Linlithgow (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Linlithgow (UK Parliament constituency).

Linlithgow
Scottish Parliament county constituency
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Linlithgow shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created	1999
MSP	Fiona Hyslop
Council area	West Lothian
Party	SNP

Linlithgow is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Lothians electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

See also Lothians Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region are Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh West, Livingston and Midlothian.

The region covers the City of Edinburgh council area, the West Lothian council area, the Midlothian council area, and part of the East Lothian council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Linlithgow constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.

The Holyrood constituency is one of two covering the West Lothian council area, the other being Livingston, east and south of the Linlithgow constituency.

Boundary review

See Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions from 2011

Following their First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament in time for the 2011 elections, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended alterations to the existing Livingston and Linlithgow constituencies. An expanded Linlithgow constituency was formed from the Linlithgow, Bathgate, Broxburn, Blackburn, Whitburn and Armadale areas. The Livingston constituency was effectively abolished, replaced by a newly formed Almond Valley seat, taking in the Livingston, East Calder, Fauldhouse, Breich Valley and Seafield areas.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Mary Mulligan	Labour
	2003
	2007
	2011	Fiona Hyslop	SNP

Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop	17,027	49.8	+10.8
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	12,936	37.8	-2.0
	Conservative	Chris Donnelly	2,646	7.7	-2.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Lang	1,015	3.0	-4.6
	National Front	Michael Coyle	558	1.6	N/A
Majority			4,091	12.0
Turnout			34,182	52.5

Liberal Democrats and National Front both gained under 5% of the vote and thus lost their deposit

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	12,715	42.9	+1.1
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop	11,565	39.0	+4.4
	Conservative	Donald Cameron	3,125	10.5	-0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Oliver	2,232	7.5	-0.1
Majority			1,150	3.9	-3.2
Turnout			29,637	52.7	1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.2

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	11,548	41.77	-3.36
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop	9,578	34.65	-1.82
	Conservative	Gordon Lindhurst	3,059	11.07	+1.72
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Oliver	2,093	7.57	-0.25
	Scottish Socialist	Steven Nimmo	1,367	4.94	N/A
Majority			1,970	7.13	-1.54
Turnout			27,645	51.09	-11.17
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.36

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	15,247	45.13	-9.01
	SNP	Stewart Stevenson	12,319	36.47	+9.66
	Conservative	Gordon Lindhurst	3,158	9.35	-3.17
	Liberal Democrats	John Barrett	2,643	7.82	+1.94
	Independent	Irene Overstone	415	1.23	+ 1.23
Majority			2,928	8.66	-18.67
Turnout			36,710
	Labour hold		Swing	-9.01

Members of the Scottish Parliament

• 1999 - 2011 : Mary Mulligan, Labour
• 2011 - : Fiona Hyslop, SNP

Footnotes

• 2007 election result