Falkirk West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Falkirk West (UK Parliament constituency).

Falkirk West (Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac an Iar) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Falkirk. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Falkirk West
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Falkirk West shown within the Central Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	79,858 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Michael Matheson
Council area	Falkirk

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. Ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the boundaries of the seat were reformed and reshaped.^[2][3]

The seat has been held by Michael Matheson of the Scottish National Party since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: Central Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region are: Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Motherwell and Wishaw and Uddingston and Bellshill.

The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2011

The 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, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.^[4]

The Holyrood constituency covers a western portion of the Falkirk council area. The rest of the Falkirk area is covered by Falkirk East, which is also within the Central Scotland electoral region.

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the newly reshaped Falkirk West was formed from the following electoral wards:^[5]

• In full: Denny and Banknock, Bonnybridge and Larbert, Falkirk North
• In part: Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst, Falkirk South (shared with Falkirk East constituency)

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Dennis Canavan	Independent
	2007	Michael Matheson	Scottish National Party

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson[a]	21,492	54.3	2.6	18,040	45.4	4.3
	Labour	Monette Gordon	9,653	24.4	2.6	7,832	19.7	0.2
	Conservative	Stephen Kerr[b]	7,343	18.5	0.2	8,127	20.5	2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Austin Reid	1,115	2.8	0.2	968	2.4	0.3
	Scottish Green					2,802	7.1	1.5
	Alba					697	1.8	New
	All for Unity					373	0.9	New
	Scottish Family					212	0.5	New
	Independent Green Voice					209	0.5	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					112	0.3	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					96	0.2	New
	Reform UK					86	0.2	New
	Independent	Paddy Hogg				68	0.2	New
	Scottish Libertarian					63	0.2	New
	UKIP					53	0.1	2.3
Majority			14,149	29.9	5.2
Valid Votes			39,603			39,738
Invalid Votes			154
Turnout			39,629	62.2	8.4
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency Elected on the party list

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East^[8]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson[a]	18,260	56.9	1.6	15,987	49.7	0.2
	Labour	Mandy Telford	6,980	21.8	13.2	6,272	19.5	12.2
	Conservative	Alison Harris[b]	5,877	18.3	10.9	5,923	18.4	11.1
	Scottish Green					1,809	5.6	2.9
	UKIP					775	2.4	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Cole-Hamilton	966	3.0	0.7	679	2.1	0.4
	Scottish Christian					267	0.8	0.3
	Solidarity					225	0.7	0.6
	RISE					132	0.4	New
	Independent	Deryck Beaumont				85	0.3	New
Majority			11,280	35.1	14.8
Valid Votes			32,083			32,154
Invalid Votes			120			43
Turnout			32,203	53.8	3.0	32,197	53.8	3.0
	SNP hold		Swing		7.4
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency Elected on the party list

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West^[9]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson[a]	15,607	55.3	N/A	13,989	49.5	N/A
	Labour	Dennis Goldie	9,862	35.0	N/A	8,958	31.7	N/A
	Conservative	Allan Finnie	2,086	7.4	N/A	2,055	7.3	N/A
	Scottish Green					764	2.7	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					560	2.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Chomczuk	644	2.3	N/A	481	1.7	N/A
	Scottish Christian					318	1.1	N/A
	UKIP					236	0.8	N/A
	BNP					224	0.9	N/A
	Socialist Labour					222	0.8	N/A
	Independent	Hugh O'Donnell				97	0.3	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					96	0.3	N/A
	Solidarity					39	0.1	N/A
	Others					202	0.7	N/A
Majority			5,745	20.3	N/A
Valid Votes			28,199			28,261
Invalid Votes			111			71
Turnout			28,310	50.8	N/A	28,332	50.8	N/A
	SNP win (new boundaries)
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson	12,068	41.9	+24.1
	Labour	Dennis Goldie	11,292	39.2	+21.8
	Conservative	Stephen O'Rourke	2,887	10.0	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Chomczuk	2,538	8.8	+6.0
Majority			776	2.7	N/A
Turnout			28,785	51.7	+1.1
	SNP gain from Independent		Swing	+1.2

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Dennis Canavan	14,703	55.69	+2.2
	SNP	Michael Matheson	4,703	17.81	+0.5
	Labour	Lee Whitehill	4,589	17.38	−0.9
	Conservative	Iain Mitchell	1,657	6.28	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jacqueline Kelly	748	2.83	−2.7
Majority			10,000	37.88	+1.7
Turnout			26,400	50.65	−12.4
	Independent hold		Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Dennis Canavan	18,511	53.5
	Labour	Ross Martin	6,319	18.3
	SNP	Michael Matheson	5,986	17.3
	Conservative	Gordon Millar	1,897	5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Hook	1,889	5.5
Majority			12,192	35.2
Turnout			34,602	63.0
	Independent win (new seat)