Dunfermline East (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Encyclopedia
Dunfermline East was a constituency
of the Scottish Parliament
(Holyrood
). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP)
by the plurality (first past the post) method of election.
From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, parts of the Dunfermline East constituency were merged with the old Dunfermline West
seat to form a single Dunfermline
constituency, while a new constituency of Cowdenbeath
was created from the remaining area.
The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area
, all of the Fife council area
, all of the Perth and Kinross council area
, all of the Stirling council area
and parts of the Angus council area
.
, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster
(House of Commons) constituency. In 2005
, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies. The Dunfermline East Westminster constituency
was divided between Dunfermline and West Fife
and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
.
The Holyrood constituency of Dunfermline East was one of five Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies covering the Fife council area
, the others being Dunfermline West
, Fife Central
, Fife North East
and Kirkcaldy
. All were entirely within the council area.
Dunfermline East covered a south-western portion of the council area, with Dunfermline West to the west, Fife Central to the northeast and Kirkcaldy to the east.
, which is within the Dunfermline West constituency. (The pre-existing Westminster constituency was created during the period, 1975 to 1996, of local government regions and districts
, when there was Dunfermline district
of the Fife local government region
. In 1996, regions and districts were replaced with unitary council areas.)
Cowdenbeath
is the largest town in the constituency, and most of the constituency area was once part of the Fife coalfield, on the north bank of the Firth of Forth
. The region has economic troubles, and the closure of the Rosyth
naval base and the troubles at the naval dockyard
have not helped.
Statistically, this was one of Labour
’s safest seats in Scotland. In the House of Commons, there has been a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the area since 1950. Gordon Brown
, the former Prime Minister
, was MP for the Dunfermline East Westminster constituency from 1983 to 2005. He is now MP for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, where his majority at the last general election was over 15,000.
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
of the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
(Holyrood
Scottish Parliament Building
The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament held their first debate in the new building on 7...
). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
by the plurality (first past the post) method of election.
From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, parts of the Dunfermline East constituency were merged with the old Dunfermline West
Dunfermline West (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline West was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election....
seat to form a single Dunfermline
Dunfermline (Scottish Parliament constituency)
For earlier results see Dunfermline West.Dunfermline is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election....
constituency, while a new constituency of Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Cowdenbeath is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
was created from the remaining area.
Electoral region
- See also Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region
The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area
Clackmannanshire
Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'....
, all of the Fife council area
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, all of the Perth and Kinross council area
Perth and Kinross
Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre...
, all of the Stirling council area
Stirling (council area)
Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former...
and parts of the Angus council area
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
.
Constituency boundaries and council area
The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999Scottish Parliament election, 1999
The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members...
, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster
Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
(House of Commons) constituency. In 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies. The Dunfermline East Westminster constituency
Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline East was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post voting system....
was divided between Dunfermline and West Fife
Dunfermline and West Fife (UK Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies...
and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (UK Parliament constituency)
Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath is a county constituency representing the areas around the towns of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, in Fife, Scotland, in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
.
The Holyrood constituency of Dunfermline East was one of five Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies covering the Fife council area
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, the others being Dunfermline West
Dunfermline West (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Dunfermline West was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election....
, Fife Central
Fife Central (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Central Fife is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
, Fife North East
Fife North East (Scottish Parliament constituency)
North East Fife is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
and Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Kirkcaldy is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election...
. All were entirely within the council area.
Dunfermline East covered a south-western portion of the council area, with Dunfermline West to the west, Fife Central to the northeast and Kirkcaldy to the east.
Constituency profile
The constituency contains no part of the town of DunfermlineDunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
, which is within the Dunfermline West constituency. (The pre-existing Westminster constituency was created during the period, 1975 to 1996, of local government regions and districts
Regions and districts of Scotland
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
, when there was Dunfermline district
Dunfermline
Dunfermline is a town and former Royal Burgh in Fife, Scotland, on high ground from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. According to a 2008 estimate, Dunfermline has a population of 46,430, making it the second-biggest settlement in Fife. Part of the town's name comes from the Gaelic word...
of the Fife local government region
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
. In 1996, regions and districts were replaced with unitary council areas.)
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is 5 miles north-east of Dunfermline and 18 miles north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a Police Burgh in 1890...
is the largest town in the constituency, and most of the constituency area was once part of the Fife coalfield, on the north bank of the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
. The region has economic troubles, and the closure of the Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
naval base and the troubles at the naval dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
have not helped.
Statistically, this was one of Labour
Scottish Labour Party
The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland....
’s safest seats in Scotland. In the House of Commons, there has been a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the area since 1950. Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, the former Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, was MP for the Dunfermline East Westminster constituency from 1983 to 2005. He is now MP for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, where his majority at the last general election was over 15,000.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 Scottish Parliament election, 1999 The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members... |
Helen Eadie Helen Eadie Helen Eadie is a Scottish Labour Co-operative politician and has represented Dunfermline East in the Scottish Parliament since 1999.-Background:... |
Labour Scottish Labour Party The Scottish Labour Party is the section of the British Labour Party which operates in Scotland.... |
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| 2003 Scottish Parliament election, 2003 The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive... |
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| 2007 Scottish Parliament election, 2007 The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999... |
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| 2011 Scottish Parliament election, 2011 The 2011 Scottish Parliament general election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament.The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the mixed member proportional representation system is used to... |
Constituency abolished; see Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency) Cowdenbeath is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election... and Dunfermline Dunfermline (Scottish Parliament constituency) For earlier results see Dunfermline West.Dunfermline is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament . It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament by the plurality method of election.... |
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