Renfrewshire South 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 (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

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 Holyro ...

covering parts of the

council areas For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" ( gd, comhairlean), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Ga ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

and

East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire ( sco, Aest Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù an Ear) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975, it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas ...

. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

method of election. It forms one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which also elects seven additional members 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. The constituency was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election from parts of the former constituencies of West Renfrewshire, Paisley South and Paisley North constituencies. It also contains some areas of East Renfrewshire that were formerly part of the

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...

constituency. The seat has been held by Tom Arthur of the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

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 electi ...

Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South,

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West and Strathkelvin and Bearsden. The region covers part of the Argyll and Bute council area, the

East Dunbartonshire council area East Dunbartonshire ( sco, Aest Dunbartanshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Bhreatainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north of Glasgow and contains many of the affluent areas to the north of the city, including Bear ...

, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde council area, North Ayrshire council area, the Renfrewshire council area and the West Dunbartonshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The ''Renfrewshire South'' constituency contains portions of both

and

and was formed from the following local electoral wards: *In full: ** Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor (East Renfrewshire) ** Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch (Renfrewshire) *In part: **

Johnstone South and Elderslie Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

(Renfrewshire; shared with Paisley constituency) ** Newton Mearns North and Neilston (East Renfrewshire; shared with Eastwood constituency) ** Houston, Crosslee and Linwood (Renfrewshire; shared with Renfrewshire North and West constituency) The rest of Renfrewshire is covered by the Paisley and Renfrewshire North and West seats, whilst the rest of East Renfrewshire forms the

seat.

Constituency profile

Located in the West-Central Lowlands of Scotland, the constituency lies to the south of the town of Paisley and covers portions of the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas. It includes a number of small towns and villages that developed during the

industrial revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, when the chief industry was thread and cotton manufacture in factories powered by the

Black Cart Water The River Cart ( sco, River Cairt) is a tributary of the River Clyde, Scotland, which it joins from the west roughly midway between the towns of Erskine and Renfrew and opposite the town of Clydebank. The River Cart itself is very short, being f ...

and small scale coal mining. The main population centres are the former burghs of Johnstone and

Barrhead Barrhead ( sco, Baurheid, gd, Ceann a' Bharra) is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland, southwest of Glasgow city centre on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2011 census its population was 17,268. History Barrhead was formed when ...

. The seat also covers the villages of

Elderslie Elderslie may refer to one of the following locations: * Elderslie, Scotland Elderslie ( gd, Ach na Feàrna) is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in west central Scotland. It chiefly serves as a commuter village, ...

Howwood Howwood ( sco, The Howewuid, gd, Coille an Dail)
is a ...

Kilbarchan Kilbarchan ( gd, Cill Bhearchain) is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The village's name means "cell (chapel) of St. Barchan". It is known for its former weaving industry. History ...

Lochwinnoch Lochwinnoch (; sco, Lochineuch, gd, Loch Uinneach) is a village in the council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Lying on the banks of Castle Semple Loch and the River Calder, Lochwinnoch is ...

Neilston Neilston ( sco, Neilstoun, gd, Baile Nèill, ) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at t ...

and

Uplawmoor Uplawmoor is a village in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. Its population was 700 as of 2016. Historic Uplawmoor, associated for centuries with the Barony of Caldwell and the Mure family, is still a vibrant community today, although bereft of the sh ...

alongside numerous hamlets.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Labour Party politician

Hugh Henry Hugh Henry (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scottish Labour Party politician. He was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Renfrewshire South, formerly Paisley South, from 1999 to 2016. Background Henry was born in Glasgow and ...

won the seat upon its first use in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, having held its predecessor constituency of Paisley South since 1999. Henry retired from politics prior to the 2016 election, which also saw Tom Arthur gain the seat for the

. Arthur was subsequently re-elected in the

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...

Election results

2020s

2010s

2000s: Notional Result

The following is the notional result for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, as calculated by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...