Glasgow North East (UK Parliament constituency)

Glasgow North East
Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Map
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Location within Scotland
Subdivisions of ScotlandGlasgow City
Major settlementsPossilpark, Springburn
Current constituency
Created2005
Member of ParliamentMaureen Burke (Labour)
Created fromGlasgow Springburn
Glasgow Maryhill

Glasgow North East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster). It was first contested at the 2005 general election. The current Member of Parliament (MP) is Maureen Burke of the Labour Party who gained the seat from Scottish National Party's Anne McLaughlin at the 2024 general election.

History

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From the seat's creation until 2009, the constituency was represented by Michael Martin, previously MP for Glasgow Springburn from 1979. Martin was elected Speaker of the House of Commons in October 2000, but in May 2009 he announced that he would be resigning as Speaker on 21 June 2009 because of his perceived role in the MPs' expenses controversy. He was the first Speaker in 300 years to be forced out of office by a motion of no confidence.[1] He also resigned as an MP the following day, resulting in a by-election on 12 November 2009, which was won by Willie Bain of the Labour Party with 59% of the vote.

Bain retained the seat the following year at the 2010 general election, but was defeated by Anne McLaughlin of the SNP in 2015. The seat was regained by Labour's candidate Paul Sweeney at the 2017 snap general election, only to be regained by McLaughlin at the 2019 general election.

Constituency profile

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The population of the constituency was 88,156 at the time of the 2011 UK Census. It comprises the communities of Ruchill, Hamiltonhill, Possilpark, Port Dundas, Sighthill, Lambhill, Colston, Milton, Springburn, Royston, Balornock, Barmulloch, Blackhill, Blochairn, Dennistoun, Germiston, Haghill, Carntyne, Robroyston, Provanmill, Riddrie, Hogganfield, Wallacewell, Millerston and Ruchazie.

Voting pattern

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Glasgow North East and its predecessor constituencies had been represented by MPs from the Labour Party with large majorities for eighty years from the 1935 general election until the 2015 general election, when the seat was gained by the SNP during their landslide victory; which ended 51 years of dominance by Scottish Labour. The change at Glasgow North East was the largest swing recorded at the general election that year of 39.3% from Labour to SNP. At the following snap election, held just two years later, the seat was regained on a 12% swing by the Labour and Co-operative candidate Paul Sweeney with a narrow majority of 242 votes (0.7%). However, the SNP regained the seat with a marginal majority of 7% in 2019.

According to the British Election Study, it is the most left-wing seat in the country.[2]

It had the lowest turnout of any constituency at the 2017 general election.

Boundaries

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Map
Map of boundaries 2005-2024

The constituency contains two Glasgow City Council wards in full: Dennistoun and Springburn & Robroyston; and also partially covers Canal, Calton, East Centre and North East wards.

The constituency partially overlaps with two Scottish Parliament seats: Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn and Glasgow Provan.

Glasgow North East is one of six constituencies covering the Glasgow City council area. All are entirely within the council area.

Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area was covered by ten constituencies, two of which straddled the boundaries of other council areas. The North East constituency includes most of the former Glasgow Springburn constituency and a small part of the former Glasgow Maryhill constituency.[3]

Members of Parliament

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Election Member[4] Party Notes
2005 Michael Martin Speaker Previously MP for Glasgow Springburn from 1979. Resigned the Speakership and from Parliament in 2009
2009 by-election Willie Bain Labour
2015 Anne McLaughlin SNP
2017 Paul Sweeney Labour Co-op
2019 Anne McLaughlin SNP
2024 Maureen Burke Labour

Election results

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Elections in the 2020s

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General election 2024: Glasgow North East[5][6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Maureen Burke 15,639 45.9 +8.2
SNP Anne McLaughlin 11,002 32.3 −15.4
Scottish Green Ewan Lewis 2,471 7.2 +7.0
Reform UK Jonathan Walmsley 2,272 6.7 N/A
Conservative Robert Henry Connelly 1,182 3.5 −7.5
Liberal Democrats Sheila Thomson 592 1.7 −1.7
Alba Catherine McKernan 551 1.6 N/A
TUSC Chris Sermanni 236 0.7 N/A
Communist Gary Steele 146 0.4 N/A
Majority 4,637 13.6 N/A
Turnout 34,091 47.1 −9.7
Registered electors 72,610
Labour gain from SNP Swing +11.85

Elections in the 2010s

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General election 2019: Glasgow North East[7][8][9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Anne McLaughlin 15,911 46.9 +4.7
Labour Co-op Paul Sweeney 13,363 39.4 −3.5
Conservative Lauren Bennie 3,558 10.5 −2.4
Liberal Democrats Nicolas Moohan 1,093 3.2 +1.2
Majority 2,548 7.5 N/A
Turnout 33,925 55.5 +2.5
SNP gain from Labour Co-op Swing +4.1
General election 2017: Glasgow North East[10][11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Co-op Paul Sweeney 13,637 42.9 +9.2
SNP Anne McLaughlin 13,395 42.2 −15.9
Conservative Jack Wylie 4,106 12.9 +8.2
Liberal Democrats Daniel Donaldson 637 2.0 +1.2
Majority 242 0.7 N/A
Turnout 31,775 53.0 −3.8
Labour Co-op gain from SNP Swing +12.6
General election 2015: Glasgow North East[12][13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Anne McLaughlin 21,976 58.1 +44.0
Labour Willie Bain 12,754 33.7 −34.6
Conservative Annie Wells 1,769 4.7 −0.6
Scottish Green Zara Kitson[14] 615 1.6 New
Liberal Democrats Eileen Baxendale[15] 300 0.8 −6.9
CISTA Geoff Johnson 225 0.6 New
TUSC Jamie Cocozza[16] 218 0.6 0.0
Majority 9,222 24.4 N/A
Turnout 37,857 56.8 +7.7
SNP gain from Labour Swing +39.31

This was the largest swing of any UK constituency in the 2015 election.[17]

General election 2010: Glasgow North East[18][19][20]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Willie Bain 20,100 68.3 N/A
SNP Billy McAllister 4,158 14.1 −3.6
Liberal Democrats Eileen Baxendale 2,262 7.7 N/A
Conservative Ruth Davidson 1,569 5.3 N/A
BNP Walter Hamilton 798 2.7 −0.5
TUSC Graham Campbell 187 0.6 New
Scottish Socialist Kevin McVey 179 0.6 −4.3
Socialist Labour Jim Berrington 156 0.5 −13.7
Majority 15,942 54.2 N/A
Turnout 29,409 49.1 +3.3
Labour hold Swing +7.4

Elections in the 2000s

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A by-election was held in November 2009, caused by the resignation of former Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin. Labour won fairly comfortably, compared to the surprising SNP win in the neighbouring constituency of Glasgow East in the previous year. The turnout was the lowest in Scottish history.[21]

2009 Glasgow North East by-election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Willie Bain 12,231 59.4 New
SNP David Kerr 4,120 20.0 +2.3
Conservative Ruth Davidson 1,075 5.2 New
BNP Charlie Baillie 1,013 4.9 +1.7
Solidarity Tommy Sheridan 794 3.9 New
Liberal Democrats Eileen Baxendale 474 2.3 New
Scottish Green David Doherty 332 1.6 New
Jury Team John Smeaton 258 1.2 New
Scottish Socialist Kevin McVey 152 0.7 −4.2
No Label Mikey Hughes 54 0.3 New
Socialist Labour Louise McDaid 47 0.2 −14.0
Independent Mev Brown 32 0.2 New
The Individuals Labour and Tory (TILT) Colin Campbell 13 0.1 New
Majority 8,111 39.4 +3.8
Turnout 20,595 33.2 −12.6
Labour gain from Speaker Swing
General election 2005: Glasgow North East[22]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Speaker Michael Martin 1 15,153 53.3 −13.8
SNP John McLaughlin 5,019 17.7 −0.5
Socialist Labour Doris Kelly 4,036 14.2 New
Scottish Socialist Graham Campbell 1,402 4.9 −3.2
Scottish Unionist Daniel Houston 1,266 4.5 +0.3
BNP Scott McLean 920 3.2 New
Independent Joe Chambers 622 2.2 New
Majority 10,134 35.6 −13.3
Turnout 28,418 45.8 +1.9
Speaker hold Swing −6.6

1 Michael Martin stood as 'the Speaker seeking re-election'. The Speaker is elected by the House of Commons after each General Election.

As is conventional, Michael Martin (a member of the Labour Party when first elected Speaker) stood as Speaker of the House of Commons in the general election of 2005. The Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats did not stand against him. Other parties did, including the Scottish National Party (the Constitution of which requires that the party fight every seat in Scotland).

The most notable feature of the result was the relatively large vote for Arthur Scargill's Socialist Labour Party, in an area where it had very little base. This was considered to be a result of voter confusion (and not the first recorded example of its kind). A large number of traditional Labour Party voters may have voted for the Socialist Labour Party in the absence of a named Labour Party candidate on the ballot paper.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "A note on the Speakership". Lords of the Blog. Hansard Society. 21 October 2009. Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
  2. ^ Wheeler, Brian (1 December 2014). "The strange truth about how and why we vote". BBC News. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  3. ^ "Fifth Periodical Review". Boundary Commission for Scotland. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007.
  4. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "G" (part 1)
  5. ^ "Glasgow North East results". BBC News. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Westminster Elections 2024 – Glasgow North East". Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll". Glasgow City Council. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Glasgow North East parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  10. ^ Glasgow Young Scot, 20 Trongate (11 May 2017). "General Election 2017 – Glasgow candidates announced". Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Westminster Election Results". Glasgow City Council. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.
  13. ^ "SNP and Tory candidates revealed". Evening Times. 31 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  14. ^ "Seven Greens bid for city seats". Evening Times. 3 February 2015. Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  15. ^ "List of selected candidates". Liberal Democrats. 4 March 2015. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  16. ^ "TUSC parliamentary candidates in May 2015" (PDF). Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition. 4 February 2015. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2015.
  17. ^ Macwhirter, Iain (7 May 2015). "Iain Macwhirter's Election Blog". The Herald. Archived from the original on 10 January 2022. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  18. ^ "2010 election result, Glasgow North East". glasgow.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
  19. ^ "UKPollingReport Election Guide 2010 » Glasgow North East". ukpollingreport.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 March 2010. Retrieved 5 March 2010.
  20. ^ "Election 2010 – Glasgow North East". BBC News. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  21. ^ Johnson, Simon (13 November 2009). "Labour 'can win fourth general election after Glasgow North East'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 November 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  22. ^ election result http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10527&fPst=1 Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine 31 Aug 2015
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Constituency represented by the speaker
2005–2009
Succeeded by

55°53′18″N 4°12′57″W / 55.88833°N 4.21583°W / 55.88833; -4.21583