| Falkirk West Scottish Parliament county constituency |
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| Falkirk West shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland |
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| Created: | 1999 |
| MSP: | Michael Matheson |
| Party: | Scottish National Party |
| Council area: | Falkirk (part) |
Falkirk West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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Electoral region
The other nine constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Hamilton North and Bellshill, Hamilton South, Kilmarnock and Loudoun and Motherwell and Wishaw.
The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area, part of the South Lanarkshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area and a small part of the East Dumbartonshire council area.
Constituency boundaries and council area
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[1].
The Holyrood constituency covers a western portion of the Falkirk council area. The rest of the Falkirk area is covered by Falkirk East, which is also within the Central Scotland electoral region.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Dennis Canavan | Independent | |
| 2003 | |||
| 2007 | Michael Matheson | Scottish National Party | |
Election results
| Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Falkirk West | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| SNP | Michael Matheson | 12,068 | 41.9 | +24.1 | |
| Labour | Dennis Goldie | 11,292 | 39.2 | +21.8 | |
| Conservative | Stephen O'Rourke | 2,887 | 10.00 | +3.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Callum Chomczuk | 2,538 | 8.8 | +6.0 | |
| Majority | 776 | 2.7 | - | ||
| Turnout | 28,785 | 51.7 | +1.0 | ||
| SNP gain from Independent | Swing | +1.2 | |||
| Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Falkirk West | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Independent | Dennis Canavan | 14,703 | 55.69 | +0.71 | |
| SNP | Michael Matheson | 4,703 | 17.81 | +0.03 | |
| Labour | Lee Whitehill | 4,589 | 17.38 | -1.39 | |
| Conservative | Iain Mitchell | 1,657 | 6.28 | +0.65 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jacqueline Kelly | 748 | 2.83 | 0 | |
| Majority | 10,000 | 37.88 | +1.67 | ||
| Turnout | 26,400 | 50.65 | -12.39 | ||
| Independent hold | Swing | ||||
| Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Falkirk West | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Independent | Dennis Canavan | 18,511 | 54.98 | +54.98 | |
| Labour | Ross Martin | 6,319 | 18.77 | -40.58 | |
| SNP | Michael Matheson | 5,986 | 17.78 | -5.65 | |
| Conservative | Gordon Millar | 1,897 | 5.63 | -6.46 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jane Hook | 1,889 | 6.26 | -0.97 | |
| Majority | 12,192 | 36.21 | |||
| Turnout | |||||
| Independent gain from Labour | Swing | ||||
Notes
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