Falkirk West
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Falkirk West shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population79,858 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyScottish National Party
MSPMichael Matheson
Council areaFalkirk

Falkirk West (Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac an Iar) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Falkirk. 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 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.

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. Ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the boundaries of the seat were reformed and reshaped.[2][3]

The seat has been held by Michael Matheson of the Scottish National Party since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

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, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Motherwell and Wishaw 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.

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.[4]

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.

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the newly reshaped Falkirk West was formed from the following electoral wards:[5]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1999 Dennis Canavan Independent
2007 Michael Matheson Scottish National Party

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West[6][7]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Michael Matheson[lower-alpha 1] 21,492 54.3 Decrease2.6 18,040 45.4 Decrease4.3
Labour Monette Gordon 9,653 24.4 Increase2.6 7,832 19.7 Increase0.2
Conservative Stephen Kerr[lower-alpha 2] 7,343 18.5 Increase0.2 8,127 20.5 Increase2.1
Liberal Democrats Austin Reid 1,115 2.8 Decrease0.2 968 2.4 Increase0.3
Scottish Green 2,802 7.1 Increase1.5
Alba 697 1.8 New
All for Unity 373 0.9 New
Scottish Family 212 0.5 New
Independent Green Voice 209 0.5 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 112 0.3 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 96 0.2 New
Reform UK 86 0.2 New
Independent Paddy Hogg 68 0.2 New
Libertarian 63 0.2 New
UKIP 53 0.1 Decrease2.3
Majority 14,149 29.9 Decrease5.2
Valid Votes 39,603 39,738
Invalid Votes 154
Turnout 39,629 62.2 Increase8.4
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ↑ Elected on the party list

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East[8]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Michael Matheson[lower-alpha 1] 18,260 56.9 Increase1.6 15,987 49.7 Increase0.2
Labour Mandy Telford 6,980 21.8 Decrease13.2 6,272 19.5 Decrease12.2
Conservative Alison Harris[lower-alpha 2] 5,877 18.3 Increase10.9 5,923 18.4 Increase11.1
Scottish Green 1,809 5.6 Increase2.9
UKIP 775 2.4 Increase1.6
Liberal Democrats Gillian Cole-Hamilton 966 3.0 Increase0.7 679 2.1 Increase0.4
Scottish Christian 267 0.8 Decrease0.3
Solidarity 225 0.7 Increase0.6
RISE 132 0.4 New
Independent Deryck Beaumont 85 0.3 New
Majority 11,280 35.1 Increase14.8
Valid Votes 32,083 32,154
Invalid Votes 120 43
Turnout 32,203 53.8 Increase3.0 32,197 53.8 Increase3.0
SNP hold Swing Increase7.4
Notes
  1. ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ↑ Elected on the party list
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West[9]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Michael Matheson[lower-alpha 1] 15,607 55.3 N/A 13,989 49.5 N/A
Labour Dennis Goldie 9,862 35.0 N/A 8,958 31.7 N/A
Conservative Allan Finnie 2,086 7.4 N/A 2,055 7.3 N/A
Scottish Green 764 2.7 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 560 2.0 N/A
Liberal Democrats Callum Chomczuk 644 2.3 N/A 481 1.7 N/A
Scottish Christian 318 1.1 N/A
UKIP 236 0.8 N/A
BNP 224 0.9 N/A
Socialist Labour 222 0.8 N/A
Independent Hugh O'Donnell 97 0.3 N/A
Scottish Socialist 96 0.3 N/A
Solidarity 39 0.1 N/A
Others 202 0.7 N/A
Majority 5,745 20.3 N/A
Valid Votes 28,199 28,261
Invalid Votes 111 71
Turnout 28,310 50.8 N/A 28,332 50.8 N/A
SNP win (new boundaries)
Notes
  1. ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: 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 10.0 +3.7
Liberal Democrats Callum Chomczuk 2,538 8.8 +6.0
Majority 776 2.7 N/A
Turnout 28,785 51.7 +1.1
SNP gain from Independent Swing +1.2
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Dennis Canavan 14,703 55.69 +2.2
SNP Michael Matheson 4,703 17.81 +0.5
Labour Lee Whitehill 4,589 17.38 -0.9
Conservative Iain Mitchell 1,657 6.28 +0.8
Liberal Democrats Jacqueline Kelly 748 2.83 -2.7
Majority 10,000 37.88 +1.7
Turnout 26,400 50.65 -12.4
Independent hold Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Dennis Canavan 18,511 53.5
Labour Ross Martin 6,319 18.3
SNP Michael Matheson 5,986 17.3
Conservative Gordon Millar 1,897 5.5
Liberal Democrats Jane Hook 1,889 5.5
Majority 12,192 35.2
Turnout 34,602 63.0
Independent win (new seat)

Notes

  1. ↑ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. ↑ First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Archived 17 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine Boundary Commission for Scotland
  3. ↑ Scottish Parliament Constituencies Order OPSI
  4. ↑ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Falkirk West: Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (map, 2015), Falkirk Council
  6. ↑ Constituencies A-Z | Falkirk West, BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  7. ↑ Scottish Parliamentary election results Falkirk Council
  8. ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  9. ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
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