Rutherglen and Hamilton West (UK Parliament constituency)
Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which was created for the 2005 general election. It covers almost all of the former constituency of Glasgow Rutherglen and most of the former constituency of Hamilton South, and it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election. The current MP is Margaret Ferrier, an independent, who won the seat at the 2019 snap general election. She had previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017. Ferrier was previously a Scottish National Party MP until the whip was withdrawn on 1 October 2020 after an incident relating to a breach of the COVID-19 pandemic regulations.[1]
Rutherglen and Hamilton West | |
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Burgh constituency for the House of Commons | |
![]() Boundary of Rutherglen and Hamilton West in Scotland | |
Subdivisions of Scotland | South Lanarkshire |
Major settlements | Blantyre, Burnbank, Burnside, Cambuslang, Hillhouse, Newton, Rutherglen |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2005 |
Member of Parliament | Margaret Ferrier (Independent) |
Created from | Glasgow Rutherglen and Hamilton South |
Boundaries
The Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency covers part of the South Lanarkshire council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow and Lanark and Hamilton East constituencies. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency also covers part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area and part of the Scottish Borders council area.
The terms of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West name refer to the town of Rutherglen and the west of the town of Hamilton.[2]
The constituency is composed of the electoral wards:
Constituency profile
The seat contains commuter areas into the city of Glasgow, with train travel times as short as 15 minutes away from the city centre. Like much of Greater Glasgow, the constituency contains a diverse range of economic profiles including some areas with high levels of deprivation.[3][4][5] The seat itself contains a slightly higher than average proportion of Remain voters at 62% and an average amount of No to Independence voters at 55%, making the seat an important Scottish bellwether. Historically dominated by Labour, Margaret Ferrier of the SNP gained the seat for the party for the first time in 2015 and regained it in 2019 with an increased majority. The Conservatives have also made some inroads in the more prosperous areas within the seat, but not to the same level as the neighbouring constituency Lanark and Hamilton East.
Members of Parliament
Parliament | Years | Member | Party | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Constituency created from Glasgow Rutherglen and Hamilton South | ||||
54th | 2005–2010 | Tommy McAvoy[6] | Scottish Labour and Co-operative | |
55th | 2010–2015 | Tom Greatrex | ||
56th | 2015–2017 | Margaret Ferrier | Scottish National Party | |
57th | 2017–2019 | Gerard Killen | Scottish Labour and Co-operative | |
58th | 2019–2020 | Margaret Ferrier | Scottish National Party | |
2020–present | Independent[1] |
Elections
Elections in the 2010s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Margaret Ferrier | 23,775 | 44.2 | +7.2 | |
Labour | Gerard Killen | 18,545 | 34.5 | -3.0 | |
Conservative | Lynne Nailon | 8,054 | 15.0 | −4.5 | |
Liberal Democrats | Mark McGeever | 2,791 | 5.2 | +1.0 | |
UKIP | Janice MacKay | 629 | 1.2 | +0.3 | |
Majority | 5,230 | 9.7 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 53,794 | 66.5 | +3.0 | ||
SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +5.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Gerard Killen | 19,101 | 37.5 | +2.3 | |
SNP | Margaret Ferrier | 18,836 | 37.0 | −15.6 | |
Conservative | Ann Le Blond | 9,941 | 19.5 | +11.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Robert Brown | 2,158 | 4.2 | +2.4 | |
UKIP | Caroline Santos | 465 | 0.9 | −1.4 | |
Independent | Andy Dixon | 371 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 265 | 0.5 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 50,872 | 63.5 | −5.1 | ||
Labour gain from SNP | Swing | +8.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Margaret Ferrier | 30,279 | 52.6 | +36.5 | |
Labour | Tom Greatrex | 20,304 | 35.2 | −25.6 | |
Conservative | Taylor Muir | 4,350 | 7.6 | −2.1 | |
UKIP | Janice Mackay[13] | 1,301 | 2.3 | +0.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | Tony Hughes | 1,045 | 1.8 | −10.2 | |
CISTA | Yvonne Maclean | 336 | 0.6 | New | |
Majority | 9,975 | 17.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 57,615 | 69.6 | +8.1 | ||
SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +31.1 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Tom Greatrex | 28,566 | 60.8 | +5.2 | |
SNP | Graeme Horne | 7,564 | 16.1 | +2.2 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ian Robertson | 5,636 | 12.0 | −6.4 | |
Conservative | Malcolm Macaskill | 4,540 | 9.7 | +1.3 | |
UKIP | Janice Murdoch | 675 | 1.4 | +0.3 | |
Majority | 21,002 | 44.7 | +7.5 | ||
Turnout | 46,981 | 61.5 | +3.0 | ||
Labour hold | Swing | +1.5 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Tommy McAvoy | 24,054 | 55.6 | -4.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | Ian Robertson | 7,942 | 18.4 | +6.7 | |
SNP | Margaret Park | 6,023 | 13.9 | -1.3 | |
Conservative | Peter Crerar | 3,621 | 8.4 | -0.2 | |
Scottish Socialist | Bill Bonnar | 1,164 | 2.7 | -1.9 | |
UKIP | Janice Murdoch | 457 | 1.1 | +0.9 | |
Majority | 16,112 | 37.2 | |||
Turnout | 43,261 | 58.5 | |||
Labour win (new seat) |
References
- Specific
- "MP Margaret Ferrier's Covid Parliament trip 'indefensible'". BBC News. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
- "UK Parliament constituencies 2005 onwards: Rutherglen and Hamilton West" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- Rutherglen and Cambuslang communities at top of list of most deprived areas in Scotland, Edel Kenealy, Daily Record, 8 September 2016
- Shock stats show Rutherglen has more unemployment, highest rate of alcohol and drug admissions and more social work referrals than anywhere else in South Lanarkshire, Daily Record, 19 December 2018
- Rutherglen and Cambuslang areas among Scotland's poorest, according to Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation stats, Daily Record, 12 February 2020
- From a pawnbrokers to Parliament - Tommy McAvoy looks back on a career that took him to the House of Lords, Marc McLean, Daily Record, 11 September 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- "UK Parliamentary general election - Thursday 12 December 2019". South Lanarkshire Council. South Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- "Rutherglen & Hamilton West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- "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.
- "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.
- "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- Council, South Lanarkshire. "UK Parliamentary General Election Results South Lanarkshire Council 2015 Elections - South Lanarkshire Council". www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk.
- "UK Polling Report". ukpollingreport.co.uk.
- "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/downloads/download/631/uk_parliamentary_election_results_2010
- General