Glasgow North East (UK Parliament constituency)
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Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It was first contested at the 2005 general election.
It was formerly represented since its creation by Michael Martin, previously MP for Glasgow Springburn from 1979. Martin was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in October 2000, but in May 2009 announced that he would be resigning as Speaker on 21st June 2009 due to his role in the MPs' expenses controversy. He was the first Speaker in 300 years to be forced out of office by a motion of no confidence[1]. He also resigned as an MP the following day; therefore a by-election will be held on Thursday 12 November 2009.
Boundaries
Glasgow North East is one of seven constituencies covering the Glasgow City council area. All are entirely within the council area.
Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area was covered by ten constituencies, of which two straddled boundaries with other council areas. The North East constituency includes most of the former Glasgow Springburn constituency and a small part of the former Glasgow Maryhill constituency.[2]
Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the names and boundaries of the older Westminster constituencies.
Member of Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:Speaker of the British House of Commons/meta/color" | | 2005 | Michael Martin | Speaker |
| 2009 by-election | vacant | ||
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BNP | Charlie Baillie | ||||
| Labour | William Bain | ||||
| Liberal Democrats | Eileen Baxendale | ||||
| Conservative | Ruth Davidson | ||||
| Scottish Green | David Doherty | ||||
| Independent | Mikey Hughes | ||||
| SNP | David Kerr | ||||
| Socialist Labour | Louise McDaid | ||||
| Scottish Socialist | Kevin McVey | ||||
| Solidarity | Tommy Sheridan | ||||
| Independent backed by the Jury Team[3] | John Smeaton | ||||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | 33.02% | ||||
2005
As is conventional, Michael Martin (a member of the Labour Party when first elected Speaker) stood as Speaker of the House of Commons in the general election of 2005. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats did not stand against him. Other parties did, including the Scottish National Party (whose constitution requires that they fight every seat in Scotland).
The most notable feature of the result was the large vote for Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party, in an area where they had very little base. This appears to be a result of voter confusion (and not the first recorded example of its kind). A large number of traditional Labour voters may have voted for them because there was no Labour candidate on the ballot paper.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speaker | Michael Martin | 15,153 | 53.3 | −13.8 | |
| SNP | John McLaughlin | 5,019 | 17.7 | −0.5 | |
| Socialist Labour | Doris Kelly | 4,036 | 14.2 | N/A | |
| Scottish Socialist | Graham Campbell | 1,402 | 4.9 | −3.2 | |
| Scottish Unionist | Daniel Houston | 1,266 | 4.5 | +0.3 | |
| BNP | Scott McLean | 920 | 3.2 | N/A | |
| Independent | Joe Chambers | 622 | 2.2 | N/A | |
| Majority | 10,134 | 35.7 | |||
| Turnout | 28,418 | 45.8 | +1.9 | ||
| Speaker hold | Swing | -6.6 | |||
Notes and references
- ^ "A note on the Speakership". Hansard Society. 2009-10-21.
- ^ Fifth Periodical Report, Boundary Commission for Scotland
- ^ "Glasgow by-election: Candidates". BBC News online. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
See also