Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
Scottish Parliament county constituency
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale shown within the
South of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created: 1999
MSP: Alex Fergusson (politician)
Party: Conservative
Council area: Dumfries and Galloway

Galloway and Upper Nithsdale 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 nine constituencies in the South of 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.

Contents

[edit] Electoral region

See also South of Scotland Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Cunninghame South, Dumfries, East Lothian, Roxburgh and Berwickshire and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, part of the North Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

[edit] Constituency boundaries and council area

The Galloway and Upper Nithsdale 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 Dumfries and Galloway council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Dumfries constituency.

[edit] Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Alasdair Morgan Scottish National Party
2003 Alex Fergusson Conservative
2007

Note: Although Alex Fergusson was elected as a Conservative candidate in 2007, he later became the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament a post which requires the holder to be independent from any political party.

[edit] Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alex Fergusson 13,387 44.2 +6.0
Scottish National Party Alasdair Morgan 10,054 33.2 −4.7
Labour Stephen Hodgson 4,935 16.3 +1.8
Liberal Democrats Alastair Cooper 1,631 5.4 −0.8
Independent Sandy Richardson 311 1.0 +1.0
Majority 3,333 11.0
Turnout 30,318 63.4 +6.0
Conservative hold Swing 5.4 from SNP to Con
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alex Fergusson 11,332 38.2 + 8.0
Scottish National Party Alasdair Morgan 11,233 37.9 −1.4
Labour Norma Harte 4,299 14.5 −5.9
Liberal Democrats Neil Wallace 1,847 6.2 −3.9
Scottish Socialist Joy Cherkaoui 709 2.4 + 2.3
Majority 99 0.3
Conservative gain from Scottish National Party Swing 4.6 from SNP to Con
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Galloway and Upper Nithsdale
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Alasdair Morgan 13,873 39.3 n/a
Conservative Alex Fergusson 10,672 30.2 n/a
Labour Jim Stevens 7,209 20.4 n/a
Liberal Democrats Joan Mitchell 3,562 10.1 n/a
Majority 3,201 9.1 n/a

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland

[edit] See also


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