slightly by the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries in 2011, but were left unchanged at the Second Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries in 2025. ^{[6] [7]}

The rest of East Dunbartonshire is represented by the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency. ^[8]

The electoral wards of East Dunbartonshire Council used in the current creation of Strathkelvin and Bearsden are: ^[2]

• Bearsden South
• Bishopbriggs North and Campsie
• Bishopbriggs South
• Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar
• Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Sam Galbraith	Labour
	2001	Brian Fitzpatrick
	2003	Jean Turner	Independent
	2007	David Whitton	Labour
	2011	Fiona McLeod	SNP
	2016	Rona Mackay

Election results

2020s

2026 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Pam Gosal
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Harley
	SNP	Denis Johnston
Majority
Valid Votes
Invalid Votes
Turnout

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden ^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Rona Mackay [a]	21,064	45.5	2.0	17,026	36.7	1.1
	Conservative	Andrew Polson	9,580	20.7	2.2	10,225	22.0	2.5
	Labour Co-op	Callum McNally	8,510	18.4	2.7	9,104	19.6	0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Murray	6,675	14.4	1.9	4,099	8.8	0.4
	Green					3,873	8.3	1.7
	Alba					677	1.5	New
	All for Unity					412	0.9	New
	Scottish Family	Liam McKechnie	415	0.9	New	304	0.7	New
	Independent Green Voice					263	0.6	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					95	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					84	0.2	New
	Reform					61	0.1	New
	Scottish Libertarian					44	0.1	New
	TUSC					32	0.1	New
	UKIP					31	0.1	1.6
	Renew					27	0.1	New
	Independent	James Morrison				18	0.0	New
	Independent	Maurice Campbell				10	0.0	New
	Scotia Future					6	0.0	New
Majority			11,484	24.8	4.2
Valid Votes			46,244			46,391
Invalid Votes			119			74
Turnout			46,363	72.0	9.1	46,465	72.2	9.3
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden ^{[11] [12]}

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Rona Mackay	17,060	43.5	1.3	14,862	37.8	4.2
	Conservative	Andrew Polson	8,960	22.9	9.8	9,646	24.5	12.0
	Labour	Margaret Mccarthy	8,288	21.1	15.8	7,466	19.0	10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Katy Gordon	4,880	12.5	4.8	3,295	8.4	3.0
	Green					2,603	6.6	2.8
	UKIP					657	1.7	1.0
	Scottish Christian					312	0.8	0.3
	Solidarity					268	0.7	0.5
	RISE					167	0.4	New
	Scottish Libertarian					57	0.1	New
Majority			8,100	20.6	15.3
Valid Votes			39,188			39,333
Invalid Votes			173			62
Turnout			39,361	62.9	5.8	39,395	62.9	5.8
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Fiona McLeod	14,258	42.2	N/A	14,187	42.0	N/A
	Labour	David Whitton [a]	12,456	36.9	N/A	10,032	29.7	N/A
	Conservative	Stephanie Fraser	4,438	13.1	N/A	4,236	12.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Macdonald	2,600	7.7	N/A	1,807	5.4	N/A
	Green					1,282	3.8	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					508	1.5	N/A
	Scottish Christian					376	1.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour					342	1.0	N/A
	UKIP					249	0.7	N/A
	BNP					227	0.7	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					185	0.5	N/A
	Solidarity					56	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Richard Vassie				30	0.1	N/A
	Others					247	0.7	N/A
Majority			1,802	5.3	N/A
Valid Votes			33,752			33,764
Invalid Votes			149			118
Turnout			33,901	57.1	N/A	33,882	57.1	N/A
	SNP win (new seat)
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Whitton	11,396	31.1	+1.2
	SNP	Robin Easton	8,008	21.9	+8.2
	Independent	Jean Turner	6,742	18.4	−12.7
	Conservative	Stephanie Fraser	5,178	14.2	+2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Cathy McInnes	4,658	12.7	−1.3
	Scottish Christian	Bob Handyside	613	1.7	New
Majority			3,388	9.2	N/A
Turnout			36,595	60.6
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jean Turner	10,988	31.1	N/A
	Labour	Brian Fitzpatrick	10,550	29.9	−20.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jo Swinson	4,950	14.0	+4.2
	SNP	Fiona McLeod	4,846	13.7	−8.4
	Conservative	Rory O'Brien	4,002	11.3	−5.1
Majority			438	1.2	N/A
Turnout			35,336
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Scottish Parliament by-election, 2001: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brian Fitzpatrick	15,401	37.0	−13.7
	Independent	Jean Turner	7,572	18.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	John Morrison	7,147	17.2	+7.4
	SNP	Janet Law	6,457	15.5	−6.6
	Conservative	Charles Ferguson	5,037	12.1	−4.3
Majority			7,829	18.8	−9.8
Turnout			41,614
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sam Galbraith	21,505	50.7	N/A
	SNP	Fiona McLeod	9,384	22.1	N/A
	Conservative	Charles Ferguson	6,934	16.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Howarth	4,144	9.8	N/A
	Anti-Drug	Maxi Richards	423	1.0	N/A
Majority			12,121	28.6	N/A
Turnout			49,324		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

References

Citations

1. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 25.
2. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 142.
3. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 29.
4. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
5. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Boundary Maps". Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
7. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 54-67.
8. Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140-142.
9. "Constituencies A-Z, Strathkelvin & Bearsden". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
10. "Scottish Parliamentary Elections 2021 - Results". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
11. "Scottish Parliamentary elections 2016". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
12. "West Scotland Region election results 2016". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
13. "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.

Bibliography

• "Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. April 2025. Retrieved 27 November 2025.

External links

• "Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency map (2025 review)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland . Retrieved 27 November 2025.
• "Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency map (2011 boundaries)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 7 July 2021.