Strathkelvin and Bearsden
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Strathkelvin and Bearsden shown within the West Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland (2011 boundaries)
Electorate 63,895 (2022)[1]
Current constituency
Created 1999
Party Scottish National Party
MSP Rona Mackay
Council area East Dunbartonshire

Strathkelvin and Bearsden is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of East Dunbartonshire.[2] Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.[3]

The seat has been held by Rona Mackay of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are: Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Eastwood, Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and Cardonald, and Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley.[3] The region covers the whole of the council areas of East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, Renfrewshire, and West Dunbartonshire; and parts of the council areas of Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire, and Glasgow.[4]

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map
Map of boundaries from 2011

The Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, with the name and boundaries of the existing Strathkelvin and Bearsden constituency of the UK House of Commons. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election the House of Commons constituencies in Scotland were altered, whilst the existing Scottish Parliament constituencies were retained, and there is now no longer any link between the two sets of boundaries.[5] The boundaries of the seat were altered slightly by the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries in 2011, but were left unchanged at the Second Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries in 2025.[6][7]

The rest of East Dunbartonshire is represented by the Clydebank and Milngavie constituency.[8]

The electoral wards of East Dunbartonshire Council used in the current creation of Strathkelvin and Bearsden are:[2]

  • Bearsden South
  • Bishopbriggs North and Campsie
  • Bishopbriggs South
  • Kirkintilloch East and North and Twechar
  • Lenzie and Kirkintilloch South

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Sam Galbraith Labour
2001 Brian Fitzpatrick
2003 Jean Turner Independent
2007 David Whitton Labour
2011 Fiona McLeod SNP
2016 Rona Mackay

Election results

2020s

2026 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Conservative Pam Gosal
Liberal Democrats Adam Harley
SNP Denis Johnston
Majority
Valid Votes
Invalid Votes
Turnout


2021 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden[9][10]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Rona Mackay[a] 21,064 45.5 Increase2.0 17,026 36.7 Decrease1.1
Conservative Andrew Polson 9,580 20.7 Decrease2.2 10,225 22.0 Decrease2.5
Labour Co-op Callum McNally 8,510 18.4 Decrease2.7 9,104 19.6 Increase0.6
Liberal Democrats Susan Murray 6,675 14.4 Increase1.9 4,099 8.8 Increase0.4
Green 3,873 8.3 Increase1.7
Alba 677 1.5 New
All for Unity 412 0.9 New
Scottish Family Liam McKechnie 415 0.9 New 304 0.7 New
Independent Green Voice 263 0.6 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 95 0.2 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 84 0.2 New
Reform 61 0.1 New
Scottish Libertarian 44 0.1 New
TUSC 32 0.1 New
UKIP 31 0.1 Decrease1.6
Renew 27 0.1 New
Independent James Morrison 18 0.0 New
Independent Maurice Campbell 10 0.0 New
Scotia Future 6 0.0 New
Majority 11,484 24.8 Increase4.2
Valid Votes 46,244 46,391
Invalid Votes 119 74
Turnout 46,363 72.0 Increase9.1 46,465 72.2 Increase9.3
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden[11][12]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Rona Mackay 17,060 43.5 Increase1.3 14,862 37.8 Decrease4.2
Conservative Andrew Polson 8,960 22.9 Increase9.8 9,646 24.5 Increase12.0
Labour Margaret Mccarthy 8,288 21.1 Decrease15.8 7,466 19.0 Decrease10.7
Liberal Democrats Katy Gordon 4,880 12.5 Increase4.8 3,295 8.4 Increase3.0
Green 2,603 6.6 Increase2.8
UKIP 657 1.7 Increase1.0
Scottish Christian 312 0.8 Decrease0.3
Solidarity 268 0.7 Increase0.5
RISE 167 0.4 New
Scottish Libertarian 57 0.1 New
Majority 8,100 20.6 Increase15.3
Valid Votes 39,188 39,333
Invalid Votes 173 62
Turnout 39,361 62.9 Increase5.8 39,395 62.9 Increase5.8
SNP hold Swing
Notes
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden[13]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Fiona McLeod 14,258 42.2 N/A 14,187 42.0 N/A
Labour David Whitton[a] 12,456 36.9 N/A 10,032 29.7 N/A
Conservative Stephanie Fraser 4,438 13.1 N/A 4,236 12.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats Gordon Macdonald 2,600 7.7 N/A 1,807 5.4 N/A
Green 1,282 3.8 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 508 1.5 N/A
Scottish Christian 376 1.1 N/A
Socialist Labour 342 1.0 N/A
UKIP 249 0.7 N/A
BNP 227 0.7 N/A
Scottish Socialist 185 0.5 N/A
Solidarity 56 0.2 N/A
Independent Richard Vassie 30 0.1 N/A
Others 247 0.7 N/A
Majority 1,802 5.3 N/A
Valid Votes 33,752 33,764
Invalid Votes 149 118
Turnout 33,901 57.1 N/A 33,882 57.1 N/A
SNP win (new seat)
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour David Whitton 11,396 31.1 +1.2
SNP Robin Easton 8,008 21.9 +8.2
Independent Jean Turner 6,742 18.4 −12.7
Conservative Stephanie Fraser 5,178 14.2 +2.9
Liberal Democrats Cathy McInnes 4,658 12.7 −1.3
Scottish Christian Bob Handyside 613 1.7 New
Majority 3,388 9.2 N/A
Turnout 36,595 60.6
Labour gain from Independent Swing
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Jean Turner 10,988 31.1 N/A
Labour Brian Fitzpatrick 10,550 29.9 −20.8
Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson 4,950 14.0 +4.2
SNP Fiona McLeod 4,846 13.7 −8.4
Conservative Rory O'Brien 4,002 11.3 −5.1
Majority 438 1.2 N/A
Turnout 35,336
Independent gain from Labour Swing
Scottish Parliament by-election, 2001: Strathkelvin and Bearsden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Brian Fitzpatrick 15,401 37.0 −13.7
Independent Jean Turner 7,572 18.2 New
Liberal Democrats John Morrison 7,147 17.2 +7.4
SNP Janet Law 6,457 15.5 −6.6
Conservative Charles Ferguson 5,037 12.1 −4.3
Majority 7,829 18.8 −9.8
Turnout 41,614
Labour hold Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Strathkelvin and Bearsden
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Sam Galbraith 21,505 50.7 N/A
SNP Fiona McLeod 9,384 22.1 N/A
Conservative Charles Ferguson 6,934 16.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Anne Howarth 4,144 9.8 N/A
Anti-Drug Maxi Richards 423 1.0 N/A
Majority 12,121 28.6 N/A
Turnout 49,324 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

References

Citations

  1. ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 25.
  2. ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 142.
  3. ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 29.
  4. ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
  5. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Boundary Maps". Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  7. ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 54-67.
  8. ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140-142.
  9. ^ "Constituencies A-Z, Strathkelvin & Bearsden". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Scottish Parliamentary Elections 2021 - Results". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Scottish Parliamentary elections 2016". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  12. ^ "West Scotland Region election results 2016". East Dunbartonshire Council. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.

Bibliography