West Dunbartonshire is a
county constituency
In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons.
Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constitue ...
of the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
. It elects one
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) 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 their ...
system of election and covers the same area as the county of
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter town ...
.
The current constituency was first used in the
2005 general election. There was also an earlier West Dunbartonshire constituency, from 1950 to 1983.
The current MP is
Martin Docherty-Hughes
Martin John Docherty-Hughes (born 21 January 1971) is a Scottish National Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dunbartonshire since 2015.
Early life and education
Docherty-Hughes was raised by his parents in Cly ...
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 ...
, who was elected at the
2015 general election and was re-elected at the
2017 general election and
2019 general election.
Boundaries
Historic
The historic constituency was created under the
House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949
The House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provided for the periodic review of the number and boundaries of parliamentary constituencies.
The Act amended the rules for the dist ...
and first used in the
1950 general election.
['' Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972'' (), ]F. W. S. Craig
Frederick Walter Scott Craig (10 December 1929 – 23 March 1989) was a Scottish psephologist and compiler of the standard reference books covering United Kingdom Parliamentary election results. He originally worked in public relations, compilin ...
, 1972
As created in 1950, the constituency was one of two covering the
county of Dunbarton
Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the no ...
. The other was
East Dunbartonshire
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 Bea ...
. The two new constituencies replaced the earlier constituencies of
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders P ...
and
Dumbarton Burghs.
West Dunbartonshire covered the Helensburgh, Old Kilpatrick, and Vale of Leven districts of the county and the burghs of
Cove and Kilcreggan
Cove is a village on the south-west coast of the Rosneath Peninsula, on Loch Long, in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland.
History
Historically in Dunbartonshire, before the local government reorganisation in Scotland in 1975 it formed part of ...
,
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 ...
and
Helensburgh
Helensburgh (; gd, Baile Eilidh) is an affluent coastal town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local governm ...
.
For the
1951 general election the constituency boundaries were adjusted to take account of a change to the boundaries of the Old Kilpatrick district.
The results of the First Periodical Review of the
Boundary Commission
A boundary commission is a legal entity that determines borders of nations, states, constituencies.
Notable boundary commissions have included:
* Afghan Boundary Commission, an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission, of 1885 and 1893, delineated the no ...
were implemented for the
1955 general election, but there was no change to the boundaries of West Dunbartonshire, and the boundaries of 1951 and 1955 were used also in the
general elections of
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
,
1964,
1966 and
1970.
The results of the Second Periodical Review were implemented for the
February 1974 general election. The review took account of population growth in the county of Dunbarton, caused by overspill from the city of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
into the new town of
Cumbernauld
Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...
and elsewhere, and West Dunbartonshire became one of three constituencies covering the county. The other two were East Dunbartonshire and
Central Dunbartonshire. West Dunbartonshire now covered the Helensburgh and Vale of Leven districts and the burghs of Cove and Kilcreggan, Dumbarton and Helensburgh.
February 1974 boundaries were used also for the general elections of
October 1974 and
1979.
In 1975, under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.
The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...
, Scottish counties were abolished in favour of
regions and districts and
islands council areas, and the county of Dunbarton was divided between several districts of the new
region of Strathclyde
Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government et ...
. The Third Periodical Review took account of new
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
boundaries and the results were implemented for the
1983 general election.
Current
The existing constituency was created as a result of the Fifth Periodical Review of the
Boundary Commission for Scotland
The boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions:
* Boundary Commission fo ...
, It covers and is entirely within the
West Dunbartonshire council area.
The area of the constituency was previously divided between the
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 ...
and
Clydebank and Milngavie constituencies.
It includes the population centres of
Clydebank,
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 ...
and
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
.
The Fifth Periodical Review did not affect the boundaries of
Scottish Parliament constituencies
The Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood), created by the Scotland Act 1998, has used a system of constituencies and electoral regions since the first general election in 1999.
The parliament has 73 constituencies, each electing one Member of th ...
, which retain the boundaries of Westminster constituencies prior to implementation of the results of the review.
Members of Parliament
Election results
Elections in the 2010s
1 Change to majority not meaningful as seat changed hands.
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
References
;Specific
;General
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunbartonshire West
Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1950
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 1983
Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 2005
Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster)
Politics of West Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire
Dumbarton
Clydebank
Vale of Leven