Hamilton South LAB Hold

Scottish Parliament election

constituency

	Hamilton South	LAB Hold

	CANDIDATE	PARTY	VOTES	%	+/-%
	Tom McCabe	LAB	9546	46.5	-7.9
	John Wilson	SNP	4722	23.0	-3.7
	Margaret Mitchell	CON	2601	12.7	+1.4
	Willie O'Neill	SSP	1893	9.2	+9.2
	John Oswald	LD	1756	8.6	+0.9
		MAJORITY	4824	23.5
		TURNOUT	20518	44.9

ELECTORATE	45749

Top-up region: Central Scotland

DESCRIPTION: Hamilton South

Nearly all of Hamilton is contained within this seat, a town which serves as the commercial and legal centre for Lanarkshire. It also boasts some of Glasgow's more prosperous suburbs and commuters are aided by the presence of the M74 running through its eastern half. It is predominantly a working-class area where coal and steel were once the prime industries.

In 1999, South Lanarkshire Council leader Tom McCabe won the seat for Labour with a solid 54.4% of the vote. He went on to serve Donald Dewar and Henry McLeish as minister for parliament. When George Robertson became NATO secretary general and a peer in August 1999, Labour held on in the subsequent Westminster by-election by the skin of its teeth in the face of a tough SNP challenge. The 2001 election saw Bill Tynan returned as MP with a 40% majority. Jobs and investment are a crucial issue, with many dependent on the electronics industry and related sectors.

PREVIOUS RESULTS

	1999 SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ELECTION		LAB WIN
	PARTY	VOTES	%
	LAB	14098	54.4
	SNP	6922	26.7
	CON	2918	11.3
	LD	1982	7.7

	2001 GENERAL ELECTION		LAB WIN
	PARTY	VOTES	%
	LAB	15965	59.7
	SNP	5190	19.4
	LD	2388	8.9
	CON	1876	7
	SSP	1187	4.4
	UKIP	151	0.6