Subdivisions of Scotland Angus/City of Dundee Created from Dundee Member of parliament Stewart Hosie | Created 1950 European Parliament constituency Scotland Replaced by Dundee | |
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Dundee East is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster). Created for the 1950 general election, it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Contents
Its MP, since 2005, has been Stewart Hosie of the Scottish National Party (SNP). On 14 November 2014, Hosie was elected deputy leader of the party, succeeding Nicola Sturgeon, who was elected the party leader.
Fanning out from the city's docklands, Dundee East takes in a series of mixed residential areas as far as the town of Carnoustie and the affluent suburb of Monifieth in the north-west. Prosperous middle-class enclaves like Barnhill and Broughty Ferry contrast with older tenement districts and council estates like Douglas and Whitfield.
Boundaries
1950-1974: The County of the City of Dundee wards numbers 1, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12.
1974-1983: The County of the City of Dundee wards of Broughty Ferry, Caird, Craigie, Douglas, Harbour, and Hilltown. Although the official description of the constituency changed, the boundaries remained the same as those of 1950.
1983-1997: The City of Dundee District electoral divisions of Balgillo/Eastern, Caird/Midhill, Clepington/Maryfield, Coldside/Hilltown, Craigiebank, Douglas/Drumgeith, Fintry, Welgate/Baxter Park, West Ferry/Broughty Ferry, and Whitfield/Longhaugh.
1997-2005: The City of Dundee District electoral divisions of Barnhill, Broughty Ferry, Clepington, Dens, Douglas and Angus, Fintry, Kingsway East, Stannergate, and Whitfield.
2005-present: The Dundee City Council wards of Balgillo, Barnhill, Baxter Park, Broughty Ferry, Claverhouse, Craigiebank, Douglas, East Port, Longhaugh, Pitkerro, West Ferry, and Whitfield, and the Angus Council wards of Carnoustie Central, Carnoustie East, Carnoustie West, Monifieth Central, Monifieth West, and Sidlaw East and Ashludie.
The current constituency is one of two covering the City of Dundee council area, the other being Dundee West. Current boundaries were first used in the 2005 general election.
Prior to the 2005 election, both constituencies were entirely within the city area, and the north-eastern and north-western areas of the city were within the Angus constituency. Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the older boundaries.
Politics and history of the constituency
The Dundee East constituency has been a marginal seat between the SNP and Labour since the 1973 byelection. Although Labour won the seat in that by-election, the SNP established itself as the clear challenger and continued to advance, winning the seat in the next general election. Labour were thought to have underperformed in not winning the seat back in the 1979 general election, and the choice of the former Communist Jimmy Reid as Labour candidate was blamed for the loss. John McAllion regained the constituency for Labour at the 1987 general election.
Boundary changes which came into force in 2005 brought in many voters from more suburban areas formerly in the Angus constituency. Although estimates of the 2001 general election result on the new boundaries showed Labour ahead, the lead was exceptionally narrow, and after the SNP won the Scottish Parliament seat on the original boundaries in 2003, a close fight was expected (and occurred) in the 2005 general election. The constituency was gained by the SNP's Stewart Hosie, who won the constituency with a 1.0% vote majority ahead of Labour in 2005, which he increased to 4.5% at the 2010 general election.
In 2015 the incumbent SNP MP Stewart Hosie retained the seat with a majority of 19,162 (39.8%). This was the largest majority of any of the 56 SNP MPs in percentage terms, although a slightly larger numerical majority was achieved in Falkirk.