Glasgow Pollok (Scottish Parliament constituency)
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| Glasgow Pollok Scottish Parliament burgh constituency |
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.svg/220px-Glasgow_(Scottish_Parliament_electoral_region).svg.png) |
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| Glasgow Pollok shown within the Glasgow electoral region and the region shown within Scotland |
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| Created: | 1999 |
| MSP: | Johann Lamont |
| Party: | Labour |
| Council area: | Glasgow City |
Glasgow Pollok is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the Glasgow electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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[edit] Electoral region
- See also Glasgow Scottish Parliament region
The other nine constituencies of the Glasgow region are Glasgow Anniesland, Glasgow Baillieston, Glasgow Cathcart, Glasgow Govan, Glasgow Kelvin, Glasgow Maryhill, Glasgow Rutherglen, Glasgow Shettleston and Glasgow Springburn.
The region covers the Glasgow City council area and a north-western portion of the South Lanarkshire council area.
[edit] Constituency boundaries
The Glasgow Pollok constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.
The Scottish Parliament constituency is entirely within the Glasgow City council area, on its south-western boundary. It is south of the Govan constituency and west of the Cathcart constituency. Cathcart and Govan are also entirely within the city area. [1].
[edit] Characteristics
Half of Pollok Park and the world-renowned Burrell Collection are found here, but there is a lack of open green space as council estates occupy most of this region. Social deprivation, high levels of unemployment and poor housing are serious problems in areas such as Nitshill, Priesthill, Arden and Corkerhill.
Pollok has been regarded as among the safest Labour seats in Scotland, but became the mainspring of the Scottish Socialist Party during the anti-poll tax campaign. However, Johann Lamont, well-known for her 'old Labour' credentials, won the seat for Labour in 1999 with a respectable 17.8% majority over the Scottish National Party's Kenny Gibson.
[edit] Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Johann Lamont | Labour | |
| 2003 | |||
| 2007 | |||
[edit] Election results
| Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Glasgow Pollok | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Johann Lamont | 10,456 | 53.8 | +10.4 | |
| Scottish National Party | Chris Stephens | 6,063 | 32.2 | +12.1 | |
| Conservative | Gerald Michaluk | 1,460 | 7.5 | +2.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Christine Gilmore | 1,437 | 7.4 | +2.9 | |
| Majority | 4,393 | 22.6 | |||
| Turnout | 19,416 | 41.2 | -4.6 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Glasgow Pollok | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Johann Lamont | 9,357 | 43.4% | -0.3% | |
| Scottish Socialist | Tommy Sheridan | 6,016 | 27.9% | +6.4% | |
| Scottish National Party | Kenny Gibson | 4,118 | 19.1% | -6.8% | |
| Conservative | Ashraf Anjum | 1,012 | 4.7% | -0.6% | |
| Liberal Democrats | Isabel Nelson | 962 | 4.5% | +0.9% | |
| PE | Robert Ray | 73 | 0.3% | +0.3% | |
| Majority | 3,341 | 15.5% | -2.30% | ||
| Turnout | 21,538 | 45.7% | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | -0.3% | |||
| Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Glasgow Pollok | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Johann Lamont | 11,405 | 43.73% | N/A | |
| Scottish National Party | Kenny Gibson | 6,763 | 25.93% | N/A | |
| Scottish Socialist | Tommy Sheridan | 5,611 | 21.51% | N/A | |
| Conservative | Rory O'Brien | 1,370 | 5.25% | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | James King | 931 | 3.57% | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,642 | 17.80% | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 26,080 | ||||
