Renfrewshire South (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Paisley and Renfrewshire South (UK Parliament constituency).

Renfrewshire South is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering parts of the council areas of Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It forms one of ten constituencies in the West Scotland electoral region, which also elects seven additional members to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Renfrewshire South
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Renfrewshire South shown within the West Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	68,156 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	SNP
MSP	Tom Arthur
Council area	Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire

The constituency was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election from parts of the former constituencies of West Renfrewshire, Paisley South and Paisley North constituencies. It also contains some areas of East Renfrewshire that were originally part of the Eastwood constituency.^[2] The seat has been held by Tom Arthur of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

It will be abolished for the 2026 Scottish Parliament election and replaced by the new Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley constituency.^[3]

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, Eastwood, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West 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 Renfrewshire South constituency contains portions of both Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire and was formed from the following local electoral wards:^[4]

• In full:
  • Barrhead, Liboside and Uplawmoor (East Renfrewshire)
  • Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch (Renfrewshire)
• In part:
  • Johnstone South and Elderslie (Renfrewshire; shared with Paisley constituency)
  • Newton Mearns North and Neilston (East Renfrewshire; shared with Eastwood constituency)
  • Houston, Crosslee and Linwood (Renfrewshire; shared with Renfrewshire North and West constituency)

The rest of Renfrewshire is covered by the Paisley and Renfrewshire North and West seats, whilst the rest of East Renfrewshire forms the Eastwood seat.

Constituency profile

Located in the West-Central Lowlands of Scotland, the constituency lies to the south of the town of Paisley and covers portions of the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas. It includes a number of small towns and villages that developed during the Industrial Revolution, when the chief industry was thread and cotton manufacture in factories powered by the Black Cart Water and small scale coal mining.^[5]

The main population centres are the former burghs of Johnstone and Barrhead. The seat also covers the villages of Elderslie, Howwood, Kilbarchan, Lochwinnoch, Neilston and Uplawmoor alongside numerous hamlets.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2011	Hugh Henry	Labour
	2016	Tom Arthur	SNP

Labour Party politician Hugh Henry won the seat upon its first use in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, having held its predecessor constituency of Paisley South since 1999. Henry retired from politics prior to the 2016 election, which also saw Tom Arthur gain the seat for the Scottish National Party. Arthur was subsequently re-elected in the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Renfrewshire South^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Tom Arthur[a]	17,532	50.5	2.4	15,127	43.3	0.7
	Labour Co-op	Paul O'Kane[b]	10,426	30.0	3.2	8,341	23.9	3.8
	Conservative	Derek Stillie	5,149	14.8	1.2	6,341	18.2	1.1
	Scottish Green					2,427	7.0	1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christine Cosh	826	2.4	0.3	793	2.3	0.3
	Alba					590	1.7	New
	All for Unity					286	0.8	New
	Independent Green Voice					223	0.6	New
	Scottish Family					195	0.6	New
	Scotia Future	Andy Doig	765	2.2	New	127	0.4	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					81	0.2	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					65	0.2	New
	Reform UK					56	0.2	New
	UKIP					49	0.1	1.8
	Scottish Libertarian					45	0.1	0.0
	TUSC					45	0.1	New
	Independent	James Morrison				24	0.1	New
	Independent	Maurice Campbell				12	0.0	New
	Renew					12	0.0	New
Majority			7,106	20.5	5.6
Valid Votes			34,698			34,839
Invalid Votes			123			71
Turnout			34,821	65.7	5.4	34,910	65.9	5.5
	SNP hold		Swing		2.8
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency Elected on the party list

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Renfrewshire South^[8]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Tom Arthur	14,272	48.1	9.6	13,103	44.0	5.6
	Labour Co-op	Paul O'Kane	9,864	33.2	14.9	8,261	27.7	13.0
	Conservative	Ann Le Blond	4,752	16.0	5.2	5,103	17.1	7.6
	Scottish Green					1,513	5.1	2.2
	Liberal Democrats	Tristan Gray	793	2.7	0.1	606	2.0	0.1
	UKIP					577	1.9	1.2
	Solidarity					301	1.0	0.8
	Scottish Christian					182	0.6	0.3
	RISE					113	0.4	New
	Scottish Libertarian					34	0.1	New
Majority			4,408	14.9	N/A
Valid Votes			29,681			29,793
Invalid Votes			129			49
Turnout			29,810	60.3	6.5	29,842	60.4	6.6
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing		12.3
Notes

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Renfrewshire South^[9]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hugh Henry[a]	12,943	48.1	-2.9	10,964	40.7	N/A
	SNP	Andy Doig	10,356	38.5	+7.9	10,346	38.4	N/A
	Conservative	Alistair Campbell	2,917	10.8	-1.7	2,546	9.5	N/A
	Scottish Green					781	2.9	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Anderson	702	2.6	-1.7	507	1.9	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					461	1.7	N/A
	Socialist Labour					384	1.4	N/A
	Scottish Christian					229	0.9	N/A
	BNP					195	0.7	N/A
	UKIP					182	0.7	N/A
	Ban Bankers Bonuses					113	0.4	N/A
	Pirate					93	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Richard Vassie				47	0.2	N/A
	Solidarity					44	0.2	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					41	0.2	N/A
Majority			2,587	9.6	-10.8
Valid Votes			26,908			26,933
Invalid Votes			124			86
Turnout			27,032	53.8	N/A	27,019	53.8	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2000s: Notional Result

The following is the notional result for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, as calculated by the BBC.^[2]

2007 Scottish Parliament election Notional Result: Renfrewshire South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		14,838	51.0	N/A
	SNP		8,902	30.6	N/A
	Conservative		3,646	12.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats		1,251	4.3	N/A
	Others		459	1.6	N/A
Majority			5,936	20.4	N/A
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A