Airdrie (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Constituency of the Scottish Parliament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Airdrie (Gaelic: An t-Àrd-Ruigh agus Shotts) is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of North Lanarkshire.[2] It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Prior to the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025 the seat was known as Airdrie and Shotts: the name was changed to avoid confusion with the Airdrie and Shotts constituency of the UK Parliament. The first election under this new name will be at the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.[3]
| Airdrie | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
| |
 Airdrie shown within the Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region, and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Electoral region | Central Scotland and Lothians West |
| Electorate | 54,495 (2026)[1] |
| Major settlements | Airdrie, Caldercruix, Shotts |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1999 (as Airdrie and Shotts) |
| Party | Scottish National Party |
| MSP | Neil Gray |
| Council area | North Lanarkshire |
Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the constituency is also one of nine that together form the Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.[4]
The seat has been held by Neil Gray of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland and Lothians West region are Almond Valley, Bathgate, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Falkirk West, Motherwell and Wishaw, and Uddingston and Bellshill.[5] The region covers all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area, all of the West Lothian council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.[2]
Prior to the 2025 boundary review Airdrie and Shots was one of nine constituencies forming the Central Scotland region. The other eight seats in this region were: Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Falkirk West, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse, Motherwell and Wishaw and Uddingston and Bellshill. The region covered all of the Falkirk council area, all of the North Lanarkshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.
Constituency boundaries and council area
Airdrie and Shotts was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of the existing Airdrie and Shotts constituency of the House of Commons. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election, Scottish constituencies for the House of Commons were mostly replaced with new constituencies, whilst initially being retained for elections to the Scottish Parliament.[6] There is no longer any direct link between the boundaries used for the two parliaments.
The seat was renamed simply Airdrie ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. It is now one of four Scottish Parliament constituencies covering the North Lanarkshire council area, the others being Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Motherwell and Wishaw and Uddingston and Bellshill, the last of which spans parts of both North and South Lanarkshire.
The constituency lies entirely within the North Lanarkshire council area, and covers following electoral wards of North Lanarkshire Council:[7]
- Airdrie North (entire ward)
- Airdrie Central North (entire ward)
- Airdrie South North (entire ward)
- Fortissat (shared with Motherwell and Wishaw)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Election results
2020s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Neil Gray[a] | 10,711 | 42.0 |  8.6 |
7,925 | 30.9 | 13.7 | |
| Labour | Suzanne MacLeod | 6,201 | 24.3 | 9.1 |
5,408 | 21.1 | 3.8 | |
| Reform | Graham Simpson[b] | 5,821 | 22.8 | New | 6,302 | 24.6 |  24.4 | |
| Green | 2,457 | 9.6 | 5.3 | |||||
| Conservative | Euan Blockley | 1,145 | 4.5 | 9.4 |
1,519 | 5.9 | 14.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ed Thornley | 660 | 2.6 | 0.8 |
670 | 2.6 | 1.1 | |
| Independent | Brendan O'Donnell | 505 | 2.0 | New | ||||
| AtLS | 278 | 10.8 | New | |||||
| Scottish Family | 223 | 0.9 | 0.4 | |||||
| Independent Green Voice | 220 | 0.9 | 0.4 | |||||
| BUP | John Jo Leckie[c] | 441 | 1.7 | New | 189 | 0.7 | 0.5 | |
| ISP | 180 | 0.7 | New | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | 114 | 0.4 | New | |||||
| Workers Party | 51 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Advance UK | 49 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 44 | 0.2 |  | |||||
| UKIP | 24 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| Majority | 4,510 | 17.7 | 0.5 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 25,484 | 25,653 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 91 | 50 | ||||||
| Turnout | 25,575 | 46.93 | 12.17 |
25,703 | 47.17 | 11.93 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 0.3 |
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Neil Gray[a] | 16,139 | 50.6 | 1.9 |
14,251 | 44.6 | 2.9 | |
| Labour | Richard Leonard[b] | 10,671 | 33.4 | 4.2 |
7,964 | 24.9 | 1.5 | |
| Conservative | Ross Lambie | 4,422 | 13.9 | 1.8 |
6,528 | 20.4 | 4.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | John Cole | 562 | 1.8 | 0.8 |
495 | 1.5 | 0.1 | |
| No label | Jimmy Dowson | 132 | 0.4 | New | ||||
| Green | 1,362 | 4.3 | 1.0 | |||||
| Alba | 534 | 1.7 | New | |||||
| All for Unity | 188 | 0.6 | New | |||||
| Scottish Family | 166 | 0.5 | New | |||||
| Independent Green Voice | 148 | 0.5 | New | |||||
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 76 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 60 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Reform | 53 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| UKIP | 51 | 0.2 | 2.5 | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | 46 | 0.1 | New | |||||
| Independent | Paddy Hogg | 33 | 0.1 | New | ||||
| Majority | 5,468 | 17.2 | 6.1 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 31,926 | 31,955 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 75 | 49 | ||||||
| Turnout | 32,001 | 59.1 | 9.6 |
32,004 | 59.1 | 9.6 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 3.1 |
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Alex Neil[a] | 13,954 | 52.5 | 2.4 |
12,646 | 47.5 | 0.6 | |
| Labour | Richard Leonard | 7,762 | 29.2 | 12.6 |
7,029 | 26.4 | 10.9 | |
| Conservative | Eric Holford | 4,164 | 15.7 | 9.8 |
4,270 | 16.0 | 11.0 | |
| Green | 880 | 3.3 | 1.8 | |||||
| UKIP | 730 | 2.7 | 2.2 | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Louise Young | 693 | 2.6 | 0.4 |
423 | 1.6 | 0.3 | |
| Solidarity | 279 | 1.0 | 0.8 | |||||
| RISE | 106 | 0.4 | New | |||||
| Scottish Christian | 248 | 0.9 | 0.4 | |||||
| Independent | Deryck Beaumont | 35 | 0.1 | New | ||||
| Majority | 6,192 | 23.3 | 14.9 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 26,573 | 26,646 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 102 | 26 | ||||||
| Turnout | 26,675 | 49.5 | 2.8 |
26,672 | 49.5 | 2.8 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 7.5 |
||||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Alex Neil | 11,984 | 50.2 | N/A | 11,186 | 46.9 | N/A | |
| Labour | Karen Whitefield | 9,983 | 41.8 | N/A | 8,884 | 37.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Robert Crozier | 1,396 | 5.8 | N/A | 1,186 | 5.0 | N/A | |
| All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 461 | 1.9 | N/A | |||||
| Green | 367 | 1.5 | N/A | |||||
| Socialist Labour | 330 | 1.4 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Christian | 313 | 1.3 | N/A | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | John Love | 531 | 2.2 | N/A | 301 | 1.3 | N/A | |
| BNP | 278 | 1.2 | N/A | |||||
| UKIP | 110 | 0.5 | N/A | |||||
| Independent | Hugh O'Donnell | 80 | 0.3 | N/A | ||||
| Scottish Socialist | 78 | 0.3 | N/A | |||||
| Solidarity | 43 | 0.2 | N/A | |||||
| Others | 222 | 0.9 | N/A | |||||
| Majority | 2,001 | 8.4 | N/A | |||||
| Valid votes | 23,894 | 23,839 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 87 | 119 | ||||||
| Turnout | 23,981 | 46.7 | N/A | 23,958 | 46.7 | N/A | ||
| SNP win (new boundaries) | ||||||||
2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Karen Whitefield | 11,907 | 43.8 | −12.8 | |
| SNP | Sophia Coyle | 10,461 | 38.5 | +17.6 | |
| Conservative | Iain McGill | 2,370 | 8.7 | −0.1 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Robert Gorrie | 1,452 | 5.4 | 0.0 | |
| Scottish Voice | Mev Brown | 970 | 3.6 | New | |
| Majority | 1,446 | 5.3 | −34.8 | ||
| Rejected ballots | 1,536 | 2.7 | |||
| Turnout | 27,160 | 47.1 | +2.8 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -15.2 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Karen Whitefield | 14,209 | 59.0 | +4.8 | |
| SNP | Gil Paterson | 5,232 | 20.9 | −7.3 | |
| Conservative | Alan Melville | 2,203 | 8.8 | −0.8 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Fraser Coates | 2,096 | 8.4 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Kevin Lang | 1,346 | 5.4 | −1.7 | |
| Majority | 8,977 | 38.1 | +11.1 | ||
| Turnout | 25,086 | 46.3 | −11.3 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Karen Whitefield | 18,338 | 55.2 | ||
| SNP | Gil Paterson | 9,353 | 28.2 | ||
| Conservative | Patrick Ross-Taylor | 3,177 | 9.6 | ||
| Liberal Democrats | David Miller | 2,345 | 7.1 | ||
| Majority | 8,985 | 27.0 | |||
| Turnout | 33,213 | 57.6 | |||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||