Stirling (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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

Stirling
Scottish Parliament county constituency
Stirling shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created	1999
MSP	Bruce Crawford
Council area	Stirling
Party	Scottish National Party

Stirling 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 Mid Scotland and Fife 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 Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are Dunfermline East, Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Ochil, Perth and Tayside North.

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

Constituency boundaries and council area

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were generally replaced with new larger constituencies. The Stirling Westminster constituency was slightly enlarged.

The Holyrood constituency of Stirling covers most of the Stirling council area. The rest of the council area, a south-eastern portion, is covered by the Mid Scotland and Fife constituency of Ochil, which also covers the Clackmannanshire council area and a south-eastern portion of the Perth and Kinross council area.

Constituency profile

The constituency includes the city of Stirling itself, the ancient capital of Scotland with its historic castle. Stirling is close to the site of the battles of Bannockburn and Stirling Bridge and is associated, as a consequence, with William Wallace.

The constiteucy includes the towns of Dunblane, Crianlarich, Killearn, the tourist town of Callander, and the Trossachs. Agriculture and tourism are the main industries in the more rural part of the constituency. Although many students live within Stirling, the campus and halls of residence of the University of Stirling are in neighbouring Ochil.

Traditionally, there are Conservative votes found mainly in the rural areas, and strong Labour support found in large areas of the city of Stirling. This has resulted in close-fought battles between the two parties. However, in recent years, Westminster and Holyrood constituencies have been held by Labour.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Sylvia Jackson	Labour
	2003
	2007	Bruce Crawford	Scottish National Party
	2011

Election results

Candidates Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Stirling
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Bruce Crawford	14,858	48.9	+16.1
	Labour	John Hendry	9,188	30.2	-3.8
	Conservative	Neil Benny	4,610	15.2	-6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Reed	1,296	4.3	-5.5
	Independent	Jack Black	454	1.5	+1.5

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Stirling
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Bruce Crawford	10,447	32.0	+13.0
	Labour	Sylvia Jackson	9,827	30.1	-5.9
	Conservative	Bob Dalrymple	8,081	24.8	-1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Cole-Hamilton	3,693	11.3	-0.3
	Peace	Liz Law	557	1.8	+1.8
Majority			620	1.9
Turnout			32,625	62.3	+5.4
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+9.4

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Stirling
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sylvia Jackson	10,661	36.0	-2.0
	Conservative	Brian Monteith	7,781	26.2	+0.6
	SNP	Bruce Crawford	5,645	19.0	-7.8
	Liberal Democrats	Kenyon Wright	3,432	11.6	+2.0
	Scottish Socialist	Margaret Stewart	1,486	5.0	+5.0
	Scottish People's	Keith Harding	642	2.2	+2.2
Majority			2,880	9.7
Turnout			29,647	56.9
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.0

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Stirling
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Sylvia Jackson	13,533	37.80	N/A
	SNP	Annabelle Ewing	9,522	26.68	N/A
	Conservative	Brian Monteith	9,158	25.58	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Iain MacFarlane	3,407	9.52	N/A
	Independent	Simon Kilgour	155	0.43	N/A
Majority			3,981	11.12	N/A
Turnout			35,805
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A