kids encyclopedia robot

Rutherglen and Hamilton West (UK Parliament constituency) facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
{{{Name}}}
[[{{{Type}}} constituency]]
[[Image:{{{Map1}}}Constituency.svg|120px|]]
[[Image:England{{{Map2}}}.svg|120px|]]
{{{Name}}} shown within [[{{{Entity}}}]], and {{{Entity}}} shown within England
Created: {{{Year}}}
MP: {{{MP}}}
Party: {{{Party}}}
Type: House of Commons
County: [[{{{County}}}]]
EP constituency: [[{{{EP}}} (European Parliament constituency)|{{{EP}}}]]

Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which was created for the 2005 general election. It covers almost all of the former constituency of Glasgow Rutherglen and most of the former constituency of Hamilton South, and it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Margaret Ferrier, an independent since the whip was withdrawn on 1 October 2020 after an incident relating to a breach of the COVID-19 pandemic regulations, won the seat at the 2019 snap general election for the Scottish National Party, she had previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017.

This led to a recall petition, which ran until 31 July 2023. On 1 August the South Lanarkshire Council confirmed the recall petition had been successful, as more than 10% of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West electorate had signed. Therefore Margaret Ferrier lost her seat and the seat immediately became vacant. A by-election will be held to elect a new member of parliament.

Historically a safe Labour seat, in 2015 it was gained by the Scottish National Party when they won a record 56 of the 59 Scottish seats at Westminster; ending 51 years of Labour Party dominance at UK general elections in Scotland. Two years later at the 2017 general election, the seat was taken back by Labour by just 265 votes. Coincidentally in the neighbouring Lanark and Hamilton East, sitting MP Angela Crawley held her seat by 266 votes.

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to boundary changes which will entail the loss of "Hamilton West". Therefore, it will be revert to the name of Rutherglen, to be first contested at the next general election.

Boundaries

The Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency covers part of the South Lanarkshire council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow and Lanark and Hamilton East constituencies. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency also covers part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area and part of the Scottish Borders council area.

The terms of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West name refer to the town of Rutherglen and the west of the town of Hamilton.

The constituency is composed of the electoral wards:

Constituency profile

Rutherglen and Hamilton West is an urban seat in Greater Glasgow. It contains commuter areas into the city of Glasgow, with train travel times as short as 15 minutes away from the city centre.

The seat can be understood as socially divided, and it contains many areas of high deprivation, particularly on the outskirts of Rutherglen, eastern Cambuslang, Blantyre and western Hamilton, however parts of central Rutherglen, western Cambuslang and the Earnock area of Hamilton have markedly lower rates of deprivation.

The seat itself voted approximately 62% in favour of remaining within the European Union in the 2016 Brexit referendum and voters in the constituency voted approximately 50% No, 50% Yes in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum. Historically dominated by Labour, Margaret Ferrier of the SNP gained the seat for the party for the first time in 2015, lost the seat to Labour in 2017, before regaining it in 2019 with an increased majority. The seat is regarded as an important battleground constituency between Labour and the SNP, having changed hands three times in the past 10 years.

At the 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election, Low Blantyre and the Bankhead and Fernhill areas of Rutherglen voted Labour, while the Burnside area of Rutherglen voted Liberal Democrat, and the rest of the constituency voted SNP.

Overall, the town of Rutherglen was the SNP's poorest performing area, Blantyre was Labour and the SNP's best performing area, and Cambuslang and Hamilton sat close to the constituency average.

Members of Parliament

Parliament Years Member Party
Constituency created from Glasgow Rutherglen and Hamilton South
54th 2005–2010 Tommy McAvoy Scottish Labour and Co-operative
55th 2010–2015 Tom Greatrex
56th 2015–2017 Margaret Ferrier Scottish National Party
57th 2017–2019 Gerard Killen Scottish Labour and Co-operative
58th 2019–2020 Margaret Ferrier Scottish National Party
2020–2023 Independent
2023 TBC TBD

Elections

Elections in the 2020s

2023 Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Gloria Adebo
Scottish Socialist Bill Bonnar New
No description Garry Cooke New
Independent Andrew Daly New
Green Cameron Eadie New
No description Prince Ankit Love, Emperor of India New
Scottish Family Niall Fraser New
Volt UK Ewan Hoyle New
Conservative Thomas Kerr
SNP Katy Loudon
TUSC Christopher Sermanni New
Labour Michael Shanks
Reform UK David Stark New
ISP Colette Walker New
Majority
Turnout

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Margaret Ferrier 23,775 44.2 +7.2
Labour Ged Killen 18,545 34.5 –3.0
Conservative Lynne Nailon 8,054 15.0 –4.5
Liberal Democrats Mark McGeever 2,791 5.2 +1.0
UKIP Janice MacKay 629 1.2 +0.3
Majority 5,230 9.7 N/A
Turnout 53,794 66.5 +3.0
SNP gain from Labour and Co-operative Swing +5.1
General election 2017: Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ged Killen 19,101 37.5 +2.3
SNP Margaret Ferrier 18,836 37.0 –15.6
Conservative Ann Le Blond 9,941 19.5 +11.9
Liberal Democrats Robert Brown 2,158 4.2 +2.4
UKIP Caroline Santos 465 0.9 –1.4
Independent Andy Dixon 371 0.7 New
Majority 265 0.5 N/A
Turnout 50,872 63.5 –5.1
Labour and Co-operative gain from SNP Swing +8.9
General election 2015: Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Margaret Ferrier 30,279 52.6 +36.5
Labour Tom Greatrex 20,304 35.2 –25.6
Conservative Taylor Muir 4,350 7.6 –2.1
UKIP Janice Mackay 1,301 2.3 +0.9
Liberal Democrats Tony Hughes 1,045 1.8 –10.2
... Is Safer Than Alcohol Yvonne Maclean 336 0.6 New
Majority 9,975 17.4 N/A
Turnout 57,615 69.6 +8.1
SNP gain from Labour and Co-operative Swing +31.1
General election 2010: Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tom Greatrex 28,566 60.8 +5.2
SNP Graeme Horne 7,564 16.1 +2.2
Liberal Democrats Ian Robertson 5,636 12.0 –6.4
Conservative Malcolm Macaskill 4,540 9.7 +1.3
UKIP Janice Murdoch 675 1.4 +0.3
Majority 21,002 44.7 +7.5
Turnout 46,981 61.5 +3.0
Labour and Co-operative hold Swing +1.5

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Tommy McAvoy 24,054 55.6 –4.1
Liberal Democrats Ian Robertson 7,942 18.4 +6.7
SNP Margaret Park 6,023 13.9 –1.3
Conservative Peter Crerar 3,621 8.4 –0.2
Scottish Socialist Bill Bonnar 1,164 2.7 –1.9
UKIP Janice Murdoch 457 1.1 +0.9
Majority 16,112 37.2
Turnout 43,261 58.5
Labour and Co-operative win (new seat)
kids search engine
Rutherglen and Hamilton West (UK Parliament constituency) Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.