Eastwood (Scottish Parliament constituency)

For the former Westminster constituency, see Eastwood (UK Parliament constituency).

Eastwood (Gaelic: A' Choille Shear) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of East Renfrewshire. 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.

Eastwood
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Eastwood shown within the West Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	71,066 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Conservative
MSP	Jackson Carlaw
Council area	East Renfrewshire

The seat has been held by Jackson Carlaw of the Scottish Conservatives since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: West Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are: Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West, Renfrewshire South and Strathkelvin and Bearsden.

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

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2011

The Eastwood 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 name of the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was changed to East Renfrewshire.^[2]

In boundary changes in time for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the constituency of Eastwood was redrawn to be formed from the following electoral wards:

• In full:
  • Giffnock and Thornliebank
  • Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood
  • Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham
  • Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood
• In part:
  • Newton Mearns North and Neilston (shared with Renfrewshire South)

Constituency profile

The Eastwood constituency is a highly affluent, middle-class commuter seat located south-west of Glasgow. It covers a majority of the East Renfrewshire council area, based principally around the towns of Newton Mearns, Eaglesham, Giffnock, Thornliebank, Netherlee, Busby and Clarkston which adjoin the City of Glasgow. According to data derived from the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation 60% of the seat's datazones are among the 10% most affluent areas in Scotland, with a further 15% of the seat's datazones being among the 20% most affluent areas in Scotland.^[3]

Data from the 2011 Scottish Census suggests that the seat has a substantial number of home-owners residing in large bungalows in comparison to the national average,^[4] with large portion of the seat's working population being employed in managerial, administrative and professional occupations.^[4]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

The MSP for this constituency from its creation in 1999 was Ken Macintosh of Labour. In the 2016 election, Macintosh lost the seat, finishing third behind the Conservative victor Jackson Carlaw; however, he was returned as an additional MSP for the West Scotland region, following which he was elected as the Scottish Parliament's fifth Presiding Officer.

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Ken Macintosh	Labour
	2016	Jackson Carlaw	Conservative

Election results

2020s

Next Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw
	SNP	Kirsten Oswald[5]
	Labour	Kayleigh Quinn

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood^[6]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw[a]	17,911	41.9	6.2	15,369	35.9	2.5
	SNP	Colm Merrick	15,695	36.8	5.6	12,433	29.0	0.4
	Labour	Katie Pragnell	6,759	15.8	14.8	8,449	19.7	0.3
	Scottish Green					3,524	8.2	1.6
	Independent	David Macdonald	1,352	3.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Jameel	911	2.1	0.4	1,243	2.9	0.2
	Alba					502	1.2	New
	All for Unity					354	0.8	New
	Scottish Family					307	0.7	New
	Independent Green Voice					232	0.5	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					91	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					71	0.2	New
	Reform UK					64	0.1	New
	Independent	James Morrison				43	0.1	New
	Scottish Libertarian					42	0.1	0.1
	UKIP	Janice MacKay	75	0.2	New	41	0.1	1.2
	Independent	Maurice Campbell				27	0.1	New
	TUSC					26	0.1	New
	Scotia Future					12	0.0	New
	Renew					10	0.0	New
Majority			2,216	5.1	0.6
Valid Votes			42,703			42,840
Invalid Votes			141			85
Turnout			42,844	76.4	7.9	42,925	76.6	8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing		0.8
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

This was the smallest Conservative majority at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood^[7]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw[a]	12,932	35.7	2.3	13,929	38.3	11.4
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell[a]	11,322	31.2	6.9	10,680	29.4	5.0
	Labour	Ken Macintosh[b]	11,081	30.6	9.1	7,263	20.0	7.3
	Scottish Green					2,390	6.6	2.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Duncan	921	2.5	0.1	999	2.7	0.1
	UKIP					458	1.3	0.7
	Scottish Christian					286	0.1	0.1
	Solidarity					135	0.4	0.2
	RISE					129	0.4	New
	Scottish Libertarian					60	0.2	New
Majority			1,610	4.5	N/A
Valid Votes			36,256			36,329
Invalid Votes			116			58
Turnout			36,372	68.5	5.1	36,387	68.5	5.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency Incumbent member for this constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood^[8]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Ken Macintosh[a]	12,662	39.7	+9.8	8,708	27.3	N/A
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell[b]	7,777	24.3	+8.6	10,967	34.4	N/A
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw[b]	10,650	33.4	-8.3	8,584	26.9	N/A
	Scottish Green					1,170	3.7	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Cochrane	835	2.6	' -8.5	906	2.8	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					365	1.1	N/A
	Scottish Christian					234	0.7	N/A
	BNP					195	0.6	N/A
	UKIP					194	0.6	N/A
	Socialist Labour					189	0.6	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					95	0.3	N/A
	Solidarity					41	0.1	N/A
	Independent	Richard Vassie				24	0.1	N/A
	Others					201	0.6	N/A
Majority			2,012	6.4	N/A
Valid Votes			31,924			31,873
Invalid Votes			98			100
Turnout			31,924	63.4	N/A	31,973	63.3	N/A
	Labour win (new boundaries)
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2000s

Scottish Parliament election, 2007 Notional Result: Eastwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative		12,825	41.1
	Labour		9,337	29.9
	SNP		4,912	15.7
	Liberal Democrats		3,141	10.1
	Others		986	3.2
Majority			3,488	11.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Eastwood [9]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Kenneth Macintosh		15,077	35.76	−0.10	12,365	29.41
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw		14,186	33.64	+7.30	11,470	27.28
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell		7,972	18.91	+6.73	9,460	22.50
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon MacDonald		3,603	8.55	−4.45	3,332	7.92
	Independent	Frank McGee		1,327	3.15	+3.15
	Scottish Green						1,515	3.60
	Scottish Senior Citizens						737	1.75
	Solidarity						631	1.50
	BNP						505	1.20
	CPA						502	1.19
	Scottish Christian						500	1.19
	Save Our NHS Group						376	0.89
	Scottish Unionist Party (modern)						156	0.37
	Scottish Socialist						143	0.34
	Socialist Labour						126	0.30
	UKIP						112	0.27
	Scottish Voice						56	0.13
	Scottish Jacobite						50	0.12
	Socialist Equality						12	0.03
Informal votes				990			1,107
Total valid votes				42,165			42,048
Turnout				43,155
	Labour hold		Majority	891	2.11	−7.5

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kenneth Macintosh	13,946	35.9	−1.5
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw	10,244	26.3	−6.4
	Liberal Democrats	Allan Steele	5,056	13.0	+3.2
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell	4,736	12.2	−7.1
	Independent	Margaret Hinds	3,163	8.1	New
	Scottish Socialist	Steve Oram	1,504	3.8	New
	Scottish People's	Martyn Greene	240	0.6	New
Majority			3,702	9.6	+4.9
Turnout			38,889	58.0	−1.5
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Kenneth Macintosh	16,970	37.4
	Conservative	John Young	14,845	32.7
	SNP	Rachel Findlay	8,760	19.3
	Liberal Democrats	Anna McCurley	4,472	9.9
	Independent	Manar Tayan	349	0.8
Majority			2,125	4.68
Turnout			45,396	59.5
	Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes