Linlithgow (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Linlithgow (Parliament of Scotland constituency) or Linlithgow (UK Parliament constituency).

Linlithgow is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of West Lothian. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Lothian 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.

Linlithgow
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Linlithgow shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	95,663 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Fiona Hyslop
Council area	West Lothian

The seat has been held by Fiona Hyslop of the Scottish National Party since the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the Lothian region are: Almond Valley, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern, Edinburgh Western and Midlothian North and Musselburgh

The region includes all of the City of Edinburgh council area, parts of the East Lothian council area, parts of the Midlothian council area and all of the West Lothian council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2011

The West Lothian council area is represented by two constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, these are Almond Valley and Linlithgow.

The Linlithgow 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.^[2]

The electoral wards used in this seat are:

• In full: Armadale and Blackridge, Bathgate, Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh and Linlithgow
• In part: Whitburn and Blackburn (shared with Almond Valley)

As of 2019, Linlithgow's population (95,663) was the highest among the 70 Holyrood mainland constituencies, almost one-third greater than those at the bottom of the list, the lowest being Argyll and Bute which had barely 60,000 within its boundaries.^[1]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Mary Mulligan	Labour
	2011	Fiona Hyslop	SNP

Election results

2020s

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

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop[a]	22,693	48.4	2.0	18,735	39.8	4.2
	Labour	Kirsteen Sullivan	12,588	26.9	0.8	10,135	21.6	1.5
	Conservative	Charles Kennedy	9,472	20.2	0.2	10,556	22.4	1.9
	Scottish Green					3,566	7.6	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Pattle	2,126	4.5	1.1	1,551	3.3	0.8
	Alba					724	1.5	New
	Animal Welfare					393	0.8	New
	All for Unity					330	0.7	New
	Scottish Family					221	0.5	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					146	0.3	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					128	0.3	New
	Reform UK					120	0.3	New
	Women's Equality					99	0.2	0.5
	Scottish Libertarian					88	0.2	New
	UKIP					88	0.2	2.4
	Communist					62	0.1	New
	Independent	Ashley Graczyk				39	0.1	New
	SDP					26	0.1	New
	Renew					14	0.0	New
Majority			10,105	21.5	2.8
Valid Votes			46,879			47,021
Invalid Votes			199			91
Turnout			47,078	62.2	8.2	47,112	62.3	8.3
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Linlithgow^[5]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop[a]	19,362	50.4	0.6	16,987	44.0	2.4
	Labour	Angela Moohan	10,027	26.1	11.7	8,905	23.1	7.6
	Conservative	Charles Kennedy	7,699	20.0	12.3	7,931	20.5	13.1
	Scottish Green					2,179	5.6	2.4
	UKIP					1,001	2.6	1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Dan Farthing-Sykes	1,319	3.4	0.4	961	2.5	0.4
	Women's Equality					269	0.7	New
	Solidarity					248	0.6	0.5
	RISE					133	0.3	New
Majority			9,335	24.3	12.3
Valid Votes			38,407			38,614
Invalid Votes			143			35
Turnout			38,550	54.0	1.3	35,649	54.0	1.2
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Linlithgow^[6]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop[a]	17,027	49.8	N/A	15,883	46.4	N/A
	Labour	Mary Mulligan[b]	12,936	37.8	N/A	10,517	30.7	N/A
	Conservative	Chris Donnelly	2,646	7.7	N/A	2,524	7.4	N/A
	Independent	Margo MacDonald[a]				1,644	4.8	N/A
	Scottish Green					1,088	3.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Jennifer Lang	1,015	3.0	N/A	680	2.0	N/A
	National Front	Michael Coyle	558	1.6	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					463	1.4	N/A
	BNP					436	1.3	N/A
	Socialist Labour					315	0.9	N/A
	UKIP					248	0.7	N/A
	Scottish Christian					142	0.4	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					127	0.4	N/A
	CPA					78	0.2	N/A
	Liberal					52	0.2	N/A
	Solidarity					24	0.1	N/A
	Independent	David Hogg				9	0.0	N/A
	Independent	Ken O'Neil				8	0.0	N/A
	Independent	Mev Brown				5	0.0	N/A
Majority			4,091	12.0	N/A
Valid Votes			34,182			34,243
Invalid Votes			113			79
Turnout			34,295	52.7	N/A	34,322	52.8	N/A
	SNP win (new boundaries)
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Linlithgow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	12,715	42.9	+1.1
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop	11,565	39.0	+4.4
	Conservative	Donald Cameron	3,125	10.5	−0.6
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Oliver	2,232	7.5	0.0
Majority			1,150	3.9	−3.3
Turnout			29,637	52.7	+1.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.2

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Linlithgow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	11,548	41.8	−3.3
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop	9,578	34.6	−1.9
	Conservative	Gordon Lindhurst	3,059	11.1	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Oliver	2,093	7.5	−0.3
	Scottish Socialist	Steven Nimmo	1,367	4.9	New
Majority			1,970	7.2	−1.4
Turnout			27,645	51.1	−11.2
	Labour hold		Swing	-3.4

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Linlithgow

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mary Mulligan	15,247	45.1	N/A
	SNP	Stewart Stevenson	12,319	36.5	N/A
	Conservative	Gordon Lindhurst	3,158	9.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	John Barrett	2,643	7.8	N/A
	Independent	Irene Overstone	415	1.2	N/A
Majority			2,928	8.6	N/A
Turnout			36,710	62.3	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)