East_Renfrewshire_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

East Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)

East Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2005 onwards


East Renfrewshire (known as Eastwood from 1983 to 2005) is a constituency of the House of Commons, to the south of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post system of voting.

Quick Facts Local government in Scotland, Electorate ...

Until 1997, the constituency was the safest Conservative seat in Scotland.[4][5] At the 1997 general election, which was a landslide victory for Labour, it was won by future Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy who held the seat until being defeated by Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party at the 2015 general election. In 2017, the constituency returned to Conservative control for the first time in twenty years, when it was won by Conservative candidate Paul Masterton. However, at the 2019 general election, Oswald regained the seat for the SNP once again.

The constituency has a mostly middle-class electorate and includes affluent areas.[6][7]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new Eastwood constituency.

The East Renfrewshire constituency was re-established for the 2005 general election, with the same boundaries as the previous Eastwood constituency. Despite the change of name, it is the only constituency in mainland Scotland whose boundaries were unchanged by the 2005 revision of Scottish constituencies.

Boundaries and local government areas

Map of current boundaries

As created in 1885, the constituency was one of four covering the area of the county of Renfrewshire (except the burgh of Renfrew and the burgh of Port Glasgow, which were components of Kilmarnock Burghs until 1918). The four constituencies were: East Renfrewshire, West Renfrewshire, Paisley and Greenock. Greenock was enlarged and renamed Greenock and Port Glasgow in 1974.

From 1885, the constituency consisted of the parishes of Eastwood, Cathcart, Mearns and Eaglesham, and part of the parish of Govan.[8]

From 1918, the constituency consisted of "The Upper County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burghs of Paisley and Johnstone, together with so much of the burgh of Renfrew as is contained within the parish of Govan in the county of Lanark."

The constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, eight years after the creation of local government regions and districts in 1975. The new constituency, with revised boundaries, was called Eastwood.

In 1996, the area of the Eastwood constituency became, also, the East Renfrewshire unitary council area.

In 1999, a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Eastwood Westminster constituency.

In the widespread redistribution of Scottish seats for the 2005 general election, the name of the Eastwood Westminster constituency was changed back to East Renfrewshire.

Constituency profile and voting patterns

An outer suburban part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation and the rural hinterland to the south-west of the city, East Renfrewshire is predominantly an affluent, middle-class commuter area with a high proportion of owner-occupiers and professionals. East Renfrewshire has the largest Jewish population of any constituency in Scotland, with almost half of Scotland's Jewish population living in that area.

At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, East Renfrewshire returned a significant majority against Scottish independence; with a voter turnout of 90.4%, 41,690 votes were cast for "No" (63.2%) and 24,287 for "Yes" (36.8%). At the 2016 European Union membership referendum, a substantial majority of votes were cast in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in East Renfrewshire, with a turnout of 76.1% there were 39,345 "Remain" votes (74.3%) to 13,596 "Leave" votes (25.7%).[9]

The area was looked on as a safely Conservative seat before Jim Murphy of the Labour Party gained the seat (then known as Eastwood) during their landslide victory in 1997. East Renfrewshire was then subsequently viewed as a relatively safe Labour seat until the SNP gained the seat in their 2015 landslide victory.

In 2017, during what would prove to be their best performance at a general election in Scotland for 34 years, the Conservatives subsequently gained the East Renfrewshire seat at the 2017 snap general election; with Paul Masterton being elected with a majority of 4,712 (8.8%) votes over Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party. However, at the 2019 general election; Oswald regained the seat for the SNP with a majority of 5,426 or 9.8%, establishing the seat as an SNP-Conservative marginal battleground.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

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Elections in the 2010s

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Elections in the 2000s

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Elections in the 1970s

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Elections in the 1960s

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Elections in the 1950s

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Elections in the 1940s

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Elections in the 1930s

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Elections in the 1920s

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Alexander Munro MacRobert was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland on 31 December 1925.[27]

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Elections in the 1910s

Johnstone
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Elections in the 1900s

Laidlaw
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Elections in the 1890s

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Elections in the 1880s

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See also


References

  1. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "UK general election data 2015 - results". The Electoral Commission; The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  2. "East Renfrewshire' UK Parliament, 5 May 2005". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  3. "'East Renfrewshire', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  4. "UK Polling Report". Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  5. Kemp, Jackie (22 January 2008). "Competition for places in East Renfrewshire state schools". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  6. Maxwell, Jamie (12 May 2016). "The East Renfrewshire Problem". Bella Caledonia. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  7. Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, Seventh Schedule, Part II
  8. "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". East Renfrewshire constituency. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  9. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. "KirstenOswaldEastRenfrewshire". Facebook. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  11. "General election 2015 - Conservative candidate chosen for East Renfrewshire". ERNW. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  12. "East Renfrewshire Liberal Democrats". Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  13. "East Renfrewshire". UK Polling Report. 2015. Archived from the original on 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  14. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  15. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  16. Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
  17. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
  18. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
  19. Craig, F.W.S., ed. (1969). British parliamentary election results 1918-1949. Glasgow: Political Reference Publications. p. 644. ISBN 0-900178-01-9.
  20. Oliver & Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
  21. Oliver & Boyd's Edonburgh Almanack, 1927
  22. The Times, 8 December 1923
  23. The Times, 17 November 1922
  24. Whitaker's Almanack, 1920
  25. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
  26. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
  27. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
  28. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
  29. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
  30. "Significant Scots: John G [Gloag] Murdoch". Electric Scotland. Retrieved 14 November 2017.
  31. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889

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