Paisley And Renfrewshire South (UK Parliament Constituency)
Boundaries
This seat was created in 2005 from the bulk of the former Paisley South seat, with minor additions from neighbouring constituencies. Covering the southern portion of the Renfrewshire council area, the constituency includes around half of Paisley, as well as the smaller town of Johnstone and the villages of Kilbarchan and Elderslie. The reminder of the seat is more rural, containing the villages of Lochwinnoch, Howwood, several hamlets and farmland. The constituency also contains the Gleniffer Braes Country Park to the south and Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park to the west, notable for Castle Semple Loch.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the small town of Linwood and village of Brookfield is included in the constituency, alongside some minor changes in Paisley. The redrawn seat was contested for the first time at the 2024 general election.
Members of Parliament
The constituency's first MP was Douglas Alexander, who had held the seat since its creation in 2005 and its predecessor Paisley South since 1997. Alexander was the Shadow Foreign Secretary, and has previously held Cabinet posts such as Transport Secretary and Scottish Secretary (2006–07; joint), and International Development Secretary (2007–10).
When SNP candidate Mhairi Black gained the seat in May 2015, she was 20 years and 237 days old, making her the youngest ever Member of Parliament (MP) elected to the House of Commons since at least the Reform Act of 1832, replacing William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam; who was 20 years and 11 months old when elected in 1832. She subsequently held the seat at the 2017 and 2019 general elections. On 4 July 2023, Black announced that she would be standing down as an MP at the next general election.
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Douglas Alexander | Labour | |
| 2015 | Mhairi Black | SNP | |
| 2024 | Johanna Baxter | Labour | |
Elections
Elections in the 2020s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Johanna Baxter | 19,583 | 47.4 | +21.6 | |
| SNP | Jacqueline Cameron | 13,056 | 31.6 | –18.2 | |
| Reform UK | Jim McIlroy | 2,956 | 7.2 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Alec Leishman | 2,219 | 5.4 | –12.8 | |
| Scottish Green | Athol Bond | 1,724 | 4.2 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jack Clark | 1,315 | 3.2 | –3.0 | |
| Independent | Paul Mack | 317 | 0.8 | N/A | |
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | Mark Niven Turnbull | 113 | 0.3 | N/A | |
| Majority | 6,527 | 15.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 41,283 | 57.7 | −8.3 | ||
| Registered electors | 71,574 | ||||
| Labour gain from SNP | Swing | +19.9 | |||
Elections in the 2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Mhairi Black | 21,637 | 50.2 | +9.5 | |
| Labour | Moira Ramage | 10,958 | 25.4 | –9.2 | |
| Conservative | Mark Dougan | 7,571 | 17.6 | –1.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jack Clark | 2,918 | 6.8 | +3.6 | |
| Majority | 10,679 | 24.8 | +18.7 | ||
| Turnout | 43,084 | 66.9 | –1.1 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | +9.4 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Mhairi Black | 16,964 | 40.7 | –10.2 | |
| Labour | Alison Dowling | 14,423 | 34.6 | –4.0 | |
| Conservative | Amy Thomson | 8,122 | 19.5 | +11.9 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 1,327 | 3.2 | +1.0 | |
| Independent | Paul Mack | 876 | 2.1 | New | |
| Majority | 2,541 | 6.1 | –6.2 | ||
| Turnout | 41,712 | 68.0 | –7.4 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | –3.1 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Mhairi Black | 23,548 | 50.9 | +32.8 | |
| Labour | Douglas Alexander | 17,864 | 38.6 | –21.0 | |
| Conservative | Fraser Galloway | 3,526 | 7.6 | –2.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 1,010 | 2.2 | –7.3 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Sandra Webster | 278 | 0.6 | –0.3 | |
| Majority | 5,684 | 12.3 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 46,226 | 75.4 | +10.0 | ||
| SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +26.9 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Douglas Alexander | 23,842 | 59.6 | +7.0 | |
| SNP | Andrew Doig | 7,228 | 18.1 | +0.5 | |
| Conservative | Gordon McCaskill | 3,979 | 9.9 | +1.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ashay Ghai | 3,812 | 9.5 | –8.1 | |
| Independent | Paul Mack | 513 | 1.3 | New | |
| Scottish Socialist | Jimmy Kerr | 375 | 0.9 | –1.2 | |
| Independent | William Hendry | 249 | 0.6 | New | |
| Majority | 16,614 | 41.5 | +6.5 | ||
| Turnout | 39,998 | 65.4 | +2.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | +3.3 | |||
Elections in the 2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Douglas Alexander | 19,904 | 52.6 | −4.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 6,672 | 17.6 | +8.0 | |
| SNP | Andrew Doig | 6,653 | 17.6 | −3.3 | |
| Conservative | Thomas Begg | 3,188 | 8.4 | ±0.0 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Iain Hogg | 789 | 2.1 | −0.7 | |
| Pride in Paisley Party | Gordon Matthew | 381 | 1.0 | New | |
| Independent | Robert Rodgers | 166 | 0.4 | New | |
| Socialist Labour | Howard Broadbent | 107 | 0.3 | New | |
| Majority | 13,232 | 35.0 | |||
| Turnout | 37,860 | 62.9 | |||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
References
- Specific
- ^ "Paisley and Renfrewshire South: Aristotle". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
- ^ Boundary Commission Scotland 2023 Review Report
- ^ Boundary Commission Scotland 2023 Review Report
- ^ Rix, Kathryn (11 May 2015). "The youngest MP? The 'baby' of the first Reformed Parliament". The Victorian Commons.
- ^ "Mhairi Black defies exit poll odds by holding Paisley & Renfrewshire South". The National. 9 June 2017.
- ^ "2019 UK General Election Results".
- ^ "Mhairi Black to step down as SNP MP at next election". BBC News. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ "Paisley and Renfrewshire South results". BBC News. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "UK General Election 2024:Results". Renfrewshire Council. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
- ^ "2019 – UK General Election". Renfrewshire Council. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Paisley & Renfrewshire South parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ "UK Parliamentary General Election: Paisley and Renfrewshire South Constituency Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). 1 March 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 October 2022.
- ^ "SNP to meet over election candidates". BBC News. 22 April 2017.
- ^ "Mhairi Black confirms she will stand in General Election". www.scotsman.com.
- ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- General
External links
- Paisley and Renfrewshire South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2005 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Paisley and Renfrewshire South UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK
