Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Cowdenbeath
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Cowdenbeath shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Electoral regionMid Scotland and Fife
Electorate57,226 (2026)[1]
Current constituency
Created2011
PartyScottish National Party
MSPDavid Barratt
Council areaFife

Cowdenbeath is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Fife.[2] It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it is also one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.[3] The town of Cowdenbeath was formerly part of the Dunfermline East constituency which was abolished by the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries 2011.[4]

The current Member is David Barratt of the Scottish National Party, elected in 2026.

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Fife North East , Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.[3] The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.[5]

Constituency boundaries and council area

Fife is represented in the Scottish Parliament by five constituencies: Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, and Fife North East.[6]

The constituency of Cowdenbeath was created by the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election from the following electoral wards of Fife Council:[4][2]

At the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025 the seat boundaries were very slightly altered by a minor change of the boundary with the Dunfermline constituency in order to match ward boundaries (no electors were affected by this boundary change).[7]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
2011 Helen Eadie Labour
2014 Alex Rowley
2016 Annabelle Ewing SNP
2026 David Barratt

Election results

2020s

2026 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[8][9][10][1]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP David Barratt 11,994 44.3 Decrease 4.0 8,567 31.6 Decrease 12.4
Labour Fiona Sword 6,307 23.3 Decrease 7.4 5,834 21.5 Decrease 2.8
Reform Mark Davies 4,708 17.4 New 4,816 17.7 Increase 17.5
Green 3,140 11.6 Increase 5.1
Conservative Darren Watt 2,201 8.1 Decrease 5.8 2,048 7.5 Decrease 9.7
Liberal Democrats James Calder 1,547 5.7 Increase 2.5 1,548 5.7 Increase 2.1
AtLS 373 1.4 New
Sovereignty Laurie Moffat[a] 304 1.1 New
Independent Green Voice 255 0.9 New
ISP 218 0.8 New
Scottish Family 164 0.6 Steady
Scottish Socialist 85 0.3 New
Advance UK 61 0.2 New
Scottish Libertarian 38 0.1 Decrease 0.1
Majority 5,687 21.0 Increase 3.4
Valid votes 27,061 27,147
Invalid votes 92 70
Turnout 27,153 47.4 Decrease 13.3 27,217 47.6 Decrease 13.2
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ↑ Moffat is standing on a joint ticket on behalf of Sovereignty and the Alliance to Liberate Scotland. Note that Sovereignty are not standing on the regional list in Mid Scotland and Fife.
2021 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[11][12]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Annabelle Ewing[a] 16,499 48.3 Increase2.2 15,088 44.0 Increase0.2
Labour Alex Rowley[b] 10,486 30.7 Decrease5.2 8,308 24.3 Decrease5.3
Conservative Darren Watt 4,758 13.9 Decrease0.4 5,881 17.2 Decrease1.8
Green Mags Hall 1,344 3.9 New 2,212 6.5 Increase2.1
Liberal Democrats Malcolm Wood 1,088 3.2 Decrease0.5 1,229 3.6 Steady0.0
Alba 723 2.1 New
All for Unity 223 0.7 New
Scottish Family 211 0.6 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 84 0.2 New
Reform 80 0.2 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 74 0.2 New
Scottish Libertarian 58 0.2 Steady0.0
UKIP 46 0.1 Decrease1.9
Independent Martin Keatings 25 0.1 New
Renew 10 0.0 New
Independent Mercy Kamanja 0 0.0 New
Majority 6,013 17.6 Increase7.4
Valid votes 34,175 34,252
Invalid votes 81 42
Turnout 34,256 60.7 Increase6.0 34,294 60.8 Increase6.1
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[12][13][a]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Annabelle Ewing[b] 13,715 46.1 Increase4.5 13,050 43.8 Increase0.9
Labour Alex Rowley[c][d] 10,674 35.9 Decrease10.6 8,825 29.6 Decrease9.3
Conservative Dave Dempsey 4,251 14.2 Increase7.3 4,601 15.4 Increase8.6
Green 1,315 4.4 Increase2.0
Liberal Democrats Bryn Jones 1,094 3.7 Decrease0.2 1,087 3.6 Increase0.1
UKIP 631 2.0 Increase1.0
Solidarity 149 0.5 Increase0.4
RISE 92 0.3 New
Scottish Libertarian 69 0.2 New
Majority 3,041 10.2 Increase5.4
Valid votes 29,734 29,819
Invalid votes 123 57
Turnout 29,857 54.7 Increase7.3 29,876 54.7 Increase7.2
SNP gain from Labour Swing
Notes
  1. ↑ Showing changes from 2011 election
  2. ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency
  3. ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency by virtue of by-election victory
  4. ↑ Elected on the party list
2014 Cowdenbeath by-election[14][15][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Alex Rowley 11,192 55.8 Increase9.3
SNP Natalie McGarry 5,704 28.4 Decrease13.2
Conservative Dave Dempsey 1,893 9.4 Increase2.4
UKIP Denise Baykal 610 3.04 New
Liberal Democrats Jade Holden 425 2.1 Decrease1.8
The Victims Final Right Stuart Graham 187 0.93 New
SDA James Trolland 51 0.25 New
Majority 5,488 27.4 Increase22.5
Total valid votes 20,062
Rejected ballots 21
Turnout 20,083 34.8 Decrease12.6
Labour hold Swing
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath[12][16][17]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Labour Helen Eadie[a] 11,926 46.5 N/A 10,003 38.9 N/A
SNP Ian Chisholm 10,679 41.6 N/A 11,030 42.9 N/A
Conservative Belinda Don 1,792 7.0 N/A 1,752 6.8 N/A
Liberal Democrats Keith Legg 997 3.9 N/A 912 3.5 N/A
Green 611 2.4 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 434 1.7 N/A
Land Party Mick Heenan 276 1.1 N/A
UKIP 276 1.1 N/A
Socialist Labour 247 1.0 N/A
BNP 171 0.7 N/A
Scottish Christian 84 0.3 N/A
Scottish Socialist 81 0.3 N/A
Independent Andrew Roger 57 0.2 N/A
CPA 40 0.2 N/A
Solidarity 26 0.1 N/A
Majority 1,247 4.9 N/A
Valid votes 25,670 25,724
Invalid votes 80 81
Turnout 25,750 47.4 N/A 25,805 47.5 N/A
Labour win (new seat)
Notes
  1. ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 "2026 Scottish Parliamentary Results". Fife Council. 8 May 2026. Retrieved 1 June 2026.
  2. 1 2 Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140.
  3. 1 2 Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 28.
  4. 1 2 "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 160. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
  6. ↑ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140-142.
  7. ↑ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 110.
  8. ↑ "Cowdenbeath Constituency Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). Fife Council. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "Statement of Parties and Persons Nominated, including Notice of Poll - Mid Scotland and Fife Region" (PDF). Fife Council. 1 April 2026. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Cowdenbeath - Scottish Parliament". BBC News. 8 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Constituencies A-Z: Cowdenbeath". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 4 "Scottish Parliamentary Results". Fife Council. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  14. ↑ Candidates Fife News Online – Facebook
  15. ↑ Seven candidates will fight Cowdenbeath By-election Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine CentralFifeTimes
  16. ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  17. ↑ "2011 Election analysis (Excel 2.37MB)". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2021.

Bibliography

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