Paisley South (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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Paisley South
Former county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Paisley South shown within the West of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created1999
Abolished2011
Council areaRenfrewshire

Paisley South was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It was also one of nine constituencies in the West of Scotland electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Paisley South was replaced by Paisley for the Scottish Parliament election, 2011.

Electoral region[edit]

See also West of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the West of Scotland region were: Dumbarton, Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley North, Strathkelvin and Bearsden and West Renfrewshire.

The region covers the West Dunbartonshire council area, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde council area, most of the Renfrewshire council area, most of the East Dunbartonshire council area, part of the Argyll and Bute council area and part of the North Ayrshire council area.

Constituency boundaries[edit]

The Paisley South constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was abolished in favour of new constituencies.[1]

Council areas[edit]

The Holyrood constituency was entirely within the Renfrewshire council area. The rest of the Renfrewshire area was covered by the Paisley North and West Renfrewshire.

The West Renfrewshire constituency also covered a portion of the Inverclyde council area.

Member of the Scottish Parliament[edit]

Election Member Party
1999 Hugh Henry Labour
2011 constituency abolished: replaced by Paisley

Election results[edit]

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Paisley South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hugh Henry 12,123 47.5 +6.7
SNP Fiona McLeod 7,893 30.9 -0.1
Liberal Democrats Eileen McCartin 3,434 13.4 -0.7
Conservative Tom Begg 2,077 8.1 +1.0
Majority 4,230 16.6 +6.8
Turnout 25,527 52.7 +2.6
Labour hold Swing +3.4
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Paisley South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hugh Henry 10,190 40.8 -4.5
SNP Bill Martin 7,737 31.0 +0.3
Liberal Democrats Eileen McCartin 3,517 14.1 +4.4
Conservative Mark Jones 1,775 7.1 -0.9
Scottish Socialist Frances Curran 1,765 7.1 New
Majority 2,453 9.8 -4.8
Turnout 24,984 50.1 -7.0
Labour hold Swing
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Paisley South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Hugh Henry 13,899 45.3 N/A
SNP Bill Martin 9,404 30.7 N/A
Liberal Democrats Stuart Callison 2,974 9.7 N/A
Conservative Sheila Laidlaw 2,433 7.9 N/A
Independent Paul Mack 1,273 4.2 N/A
Socialist Workers Jackie Forrest 673 2.2 N/A
Majority 4,495 14.6 N/A
Turnout 30,656 57.1 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Notes and references[edit]