Falkirk West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Electoral regionCentral Scotland and Lothians West

Electorate68,831 (2022)^[1]

Created1999

Falkirk West
Burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament

Falkirk West shown within the Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region, and the region shown within Scotland
Electoral region	Central Scotland and Lothians West
Electorate	68,831 (2022)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Michael Matheson
Council area	Falkirk

Falkirk West (Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac an Iar) is a burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Falkirk.^[2] It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (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 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.

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. Ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the boundaries of the seat were altered as a result of the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries.^[3]^[4] Further boundary changes were effected by the second periodic review in 2025.

The seat has been held by Michael Matheson of the Scottish National Party since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland and Lothians West region are: Airdrie, Almond Valley, Bathgate, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Falkirk East and Linlithgow, Motherwell and Wishaw, and Uddingston and Bellshill.^[5] The region includes all of the Falkirk, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian council areas, and parts of the South Lanarkshire council area.^[6]

Prior to the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025, Falkirk West lay in the Central Scotland region, which was abolished as a result of this review. The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region were: Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, 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

Map of boundaries 2011-2026

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, using the name and boundaries of the existing Falkirk West constituency of the UK Parliament. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election, the boundaries of House of Commons constituencies were altered, whilst being initially retained for elections to the Scottish Parliament. There is now no longer any link between the two sets of constituencies.^[7]

Falkirk West covers a western portion of the Falkirk council area. Between 1999 and 2026, the rest of the Falkirk area formed Falkirk East, also within the Central Scotland electoral region. Following the second periodic review, Falkirk West was slightly enlarged to take in the Stenhousemuir area (formerly in Falkirk East). The remainder of Falkirk now forms part of the new seat of Falkirk East and Linlithgow, which also covers a portion of the West Lothian council area.

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, Falkirk West was formed from the following electoral wards:^[8]

In full: Denny and Banknock, Bonnybridge and Larbert, Falkirk North
In part: Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst, Falkirk South (shared with Falkirk East constituency)

Following the second review of Scottish Parliament boundaries, the following Falkirk Council electoral wards were used to redefine the seat:^[9]

In full: Denny and Banknock, Bonnybridge and Larbert, Falkirk North
In part: Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst, Falkirk South

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Dennis Canavan	Independent
	2007	Michael Matheson	Scottish National Party

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Gary Bouse
	Liberal Democrats	Lucy Smith
	Labour	Paul Godzik
	Conservative	Neil Benny
	Reform	Richard Fairley
	Independent	Stuart McArthur
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament
	Advance UK
	Alliance to Liberate Scotland
	ISP
	Independent Green Voice
	Scottish Family
	Green
	Scottish Libertarian
	Scottish Socialist
	UKIP
	Workers Party
Majority
Valid votes
Invalid votes
Turnout

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson^[a]	21,492	54.3	2.6	18,040	45.4	4.3
	Labour	Monette Gordon	9,653	24.4	2.6	7,832	19.7	0.2
	Conservative	Stephen Kerr^[b]	7,343	18.5	0.2	8,127	20.5	2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Austin Reid	1,115	2.8	0.2	968	2.4	0.3
	Green					2,802	7.1	1.5
	Alba					697	1.8	New
	All for Unity					373	0.9	New
	Scottish Family					212	0.5	New
	Independent Green Voice					209	0.5	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					112	0.3	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					96	0.2	New
	Reform					86	0.2	New
	Independent	Paddy Hogg				68	0.2	New
	Scottish Libertarian					63	0.2	New
	UKIP					53	0.1	2.3
Majority			14,149	29.9	5.2
Valid votes			39,603			39,738
Invalid votes			154
Turnout			39,629	62.2	8.4
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson^[a]	18,260	56.9	1.6	15,987	49.7	0.2
	Labour	Mandy Telford	6,980	21.8	13.2	6,272	19.5	12.2
	Conservative	Alison Harris^[b]	5,877	18.3	10.9	5,923	18.4	11.1
	Green					1,809	5.6	2.9
	UKIP					775	2.4	1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Cole-Hamilton	966	3.0	0.7	679	2.1	0.4
	Scottish Christian					267	0.8	0.3
	Solidarity					225	0.7	0.6
	RISE					132	0.4	New
	Independent	Deryck Beaumont				85	0.3	New
Majority			11,280	35.1	14.8
Valid votes			32,083			32,154
Invalid votes			120			43
Turnout			32,203	53.8	3.0	32,197	53.8	3.0
	SNP hold		Swing		7.4
Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson^[a]	15,607	55.3	N/A	13,989	49.5	N/A
	Labour	Dennis Goldie	9,862	35.0	N/A	8,958	31.7	N/A
	Conservative	Allan Finnie	2,086	7.4	N/A	2,055	7.3	N/A
	Green					764	2.7	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					560	2.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Chomczuk	644	2.3	N/A	481	1.7	N/A
	Scottish Christian					318	1.1	N/A
	UKIP					236	0.8	N/A
	BNP					224	0.9	N/A
	Socialist Labour					222	0.8	N/A
	Independent	Hugh O'Donnell				97	0.3	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					96	0.3	N/A
	Solidarity					39	0.1	N/A
	Others					202	0.7	N/A
Majority			5,745	20.3	N/A
Valid votes			28,199			28,261
Invalid votes			111			71
Turnout			28,310	50.8	N/A	28,332	50.8	N/A
	SNP win (new boundaries)
Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Michael Matheson	12,068	41.9	+24.1
	Labour	Dennis Goldie	11,292	39.2	+21.8
	Conservative	Stephen O'Rourke	2,887	10.0	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Callum Chomczuk	2,538	8.8	+6.0
Majority			776	2.7	N/A
Turnout			28,785	51.7	+1.1
	SNP gain from Independent		Swing	+1.2

Falkirk West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Constituency boundaries and council area

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2020s

2010s

2000s

1990s

References

Citations

Bibliography

See also

External links

Related Articles

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Dennis Canavan	14,703	55.69	+2.2
	SNP	Michael Matheson	4,703	17.81	+0.5
	Labour	Lee Whitehill	4,589	17.38	−0.9
	Conservative	Iain Mitchell	1,657	6.28	+0.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jacqueline Kelly	748	2.83	−2.7
Majority			10,000	37.88	+1.7
Turnout			26,400	50.65	−12.4
	Independent hold		Swing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Dennis Canavan	18,511	53.5
	Labour	Ross Martin	6,319	18.3
	SNP	Michael Matheson	5,986	17.3
	Conservative	Gordon Millar	1,897	5.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Hook	1,889	5.5
Majority			12,192	35.2
Turnout			34,602	63.0
	Independent win (new seat)

v t e « 2011–2026 « Electoral regions and constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (2026–)
Central Scotland and Lothians West	Airdrie Almond Valley Bathgate Coatbridge and Chryston Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Falkirk East and Linlithgow Falkirk West Motherwell and Wishaw Uddingston and Bellshill
Edinburgh and Lothians East	East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs Edinburgh Central Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith Edinburgh North Western Edinburgh Northern Edinburgh Southern Edinburgh South Western Midlothian North
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok Glasgow Central Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill Glasgow Southside Rutherglen and Cambuslang
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute Caithness, Sutherland and Ross Inverness and Nairn Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar Orkney Islands Shetland Islands Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
Mid Scotland and Fife	Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Fife North East Kirkcaldy Mid Fife and Glenrothes Perthshire North Perthshire South and Kinross-shire Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central Aberdeen Deeside and North Kincardine Aberdeen Donside Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire West Angus North and Mearns Angus South Banffshire and Buchan Coast Dundee City East Dundee City West
South Scotland	Ayr Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Clydesdale Dumfriesshire East Kilbride Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire Galloway and West Dumfries Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale
West Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie Cunninghame North Cunninghame South Dumbarton Eastwood Inverclyde Paisley Renfrewshire North and Cardonald Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley Strathkelvin and Bearsden

v t e « 1999–2011 « Electoral regions and constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (2011–2026) » 2026– »
Central Scotland	Airdrie and Shotts Coatbridge and Chryston Cumbernauld and Kilsyth East Kilbride Falkirk East Falkirk West Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Motherwell and Wishaw Uddingston and Bellshill
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland Glasgow Cathcart Glasgow Kelvin Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn Glasgow Pollok Glasgow Provan Glasgow Shettleston Glasgow Southside Rutherglen
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute Caithness, Sutherland and Ross Inverness and Nairn Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar Orkney Islands Shetland Islands Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
Lothian	Almond Valley Edinburgh Central Edinburgh Eastern Edinburgh Northern and Leith Edinburgh Pentlands Edinburgh Southern Edinburgh Western Linlithgow Midlothian North and Musselburgh
Mid Scotland and Fife	Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Kirkcaldy Mid Fife and Glenrothes North East Fife Perthshire North Perthshire South and Kinross-shire Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central Aberdeen Donside Aberdeen South and North Kincardine Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire West Angus North and Mearns Angus South Banffshire and Buchan Coast Dundee City East Dundee City West
South Scotland	Ayr Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Clydesdale Dumfriesshire East Lothian Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire Galloway and West Dumfries Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale
West Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie Cunninghame North Cunninghame South Dumbarton Eastwood Greenock and Inverclyde Paisley Renfrewshire North and West Renfrewshire South Strathkelvin and Bearsden