BBC NEWS | VOTE 2003


CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES	%	+/-%
Gordon Jackson	LAB	7834	37.1	-6.2
Nicola Sturgeon	SNP	6599	31.2	-5.4
Jimmy Scott	SSP	2369	11.2	+6.4
Faisal Butt	CON	1878	8.9	+0.0
Paul Graham	LD	1807	8.5	+2.9
Abdul Dean	IND	226	1.1	+1.1
John Foster	CPB	215	1.0	+0.3
Asif Nasir	SPA	208	1.0	+1.0

	MAJORITY	1235	5.8
	TURNOUT	21136	43.4


ELECTORATE	48635

DESCRIPTION: Glasgow Govan

Govan is famous for its docklands and shipyards. But it has not simply been a depressed working-class industrial district; it includes Queen's Park and Pollok country park, and the plush owner-occupied suburbs of Pollokshields and Shawlands. Ibrox, home to Glasgow Rangers FC, is also here. Although the constituency has the highest proportion of ethnic minorities of all the Glasgow seats, the electorate is predominantly white. The fate of the BAE shipyard, perennially the focus of uncertainty, has been secured for the foreseeable future with the announcement of orders for two new Royal Navy carriers.

This has been the most unpredictable of the Glasgow seats - it has been won by the SNP in two by-elections in the last 30 years (1973 and 1988). The 1999 election was overshadowed by allegations against MP Mohammed Sarwar. He was suspended from Labour after newspaper allegations that he bribed a rival candidate and interfered with the electoral register. He was eventually cleared and reinstated in March 1999. Gordon Jackson QC held the Labour line a matter of weeks later, elected to Holyrood with a majority of 6.7% over SNP challenger Nicola Sturgeon. The whiff of scandal may have receded, but Govan is always a key target for the SNP.

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