Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)
| Cowdenbeath | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
Cowdenbeath shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Electorate | 56,363 (2022)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2011 |
| Party | Scottish National Party |
| MSP | Annabelle Ewing |
| Council area | Fife |
Cowdenbeath is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Fife.[2] It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it is also one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife 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.[3] The town of Cowdenbeath was formerly part of the Dunfermline East constituency which was abolished by the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries 2011.[4]
The current Member is Annabelle Ewing of the Scottish National Party, elected in 2016, following her defeat of Alex Rowley.
Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Fife North East , Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.[3] The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.[5]
Constituency boundaries and council area
Fife is represented in the Scottish Parliament by five constituencies: Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, and Fife North East.[6]
The constituency of Cowdenbeath was created by the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election from the following electoral wards of Fife Council:[4][2]
- In full:
- In part:
- Rosyth (shared with Dunfermline)
At the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025 the seat boundaries were very slightly altered by a minor change of the boundary with the Dunfermline constituency in order to match ward boundaries (no electors were affected by this boundary change).[7]
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Helen Eadie | Labour | |
| 2014 | Alex Rowley | ||
| 2016 | Annabelle Ewing | SNP | |
Election results
2020s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Annabelle Ewing[a] | 16,499 | 48.3 | 2.2 | 15,088 | 44.0 | 0.2 | |
| Labour | Alex Rowley[b] | 10,486 | 30.7 | 5.2 | 8,308 | 24.3 | 5.3 | |
| Conservative | Darren Watt | 4,758 | 13.9 | 0.4 | 5,881 | 17.2 | 1.8 | |
| Green | Mags Hall | 1,344 | 3.9 | New | 2,212 | 6.5 | 2.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Malcolm Wood | 1,088 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 1,229 | 3.6 | 0.0 | |
| Alba | 723 | 2.1 | New | |||||
| All for Unity | 223 | 0.7 | New | |||||
| Scottish Family | 211 | 0.6 | New | |||||
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 84 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Reform UK | 80 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | 74 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 58 | 0.2 | 0.0 | |||||
| UKIP | 46 | 0.1 | 1.9 | |||||
| Independent | Martin Keatings | 25 | 0.1 | New | ||||
| Renew | 10 | 0.0 | New | |||||
| Independent | Mercy Kamanja | 0 | 0.0 | New | ||||
| Majority | 6,013 | 17.6 | 7.4 | |||||
| Valid Votes | 34,175 | 34,252 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 81 | 42 | ||||||
| Turnout | 34,256 | 60.7 | 6.0 | 34,294 | 60.8 | 6.1 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Annabelle Ewing[b] | 13,715 | 46.1 | 4.5 | 13,050 | 43.8 | 0.9 | |
| Labour | Alex Rowley[c][d] | 10,674 | 35.9 | 10.6 | 8,825 | 29.6 | 9.3 | |
| Conservative | Dave Dempsey | 4,251 | 14.2 | 7.3 | 4,601 | 15.4 | 8.6 | |
| Green | 1,315 | 4.4 | 2.0 | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Bryn Jones | 1,094 | 3.7 | 0.2 | 1,087 | 3.6 | 0.1 | |
| UKIP | 631 | 2.0 | 1.0 | |||||
| Solidarity | 149 | 0.5 | 0.4 | |||||
| RISE | 92 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 69 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Majority | 3,041 | 10.2 | 5.4 | |||||
| Valid Votes | 29,734 | 29,819 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 123 | 57 | ||||||
| Turnout | 29,857 | 54.7 | 7.3 | 29,876 | 54.7 | 7.2 | ||
| SNP gain from Labour | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Alex Rowley | 11,192 | 55.8 | 9.3 | |
| SNP | Natalie McGarry | 5,704 | 28.4 | 13.2 | |
| Conservative | Dave Dempsey | 1,893 | 9.4 | 2.4 | |
| UKIP | Denise Baykal | 610 | 3.04 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jade Holden | 425 | 2.1 | 1.8 | |
| The Victims Final Right | Stuart Graham | 187 | 0.93 | New | |
| SDA | James Trolland | 51 | 0.25 | New | |
| Majority | 5,488 | 27.4 | 22.5 | ||
| Total valid votes | 20,062 | ||||
| Rejected ballots | 21 | ||||
| Turnout | 20,083 | 34.8 | 12.6 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Region | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Labour | Helen Eadie[a] | 11,926 | 46.5 | N/A | 10,003 | 38.9 | N/A | |
| SNP | Ian Chisholm | 10,679 | 41.6 | N/A | 11,030 | 42.9 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Belinda Don | 1,792 | 7.0 | N/A | 1,752 | 6.8 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Keith Legg | 997 | 3.9 | N/A | 912 | 3.5 | N/A | |
| Green | 611 | 2.4 | N/A | |||||
| All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 434 | 1.7 | N/A | |||||
| Land Party | Mick Heenan | 276 | 1.1 | N/A | ||||
| UKIP | 276 | 1.1 | N/A | |||||
| Socialist Labour | 247 | 1.0 | N/A | |||||
| BNP | 171 | 0.7 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Christian | 84 | 0.3 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | 81 | 0.3 | N/A | |||||
| Independent | Andrew Roger | 57 | 0.2 | N/A | ||||
| CPA | 40 | 0.2 | N/A | |||||
| Solidarity | 26 | 0.1 | N/A | |||||
| Majority | 1,247 | 4.9 | N/A | |||||
| Valid Votes | 25,670 | 25,724 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 80 | 81 | ||||||
| Turnout | 25,750 | 47.4 | N/A | 25,805 | 47.5 | N/A | ||
| Labour win (new seat) | ||||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
References
Citations
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 25.
- ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140.
- ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 28.
- ^ a b "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 160. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140-142.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 110.
- ^ "Constituencies A-Z: Cowdenbeath". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Scottish Parliamentary Results". Fife Council. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
- ^ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- ^ Candidates Fife News Online – Facebook
- ^ Seven candidates will fight Cowdenbeath By-election Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine CentralFifeTimes
- ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ "2011 Election analysis (Excel 2.37MB)". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
Bibliography
- "Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. April 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
External links
- "Cowdenbeath constituency map (2025 boundaries)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 15 December 2025.
- "Cowdenbeath constituency map (2011 boundaries)" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 13 July 2021.