Dunfermline West (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Dunfermline West (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Dunfermline West
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Dunfermline West in Scotland for the 2001 general election
Major settlements	Dunfermline
1983–2005
Seats	One
Created from	Dunfermline
Replaced by	Dunfermline & West Fife

Dunfermline West was a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 until 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Before 1983 the area was covered by the Dunfermline constituency and from 2005 the seat was replaced by the new Dunfermline and West Fife.

Boundaries

The seat of Dunfermline West contained all of the town of Dunfermline as well as territory on the north bank of the Firth of Forth. It took in the affluent villages of Limekilns, Crossford and Cairneyhill; it also included coalfield communities such as High Valleyfield, Saline, Blairhall and Oakley.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Dick Douglas	Labour Co-operative
	1990		Independent
	1990		SNP
	1992	Rachel Squire	Labour
2005		constituency abolished

Elections

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Dunfermline West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dick Douglas	12,998	36.0	−8.8
	Conservative	Peter Davidson	10,524	29.2	+0.6
	SDP	Frank Moyes	9,434	26.1	+14.5
	SNP	Jim Fairlie	2,798	7.8	−7.2
	Ecology	Stuart Dobson	321	0.9	New
Majority			2,474	6.8	−9.4
Turnout			49,075	73.5
	Labour win (new seat)

General election 1987: Dunfermline West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Co-op	Dick Douglas	18,493	47.1	+11.1
	Conservative	Phil Gallie	9,091	23.1	−6.1
	SDP	Frank Moyes	8,288	21.1	−5.0
	SNP	Gordon Hughes	3,435	8.7	+0.9
Majority			9,402	24.0	+17.2
Turnout			39,307	76.9	+3.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Dunfermline West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Squire	16,374	42.0	−5.1
	Conservative	Michael D.A. Scott-Hayward	8,890	22.8	−0.3
	SNP	Jay Smith	7,563	19.4	+10.7
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Harris	6,122	15.7	−5.4
Majority			7,484	19.2	−4.8
Turnout			38,949	76.4	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1997: Dunfermline West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Squire	19,338	53.1	+11.6
	SNP	John Lloyd	6,984	19.2	−0.7
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Harris	4,963	13.6	−2.0
	Conservative	Kevin Newton	4,606	12.6	−10.4
	Referendum	James Bain	543	1.5	New
Majority			12,354	33.9	+20.7
Turnout			36,434	69.3	−7.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2001: Dunfermline West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rachel Squire	16,370	52.8	−0.3
	SNP	Brian Goodall	5,390	17.4	−1.8
	Liberal Democrats	Russel McPhate	4,832	15.6	+2.0
	Conservative	James Mackie	3,166	10.2	−2.4
	Scottish Socialist	Catherine Stewart	746	2.4	New
	UKIP	Alastair Harper	471	1.5	New
Majority			10,980	35.4	+1.5
Turnout			30,975	57.1	−12.2
	Labour hold		Swing	0.8 SNP to Labour