# Paisley South (UK Parliament constituency)

Paisley South was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Paisley in Renfrewshire, Scotland. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post system.

## History

The constituency was created when the former Paisley constituency was divided for the 1983 general election. It was abolished for the 2005 general election, when Paisley was represented by the new constituencies of Paisley & Renfrewshire South and Paisley & Renfrewshire North.

## Boundaries

The Renfrew District electoral divisions of Johnstone, Paisley Central, and Paisley Gleniffer.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1983 | Norman Buchan | Labour |
| | 1990 by-election | Gordon McMaster | Labour Co-operative |
| | 1997 by-election | Douglas Alexander | Labour |
| 2005 | 2005 | constituency abolished: see Paisley & Renfrewshire South and Paisley & Renfrewshire North | constituency abolished: see Paisley & Renfrewshire South and Paisley & Renfrewshire North |

## Election results
### Elections of the 1980s

General election 1983: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Norman Buchan | 15,633 | 41.4 | −9.6 |
| | Liberal | Elspeth M. Buchanan | 9,104 | 24.1 | |
| | Conservative | Joseph Knox | 7,819 | 20.7 | −9.7 |
| | SNP | James Mitchell | 4,918 | 13.1 | −4.3 |
| | Ecology | David Mellor | 271 | 0.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,529 | 17.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,745 | 72.5 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
General election 1987: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Norman Buchan | 21,611 | 56.2 | +14.8 |
| | Liberal | Alistair Carmichael | 5,826 | 15.1 | −9.0 |
| | Conservative | Dorothy Williamson | 5,644 | 14.7 | −6.0 |
| | SNP | James Mitchell | 5,398 | 14.0 | +0.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,785 | 41.1 | +23.8 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,479 | 75.3 | +2.8 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections of the 1990s

By-election 1990: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Gordon McMaster | 12,485 | 46.1 | −10.1 |
| | SNP | Iain Lawson | 7,455 | 27.5 | +13.5 |
| | Conservative | John Workman | 3,627 | 13.4 | −1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Reid | 2,660 | 9.8 | −5.3 |
| | Green | Elizabeth Collie | 835 | 3.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,030 | 18.6 | −22.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,062 | 55.0 | −20.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −11.8 | |
General election 1992: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Gordon McMaster | 18,202 | 50.7 | −5.5 |
| | SNP | Iain Lawson | 8,653 | 24.1 | +10.1 |
| | Conservative | Sheila Laidlaw | 5,703 | 15.9 | +1.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Reid | 3,271 | 9.1 | −6.0 |
| | Natural Law | Stephen Porter | 93 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,549 | 26.6 | −14.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,922 | 75.0 | −0.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1997: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour Co-op | Gordon McMaster | 21,482 | 57.5 | +6.8 |
| | SNP | William Martin | 8,732 | 23.4 | −0.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 3,500 | 9.4 | +0.3 |
| | Conservative | Robin Reid | 3,237 | 8.6 | −7.3 |
| | Referendum | James Lardner | 254 | 0.7 | New |
| | Scottish Socialist | Sean Clerkin | 146 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 12,750 | 34.1 | +7.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 37,351 | 69.1 | −5.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
By-Election 1997: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Douglas Alexander | 10,346 | 44.1 | −13.4 |
| | SNP | Ian Blackford | 7,615 | 32.5 | +9.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eileen McCartin | 2,582 | 11.0 | +1.6 |
| | Conservative | Sheila Laidlaw | 1,643 | 7.0 | −1.6 |
| | ProLife Alliance | John A. Deighan | 578 | 2.5 | New |
| | Scottish Socialist | Frances Curran | 306 | 1.3 | +0.9 |
| | Independent | Charles W. McLauchlan | 155 | 0.7 | New |
| | Socialist Labour | Christopher Herriot | 153 | 0.7 | New |
| | Natural Law | Kenneth R. Blair | 57 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,731 | 11.6 | −22.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,435 | 42.9 | −26.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | −11.3 | |

### Elections of the 2000s

General election 2001: Paisley South :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Douglas Alexander | 17,830 | 58.4 | +0.9 |
| | SNP | Brian Lawson | 5,920 | 19.4 | −4.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Brian O’Malley | 3,178 | 10.4 | +1.0 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Cossar | 2,301 | 7.5 | −1.1 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Frances Curran | 835 | 2.7 | +2.3 |
| | ProLife Alliance | Patricia Graham | 346 | 1.1 | N/A |
| | Independent | Terence O'Donnell | 126 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,910 | 39.0 | +4.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,536 | 57.2 | −11.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |