Motherwell and Wishaw (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Motherwell and Wishaw (UK Parliament constituency).

Motherwell and Wishaw
Burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Motherwell and Wishaw shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population76,394 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyScottish National Party
MSPClare Adamson
Council areaNorth Lanarkshire

Motherwell and Wishaw is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of North Lanarkshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also 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 seat has been held by Clare Adamson of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament 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, Falkirk West, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse 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

Map
Map of boundaries from 2005

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.[2]

The Holyrood constituency is one of four covering the North Lanarkshire council area, the others being Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth; Uddingston and Bellshill spans parts of both North and South Lanarkshire. All five are within the Central Scotland electoral region.

The electoral wards used in the creation of Motherwell and Wishaw are listed below. All of these wards are part of North Lanarkshire.[3]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

The seat had always elected Labour MSPs (until 2016), it was a safe Labour seat from 1999 until 2011. The MSP from 1999 was the former First Minister, Lord Jack McConnell. The MSP John Pentland won the seat on McConnell's retirement in 2011, but the national SNP landslide of that year turned it for the first time from safe Labour into a Labour-SNP marginal with just two percentage points separating Pentland and his nearest opponent, the SNP's Clare Adamson. Adamson defeated Pentland to gain the seat in 2016.

Election Member Party
1999 Jack McConnell Labour
2011 John Pentland
2016 Clare Adamson SNP

Election results

2021

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Motherwell and Wishaw[4][5][6]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Clare Adamson[a] 18,156 53.2 Increase0.7 15,672 45.9 Decrease1.8
Labour Martine Nolan 10,343 30.3 Decrease0.8 8,429 24.7 Decrease1.8
Conservative Nathan Wilson 4,472 13.1 Decrease0.6 5,911 17.3 Increase3.0
Scottish Green 1,951 5.7 Increase2.0
Liberal Democrats Martin Veart 557 1.6 Decrease1.0 520 1.5 Decrease0.3
Alba 496 1.5 New
All for Unity 278 0.8 New
Independent Green Voice 254 0.7 New
Scottish Family 228 0.7 New
Scottish Libertarian Mark Meechan 254 0.7 New 94 0.3 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 86 0.3 New
Reform UK 63 0.2 New
UKIP Neil Wilson 173 0.5 N/A 62 0.2 Decrease2.2
Freedom Alliance (UK) 62 0.2 New
Independent Paddy Hogg 49 0.1 New
Communist Daniel Lambe 194 0.6 New
Majority 9,437 22.9 Increase1.5
Valid Votes 34,149 34,155
Invalid Votes 84 74
Turnout 34,233 58.9 Increase7.7 34,229 58.9 Increase7.6
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

Scottish Parliament Election 2016: Motherwell and Wishaw[7][8]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Clare Adamson[a] 15,291 52.5 Increase11.1 13,952 47.7 Increase5.8
Labour John Pentland[b] 9,068 31.1 Decrease12.7 7,751 26.5 Decrease12.2
Conservative Meghan Gallacher 3,991 13.7 Increase6.5 4,169 14.3 Increase7.9
Scottish Green 1,080 3.7 Increase2.5
UKIP 698 2.4 Increase1.9
Liberal Democrats Yvonne Finlayson 761 2.6 Increase1.1 516 1.8 Increase0.6
RISE 389 1.3 New
Solidarity 332 1.1 Increase0.8
Scottish Christian 298 1.0 Decrease1.2
Independent Deryck Beaumont 48 0.2 New
Majority 6,223 21.4 N/A
Valid Votes 29,111 29,233
Invalid Votes 133 38
Turnout 29,244 51.2 Increase5.5 29,271 51.3 Increase5.5
SNP gain from Labour Swing Increase11.9
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency
  2. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency
Scottish Parliament Election 2011: Motherwell and Wishaw[9]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Labour John Pentland 10,713 43.8 N/A 9,473 38.7 N/A
SNP Clare Adamson[a] 10,126 41.4 N/A 10,252 41.9 N/A
Conservative Robert Burgess 1,753 7.2 N/A 1,564 6.4 N/A
Scottish Senior Citizens John Swinburne 945 3.9 N/A 906 3.7 N/A
Scottish Christian Tom Selfridge 547 2.2 N/A 529 2.2 N/A
Socialist Labour 338 1.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Beverley Hope 367 1.5 N/A 302 1.2 N/A
Scottish Green 296 1.2 N/A
BNP 237 1.0 N/A
UKIP 119 0.5 N/A
Scottish Socialist 112 0.5 N/A
Solidarity 85 0.3 N/A
Independent Hugh O'Donnell 61 0.2 N/A
Others 211 0.9 N/A
Majority 587 2.4 N/A
Valid Votes 24,451 24,485
Invalid Votes 63 51
Turnout 24,514 45.7 N/A 24,536 45.8 N/A
Labour win (new boundaries)
Notes
  1. ^ Elected on the party list

2000s

Scottish Parliament Election 2007: Motherwell and Wishaw[citation needed]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack McConnell 12,574 48.1 −6.0
SNP Marion Fellows 6,636 25.4 +7.8
Conservative Diane Huddleston 1,990 7.6 −2.4
Scottish Senior Citizens John Swinburne 1,702 6.5 +0.2
Liberal Democrats Stuart Douglas 1,570 6.0 +1.8
Scottish Christian Thomas Selfridge 1,491 5.7 New
ATP Richard Leat 187 0.7 New
Majority 5,928 22.7 −13.8
Rejected ballots 970 3.7
Turnout 26,150 48.5 −0.5
Labour hold Swing
Scottish Parliament Election 2003: Motherwell and Wishaw[citation needed]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack McConnell 13,739 54.12 +8.21
SNP Lloyd Quinan 4,480 17.65 −11.62
Conservative Mark Nolan 2,542 10.01 −2.17
Scottish Socialist John Milligan 1,961 7.72 New
Scottish Senior Citizens John Swinburne 1,597 6.29 +6.29
Liberal Democrats Keith Legg 1,069 4.21 −2.04
Majority 9,259 36.47 +19.84
Turnout 25,388 49.03 −8.63
Labour hold Swing

1990s

Scottish Parliament Election 1999: Motherwell and Wishaw[citation needed]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Jack McConnell 13,925 45.9 N/A
SNP Jim McGuigan 8,879 29.3 N/A
Conservative William Gibson 3,694 12.2 N/A
Socialist Labour John Milligan 1,941 6.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Roger Spillane 1,895 6.2 N/A
Majority 5,046 16.6 N/A
Turnout 30,334 57.1 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes

  1. ^ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 194. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Central Scotland Region: Notice of Poll and Statement of Persons Nominated". North Lanarkshire Council. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  5. ^ Constituencies A-Z | Motherwell and Wishaw, BBC News; retrieved 7 May 2021
  6. ^ "Scottish Parliament Elections 6 May 2021". North Lanarkshire Council. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  7. ^ "Central Scotland – 2016 Results and 2021 Candidates". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
Preceded by Constituency represented by the First Minister
2001–2007 		Succeeded by