Dunfermline (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Dunfermline (Parliament of Scotland constituency).

Dunfermline (Gaelic: Dùn Phàrlain) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Fife. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Dunfermline
Burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Dunfermline shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	77,005 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	SNP
MSP	Shirley-Anne Somerville
Council area	Fife

Created in 2011, it comprises parts of the former constituencies of Dunfermline East and Dunfermline West.

Bill Walker narrowly won the seat for the Scottish National Party in 2011, however he resigned after being convicted of assault charges in 2013. This led to the 2013 Dunfermline by-election, in which Labour's Cara Hilton was elected, defeating the SNP's Shirley-Anne Somerville. However Somerville subsequently ousted Hilton in the 2016 election and was re-elected in 2021.

Electoral region

See also: Mid Scotland and Fife (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, North East Fife, Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.

The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2011

Fife is represented in the Scottish Parliament by five constituencies, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes and North East Fife.

The Dunfermline constituency is formed from the following electoral wards, all of which are part of Fife:^[2]

• In full:
  • West Fife and Coastal Villages
  • Dunfermline Central
  • Dunfermline North
  • Dunfermline South
• In part:
  • Rosyth (shared with Cowdenbeath)

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2011	Bill Walker	SNP
	2012		Independent
	2013	Cara Hilton	Labour
	2016	Shirley-Anne Somerville	SNP

Election results

Dunfermline election results 1999-2021

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Shirley-Anne Somerville[a]	20,048	49.0	5.7	16,623	40.5	0.4
	Labour	Julie MacDougall	11,384	27.8	1.7	8,468	20.6	2.5
	Conservative	Roz McCall	6,314	15.4	2.2	7,884	19.2	0.8
	Scottish Green					3,432	8.4	3.0
	Liberal Democrats	Aude Boubaker-Calder	3,196	7.8	1.8	2,956	7.2	1.4
	Alba					772	1.9	New
	All for Unity					290	0.7	New
	Scottish Family					228	0.6	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					97	0.2	New
	Scottish Libertarian					94	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					78	0.2	New
	Reform UK					62	0.2	New
	UKIP					42	0.1	1.6
	Independent	Martin Keatings				38	0.1	New
	Renew					16	0.0	New
	Independent	Mercy Kamanja				3	0.0	New
Majority			8,664	21.2	7.4
Valid Votes			40,942			41,083
Invalid Votes			167			77
Turnout			41,109	66.0	8.8	41,160	66.0	8.8
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline^[4][a]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Shirley-Anne Somerville	14,257	43.3	5.7	13,223	40.1	0.9
	Labour	Cara Hilton[b]	9,699	29.5	6.1	7,634	23.1	8.8
	Conservative	James Reekie	5,797	17.6	10.5	6,597	20.0	12.2
	Liberal Democrats	James Calder	3,156	9.6	10.1	2,826	8.6	2.7
	Scottish Green					1,796	5.4	2.2
	UKIP					598	1.7	0.9
	Solidarity					138	0.4	0.3
	RISE					117	0.4	New
	Scottish Libertarian					60	0.2	New
Majority			4,558	13.8	11.8
Valid Votes			32,909			32,989
Invalid Votes			99			31
Turnout			33,008	57.2	4.2	33,020	57.2	4.1
	SNP hold		Swing		5.9
Notes Showing changes from 2011 election Incumbent member for this constituency by virtue of by-election victory

Scottish Parliament by-election, 2013: Dunfermline^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Cara Hilton	10,279	42.5	6.9
	SNP	Shirley-Anne Somerville	7,402	30.7	6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Susan Leslie	2,852	11.8	7.9
	Conservative	James Reekie	2,009	8.3	1.2
	UKIP	Peter Adams	908	3.8	New
	Scottish Green	Zara Kitson	593	2.5	New
	Independent	John Black	161	0.7	New
Majority			2,877	11.8	N/A
Total valid votes			24,200
Rejected ballots			41
Turnout			24,241	42.8	10.2
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	6.9

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline^[4][6][7]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Bill Walker	11,010	37.6	N/A	12,039	41.0	N/A
	Labour	Alex Rowley	10,420	35.6	N/A	9,371	31.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Tolson[a]	5,776	19.7	N/A	3,304	11.3	N/A
	Conservative	James Reekie	2,093	7.1	N/A	2,283	7.8	N/A
	Scottish Green					928	3.2	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					420	1.4	N/A
	UKIP					276	0.9	N/A
	Socialist Labour					221	0.8	N/A
	BNP					197	0.7	N/A
	Scottish Christian					99	0.3	N/A
	CPA					74	0.3	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					72	0.2	N/A
	Independent	Andrew Roger				56	0.2	N/A
	Solidarity					24	0.1	N/A
Majority			590	2.0	N/A
Valid Votes			29,299			29,364
Invalid Votes			92			82
Turnout			29,391	53.0	N/A	29,446	53.1	N/A
	SNP win (new seat)
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency