Subdivisions of Scotland Angus/City of Dundee Created from Dundee Member of parliament Chris Law | Created 1950 European Parliament constituency Scotland Replaced by Dundee | |
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Dundee West is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post voting system.
Contents
The constituency was created for the 1950 general election, when the two-seat Dundee constituency was split into two single seat constituencies: Dundee East and Dundee West.
Boundaries
1950-1974: The County of the City of Dundee wards numbers 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, and 9.
1974-1983: The County of the City of Dundee wards of Balgay, Camperdown, Downfield, Law, Lochee, and Riverside.
1983-1997: The City of Dundee District electoral divisions of Ardler/Blackside, Central/Riverside, Downfield/St Mary's, Dudhope/Logie, Gourdie/Pitalpin, Law/Ancrum, Lochee, Menziehill/Ninewells, Rockwell/Fairmuir, and Trottick/Gillburn.
1997-2005: The City of Dundee District electoral divisions of Central, Charleston, Kingsway West, Kirkton, Law, Lochee, Ninewells, Riverside, and St Mary's.
2005-present: The area of the Dundee City Council other than that part in the Dundee East Burgh Constituency, and the Angus Council ward of Sidlaw West.
The constituency is one of two covering the City of Dundee council area, the other being Dundee East. Current boundaries were first used in the 2005 general election.
As well as covering an eastern portion of the city area, the West constituency also includes, to the north and west, part of the Angus council area. Similarly, the east constituency includes, to the north and east, another part of the Angus council area.
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
Dundee West was a safe seat for Labour. Its voters have traditionally been more loyal to the Labour Party than its neighbour Dundee East having elected only Labour MP since the 1950s. Labour's majority was reduced in 2005 by the SNP's Joe Fitzpatrick despite changes to the boundaries which should have favoured Labour suggesting that the constituency might be becoming more marginal, although the gap widened again in 2010. Chris Law was elected as the seat's first ever SNP representative in 2015, as part of the party's near-clean sweep of the Scottish constituencies that year.