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Before 1997, the constituency was the safestConservative seat in Scotland.[4][5] In the 1997 Labour landslide, it was won by Jim Murphy who held the seat until Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party was elected in the 2015 SNP landslide. In 2017, the constituency returned to Conservative control for the first time in 20 years, when it was gained by Conservative candidate Paul Masterton. However in the 2019 election Oswald was re-elected, gaining the seat for the SNP once again.
The constituency has a mostly middle-class electorate and includes affluent areas.[6]
The East Renfrewshire constituency was re-established for the 2005 general election, with the same boundaries as the previous Eastwood constituency. Despite the change of name, it is the only constituency in mainland Scotland whose boundaries were unchanged by the 2005 revision of Scottish constituencies.
From 1885 the constituency consisted of the parishes of Eastwood, Cathcart, Mearns and Eaglesham, and part of the parish of Govan.[7]
From 1918 the constituency consisted of "The Upper County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burghs of Paisley and Johnstone, together with so much of the burgh of Renfrew as is contained within the parish of Govan in the county of Lanark."
In the widespread redistribution of Scottish seats for the 2005 general election, the name of the Eastwood Westminster constituency was changed back to East Renfrewshire.
Constituency profile and voting patterns
An outer suburban part of the Glasgow conurbation and the rural hinterland to the south-west of the city, East Renfrewshire is predominantly an affluent, middle-class commuter area with a high proportion of owner-occupiers and professionals. East Renfrewshire has the largest Jewish population of any seat in Scotland, with almost half of Scotland's Jewish population living in that area.
At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, East Renfrewshire returned a significant majority against Scottish independence; with a voter turnout of 90.4%, 41,690 votes were cast for "No" (63.2%) and 24,287 for "Yes" (36.8%). At the 2016 European Union membership referendum, a substantial majority of votes were cast in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in East Renfrewshire, with a turnout of 76.1% there were 39,345 "Remain" votes (74.3%) to 13,596 "Leave" votes (25.7%).[8]
^Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael. "UK general election data 2015 - results". The Electoral Commission; The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 24 March 2016.