East Kilbride LAB Hold

Scottish Parliament election

constituency

	East Kilbride	LAB Hold

	CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES	%	+/-%
	Andy Kerr	LAB	13825	40.6	-7.6
	Linda Fabiani	SNP	8544	25.1	-7.4
	Grace Campbell	CON	3785	11.1	-0.1
	Carolyn Leckie	SSP	2736	8.0	+8.0
	Colin McCartney	IND	2597	7.6	+7.6
	Alex Mackie	LD	2181	6.4	-1.7
	John Houston	IND	419	1.2	+1.2
		MAJORITY	5281	15.5
		TURNOUT	34087	52.1

ELECTORATE	65472

Top-up region: Central Scotland

DESCRIPTION: East Kilbride

This Labour seat is based on the post-war new town of East Kilbride south of Glasgow - the oldest in Scotland. But it also has a rural hinterland stretching south to include Chapelton, Sandford, Glassford and the market town of Strathaven. Light engineering, service industries, textiles and woollens are the main generators of economic wealth with farming dominant in the south. In 2001 Rolls Royce and Motorola, both important employers here, announced redundancies. Levels of owner-occupation rose dramatically between 1981 and 1991 from 30% to 63%, and non-manual occupational groups now form nearly 60% compared to less than 50% in 1981. Unemployment is low.

Labour has held the Westminster seat since its creation in February 1974. The closest they came to losing it was in October that year when the SNP slashed its majority to 2,700. Andy Kerr, who became finance minister, became the MSP in 1999 with a majority of 6,500. As in most of the central belt constituencies, the SNP is second here. It needs a swing of over 8% to beat Labour.

PREVIOUS RESULTS

	1999 SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION		LAB WIN
	PARTY	VOTES	%
	LAB	19987	48.1
	SNP	13488	32.5
	CON	4665	11.2
	LD	3373	8.1

	2001 GENERAL ELECTION		LAB WIN
	PARTY	VOTES	%
	LAB	22205	53.3
	SNP	9450	22.7
	LD	4278	10.3
	CON	4238	10.2
	SSP	1519	3.6