Linlithgow (UK Parliament constituency)

Linlithgow
Former County constituency for the House of Commons
1983–2005
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Linlithgow & East Falkirk Livingston
Created from	West Lothian

Linlithgow was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of elections.

The constituency returned the same MP throughout its existence, Tam Dalyell of the Labour Party. Dalyell had previously been MP for the predecessor seat of West Lothian, which had led to his concerns about Scottish devolution being labelled "the West Lothian question".

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election, largely replacing the previous West Lothian constituency. For the 2005 general election, Linlithgow was largely replaced by the new Linlithgow and East Falkirk constituency, with the remainder of the constituency joining Livingston.

The Scottish Parliament constituency of Linlithgow was created in 1999 with the same boundaries as the UK Parliament constituency.

Boundaries

1983-1997: The West Lothian District electoral divisions of Bathgate East/Blackburn, Bathgate West/Armadale, Linlithgow, and Whitburn, and the City of Edinburgh District ward of Queensferry.

1997-2005: The West Lothian District electoral divisions of Bathgate East/Blackburn, Bathgate West/Armadale, Linlithgow/Winchburgh, and Whitburn.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1983	Tam Dalyell	Labour

Elections of the 1980s

General Election 1983: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tam Dalyell	19,694	45.1	N/A
	Conservative	C.I. Jones	8,333	19.1	N/A
	SNP	D.H. Ramsey	8,026	18.4	N/A
	Social Democratic	P.P. Cockcroft	7,432	17.0	N/A
	Communist	Dr. Morag C. Parnell	199	0.4	N/A
Majority			11,361	26.0	N/A
Turnout			43,684	75.2	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

General Election 1987: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tam Dalyell	21,869	47.4	+2.3
	SNP	Jim Sillars	11,496	24.9	+6.5
	Conservative	Thomas Cowan Robert Armstrong-Wilson	6,828	14.8	−4.3
	Social Democratic	Mrs. Helen Anne McDade	5,840	12.6	−4.4
	Communist	John Glassford	154	0.3	−0.1
Majority			10,373	22.5
Turnout			46,187	77.6	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections of the 1990s

General Election 1992: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tam Dalyell	21,603	45.0	−2.4
	SNP	Kenny MacAskill	14,577	30.3	+5.4
	Conservative	Miss Elizabeth A. Forbes	8,424	17.5	+2.7
	Liberal Democrat	Mike G. Falchikov	3,446	7.2	−5.4
Majority			7,026	14.7
Turnout			48,050	78.7	+1.1
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.8

General Election 1997: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tam Dalyell	21,469	54.1	+4.9
	SNP	Kenny MacAskill	10,631	26.8	−3.3
	Conservative	Tom Kerr	7,396	16.3	−1.2
	Liberal Democrat	Andrew W. Duncan	3,796	8.4	−1.1
	Referendum	Kenneth R. Plomer	259	0.7	N/A
Majority			10,838	27.3
Turnout			39,654	73.8	−4.9
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.1

Elections of the 2000s

General Election 2001: Linlithgow
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tam Dalyell	17,207	54.4	+0.2
	SNP	James Grey Meiklem Sibbald	8,078	25.5	−1.3
	Conservative	Gordon Lindhurst	2,836	9.0	−3.6
	Liberal Democrat	William Martin Oliver	2,628	8.3	+2.4
	Scottish Socialist	Eddie Cornoch	695	2.2	N/A
	Rock 'n' Roll Loony	Helen Dawn "Lady Muck" Cronin	211	0.7	N/A
Majority			9,129	28.9
Turnout			31,655	58.0	−15.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.8

References

1. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 3)