Neha Patil (Editor)

Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency)

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Created
  
2005

Member of parliament
  
Richard Arkless

European Parliament constituency
  
Scotland

Party
  
Scottish National Party

Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency)

Created from
  
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale and Dumfries

Replaced by
  
Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, Dumfries

Dumfries and Galloway is a county constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was first used in the 2005 general election, and replaced Galloway and Upper Nithsdale and part of Dumfries. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

Boundaries

As created by the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland the constituency is one of six covering the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area and the South Lanarkshire council area. The other five constituencies are: Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, Lanark and Hamilton East and Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

The Dumfries and Galloway constituency covers part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency, which also covers part of the Scottish Borders council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

The Dumfries and Galloway constituency includes Stranraer, Newton Stewart, The Machars, Kirkcudbright and a major part of the town of Dumfries. Although within the town of Dumfries, the Nithsdale East and Caerlaverock wards, as they were when the constituency was created, were excluded from the constituency. Ward boundaries changed in 2007.

Politics

Dumfries and Galloway's predecessor seats, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale (1983-2005) and Galloway (1918–83), had been represented by Conservative MPs in all but two parliaments since 1931. Galloway and Upper Nithsdale was won by the Scottish National Party in 1997 but became the only Scottish seat to return a Conservative MP at the 2001 general election.

Boundary changes for the 2005 election saw the new seat have a very slim Labour majority over the Conservatives, and the SNP were in close third place. Russell Brown was the Labour candidate, who had been the MP for the neighbouring seat of Dumfriesshire since 1997, and Peter Duncan, the sitting MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, stood as the Conservative candidate. Although the seat was the Conservatives' second target seat across Britain, Labour increased its vote share and Russell Brown was elected as the constituency's MP.

In 2010, Duncan attempted once again to become Dumfries and Galloway's MP. However the election produced a swing against the Conservatives in the seat, and it was held by Labour's Russell Brown with a majority of 7,449 votes. The SNP's share of the vote in the constituency collapsed at the 2005 general election, and remained static in 2010. In 2015 the seat was won by the SNP's Richard Arkless with a 6,514 vote majority. The Conservative share of the vote stayed similar to the 2010 election, whereas Labour polled third, receiving 24.7% of the vote compared to 45.9% in 2010.

References

Dumfries and Galloway (UK Parliament constituency) Wikipedia