Galloway and West Dumfries is a

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

( Holyrood) covering part of the council area of

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkc ...

. 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

South Scotland South Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament. Nine of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the ...

electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

for the region as a whole. Created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, it comprises areas that were previously part of the old

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from t ...

and Galloway and Upper Nithsdale constituencies, which were abolished. The seat has been held by Finlay Carson of the Conservatives since the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electio ...

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire,

East Lothian East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the his ...

, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the

East Lothian council area East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

Galloway and West Dumfries C Ward Map 2011

is represented in the

by two constituencies: Dumfriesshire and Galloway and West Dumfries. Galloway and West Dumfries covers the western part of the council area. The town of Dumfries is divided between the two constituencies. The electoral wards forming the Galloway and West Dumfries constituency are listed below. All of these wards are part of Dumfries and Galloway: * Stranraer and the Rhins * Mid Galloway and Wigtown West * Dee and Glenkens * Castle Douglas and Crocketford *

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The c ...

* North West Dumfries

Constituency profile and voting patterns

Constituency profile

The Galloway and West Dumfries constituency covers a large, diverse stretch of land between the

Rhins of Galloway The Rhins of Galloway, otherwise known as the Rhins of Wigtownshire (or as The Rhins, also spelt The Rhinns; gd, Na Rannaibh), is a hammer-head peninsula in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Stretching more than from north to south, its southern ...

in the extreme south-west of Scotland and the River Nith and

Cluden Water Cluden is an outer southern suburb of Townsville in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the Cluden had a population of 427 people. History The suburb takes its name from a property name used by James Gordon (1822-1904), Sub-C ...

in eastern Dumfries and Galloway. It covers a set of rugged pastoral plains and forests across the region of

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or ...

, taking in rural towns such as Castle Douglas, Newton Stewart, Kirkcudbright and St John's Town of Dalry. To the west of the constituency is the portly town of

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of ...

, situated at the base of Loch Ryan, whilst in the east the constituency takes in patches of

, administrative centre of the Dumfries and Galloway Council area.

Voting patterns

Galloway and West Dumfries has a dynamic mix of political traditions. It covers most of the former Galloway and Upper Nithsdale constituency, a seat which has a long-standing tradition of being marginally contested between the Conservatives and the Scottish National Party, in addition to patches of the former safe Labour constituency of

. This dynamic was represented within local council politics with

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has f ...

traditionally voting SNP, Kirkcudbrightshire voting Conservative and Dumfries voting Labour. At Westminster the Galloway and Upper Nithsdale constituency was represented by Conservative Ian Lang from its creation at the 1983 UK general election until

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. It became the only Conservative constituency in the UK Parliament in Scotland in

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

. The Conservatives have represented the area in the Scottish Parliament since 2003. In the 2022 council election, 5 out of 6 wards in Galloway and West Dumfries voted Conservative - with Galloway wards voting Conservative and North West Dumfries voting SNP.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2020s

2010s

References

External links

* {{Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 2011- Politics of Dumfries and Galloway Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions from 2011 Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament Constituencies established in 2011 2011 establishments in Scotland Dumfries Stranraer Dalbeattie Castle Douglas Newton Stewart Wigtownshire Whithorn Kirkcudbrightshire