Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Cowdenbeath is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Fife. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Cowdenbeath
Burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Cowdenbeath shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population71,913 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created2011
PartyScottish National Party
MSPAnnabelle Ewing
Council areaFife

The town of Cowdenbeath was formerly part of the Dunfermline East constituency which was abolished in 2011.

The current Member is Annabelle Ewing of the Scottish National Party, elected in 2016, following her defeat of Alex Rowley.

Electoral region

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The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, North East Fife, Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.

The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

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Map of boundaries from 2011

Fife is represented in the Scottish Parliament by five constituencies, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes and North East Fife.

The constituency of Cowdenbeath is formed from the following electoral wards, all of which are part of Fife:[2]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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Election Member Party
2011 Helen Eadie Labour
2014 Alex Rowley
2016 Annabelle Ewing SNP

Election results

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Cowdenbeath election results 1999-2021

2020s

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2021 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[3][4]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Annabelle Ewing[a] 16,499 48.3  2.2 15,088 44.0  0.2
Labour Alex Rowley[b] 10,486 30.7  5.2 8,308 24.3  5.3
Conservative Darren Watt 4,758 13.9  0.4 5,881 17.2  1.8
Scottish Green Mags Hall 1,344 3.9 New 2,212 6.5  2.1
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Wood 1,088 3.2  0.5 1,229 3.6  0.0
Alba 723 2.1 New
All for Unity 223 0.7 New
Scottish Family 211 0.6 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 84 0.2 New
Reform UK 80 0.2 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 74 0.2 New
Scottish Libertarian 58 0.2  0.0
UKIP 46 0.1  1.9
Independent Martin Keatings 25 0.1 New
Renew 10 0.0 New
Independent Mercy Kamanja 0 0.0 New
Majority 6,013 17.6  7.4
Valid Votes 34,175 34,252
Invalid Votes 81 42
Turnout 34,256 60.7  6.0 34,294 60.8  6.1
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2010s

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2016 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[4][5][a]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Annabelle Ewing[b] 13,715 46.1  4.5 13,050 43.8  0.9
Labour Alex Rowley[c][d] 10,674 35.9  10.6 8,825 29.6  9.3
Conservative Dave Dempsey 4,251 14.2  7.3 4,601 15.4  8.6
Scottish Green 1,315 4.4  2.0
Liberal Democrats Bryn Jones 1,094 3.7  0.2 1,087 3.6  0.1
UKIP 631 2.0  1.0
Solidarity 149 0.5  0.4
RISE 92 0.3 New
Scottish Libertarian 69 0.2 New
Majority 3,041 10.2  5.4
Valid Votes 29,734 29,819
Invalid Votes 123 57
Turnout 29,857 54.7  7.3 29,876 54.7  7.2
SNP gain from Labour Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Showing changes from 2011 election
  2. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency
  3. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency by virtue of by-election victory
  4. ^ Elected on the party list
2014 Cowdenbeath by-election[6][7][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alex Rowley 11,192 55.8  9.3
SNP Natalie McGarry 5,704 28.4  13.2
Conservative Dave Dempsey 1,893 9.4  2.4
UKIP Denise Baykal 610 3.04 New
Liberal Democrats Jade Holden 425 2.1  1.8
The Victims Final Right Stuart Graham 187 0.93 New
SDA James Trolland 51 0.25 New
Majority 5,488 27.4  22.5
Total valid votes 20,062
Rejected ballots 21
Turnout 20,083 34.8  12.6
Labour hold Swing
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[4][8][9]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie[a] 11,926 46.5 N/A 10,003 38.9 N/A
SNP Ian Chisholm 10,679 41.6 N/A 11,030 42.9 N/A
Conservative Belinda Don 1,792 7.0 N/A 1,752 6.8 N/A
Liberal Democrats Keith Legg 997 3.9 N/A 912 3.5 N/A
Scottish Green 611 2.4 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 434 1.7 N/A
Land Party Mick Heenan 276 1.1 N/A
UKIP 276 1.1 N/A
Socialist Labour 247 1.0 N/A
BNP 171 0.7 N/A
Scottish Christian 84 0.3 N/A
Scottish Socialist 81 0.3 N/A
Independent Andrew Roger 57 0.2 N/A
CPA 40 0.2 N/A
Solidarity 26 0.1 N/A
Majority 1,247 4.9 N/A
Valid Votes 25,670 25,724
Invalid Votes 80 81
Turnout 25,750 47.4 N/A 25,805 47.5 N/A
Labour win (new seat)
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. ^ "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 160. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Constituencies A-Z: Cowdenbeath". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d "Scottish Parliamentary Results". Fife Council. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  6. ^ Candidates Fife News Online - Facebook
  7. ^ Seven candidates will fight Cowdenbeath By-election Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine CentralFifeTimes
  8. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  9. ^ "2011 Election analysis (Excel 2.37MB)". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
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