Motherwell and Wishaw (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Electoral regionCentral Scotland and Lothians West

Electorate57,740 (2022)^[1]

Created1999

Motherwell and Wishaw
Burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament

Motherwell and Wishaw shown within the Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region, and the region shown within Scotland
Electoral region	Central Scotland and Lothians West
Electorate	57,740 (2022)^[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Clare Adamson
Council area	North Lanarkshire

Motherwell and Wishaw is a burgh 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. 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 seat has been held by Clare Adamson of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 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, Falkirk West, and Uddingston and Bellshill.^[3] The region covers all of the Falkirk, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian council areas, and parts of the South Lanarkshire council area.^[4]

Prior to the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries, Motherwell and Wishaw was part of the Central Scotland electoral region. The other eight constituencies of this region were Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, East Kilbride, Falkirk East, Falkirk West, Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse 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 2005

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, and was identical to the existing Motherwell and Wishaw constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election, the boundaries of the Scottish House of Commons constituencies were altered, whilst the Scottish Parliamentary boundaries were left unchanged. There is now longer any link between the two sets of boundaries.^[5]

Scottish Parliamentary boundaries were reviewed ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. The electoral wards used in the 2011 version of Motherwell and Wishaw are listed below. All of these wards are part of North Lanarkshire.^[6]

In full: Motherwell West, Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig, Murdostoun, and Wishaw
In part: Motherwell North (shared with Uddingston and Bellshill)

Following the second review of Scottish Parliament boundaries, the following North Lanarkshire Council electoral wards were used to redefine the seat:^[2]

Motherwell West (entire ward)
Motherwell South East and Ravenscraig (entire ward)
Murdostoun (entire ward)
Wishaw (entire ward)
Motherwell North (shared with Uddingston and Bellshill)
Fortissat (shared with Airdrie)

On the 2011 boundaries, Motherwell and Wishaw was one of four covering the North Lanarkshire council area, the others being Airdrie and Shotts, Coatbridge and Chryston and Cumbernauld and Kilsyth; Uddingston and Bellshill spans parts of both North and South Lanarkshire. All five formed part of the Central Scotland electoral region. For 2026 Airdrie and Shotts was renamed by the Airdrie seat, and the other North Lanarkshire seats underwent boundary changes. All five seats now form part of the new Central Scotland and Lothians West electoral region.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

The seat had always elected Labour MSPs (until 2016), it was a safe Labour seat from 1999 until 2011. The MSP from 1999 was the former First Minister, Lord Jack McConnell. The MSP John Pentland won the seat on McConnell's retirement in 2011, but the national SNP landslide of that year turned it for the first time from safe Labour into a Labour-SNP marginal with just two percentage points separating Pentland and his nearest opponent, the SNP's Clare Adamson. Adamson defeated Pentland to gain the seat in 2016.

	Member	Party
1999	Jack McConnell	Labour
2011	John Pentland	Labour
2016	Clare Adamson	SNP

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Clare Adamson^[a]
	Labour	Ayeshah Khan
	Conservative	Bob Burgess
	Liberal Democrats	Jenni Lang
	Reform	Duncan MacMillan
	Alliance to Liberate Scotland	Greig MacArthur
	Independent	Dominic James Alderson
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament
	Advance UK
	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	Clare Adamson^[a]	18,156	53.2	0.7	15,672	45.9	1.8
	Labour	Martine Nolan	10,343	30.3	0.8	8,429	24.7	1.8
	Conservative	Nathan Wilson	4,472	13.1	0.6	5,911	17.3	3.0
	Green					1,951	5.7	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Veart	557	1.6	1.0	520	1.5	0.3
	Alba					496	1.5	New
	All for Unity					278	0.8	New
	Independent Green Voice					254	0.7	New
	Scottish Family					228	0.7	New
	Scottish Libertarian	Mark Meechan	254	0.7	New	94	0.3	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					86	0.3	New
	Reform					63	0.2	New
	UKIP	Neil Wilson	173	0.5	N/A	62	0.2	2.2
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					62	0.2	New
	Independent	Paddy Hogg				49	0.1	New
	Communist	Daniel Lambe	194	0.6	New
Majority			9,437	22.9	1.5
Valid votes			34,149			34,155
Invalid votes			84			74
Turnout			34,233	58.9	7.7	34,229	58.9	7.6
	SNP hold		Swing
Notes 1 2 Incumbent member for this constituency

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Clare Adamson^[a]	15,291	52.5	11.1	13,952	47.7	5.8
	Labour	John Pentland^[b]	9,068	31.1	12.7	7,751	26.5	12.2
	Conservative	Meghan Gallacher	3,991	13.7	6.5	4,169	14.3	7.9
	Green					1,080	3.7	2.5
	UKIP					698	2.4	1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Yvonne Finlayson	761	2.6	1.1	516	1.8	0.6
	RISE					389	1.3	New
	Solidarity					332	1.1	0.8
	Scottish Christian					298	1.0	1.2
	Independent	Deryck Beaumont				48	0.2	New
Majority			6,223	21.4	N/A
Valid votes			29,111			29,233
Invalid votes			133			38
Turnout			29,244	51.2	5.5	29,271	51.3	5.5
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing		11.9
Notes ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Pentland	10,713	43.8	N/A	9,473	38.7	N/A
	SNP	Clare Adamson^[a]	10,126	41.4	N/A	10,252	41.9	N/A
	Conservative	Robert Burgess	1,753	7.2	N/A	1,564	6.4	N/A
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	945	3.9	N/A	906	3.7	N/A
	Scottish Christian	Tom Selfridge	547	2.2	N/A	529	2.2	N/A
	Socialist Labour					338	1.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Beverley Hope	367	1.5	N/A	302	1.2	N/A
	Green					296	1.2	N/A
	BNP					237	1.0	N/A
	UKIP					119	0.5	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					112	0.5	N/A
	Solidarity					85	0.3	N/A
	Independent	Hugh O'Donnell				61	0.2	N/A
	Others					211	0.9	N/A
Majority			587	2.4	N/A
Valid votes			24,451			24,485
Invalid votes			63			51
Turnout			24,514	45.7	N/A	24,536	45.8	N/A
	Labour win (new boundaries)
Notes ↑ Elected on the party list

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McConnell	12,574	48.1	−6.0
	SNP	Marion Fellows	6,636	25.4	+7.8
	Conservative	Diane Huddleston	1,990	7.6	−2.4
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	1,702	6.5	+0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Douglas	1,570	6.0	+1.8
	Scottish Christian	Thomas Selfridge	1,491	5.7	New
	ATP	Richard Leat	187	0.7	New
Majority			5,928	22.7	−13.8
Rejected ballots			970	3.7
Turnout			26,150	48.5	−0.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Motherwell and Wishaw (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Constituency boundaries and council area

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2020s

2010s

2000s

1990s

Footnotes

Citations

Bibliography

See also

External links

Related Articles

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McConnell	13,739	54.12	+8.21
	SNP	Lloyd Quinan	4,480	17.65	−11.62
	Conservative	Mark Nolan	2,542	10.01	−2.17
	Scottish Socialist	John Milligan	1,961	7.72	New
	Scottish Senior Citizens	John Swinburne	1,597	6.29	+6.29
	Liberal Democrats	Keith Legg	1,069	4.21	−2.04
Majority			9,259	36.47	+19.84
Turnout			25,388	49.03	−8.63
	Labour hold		Swing

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jack McConnell	13,925	45.9	*N/A*
	SNP	Jim McGuigan	8,879	29.3	N/A
	Conservative	William Gibson	3,694	12.2	N/A
	Socialist Labour	John Milligan	1,941	6.4	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Spillane	1,895	6.2	N/A
Majority			5,046	16.6	N/A
Turnout			30,334	57.1	N/A
	Labour 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