# Falkirk West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Falkirk West (Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac an Iar) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Falkirk. 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 nine constituencies in the Central Scotland 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 reformed and reshaped.
The seat has been held by Michael Matheson of the Scottish National Party since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Central Scotland region are: 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 covers 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

The 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 Holyrood constituency covers a western portion of the Falkirk council area. The rest of the Falkirk area is covered by Falkirk East, which is also within the Central Scotland electoral region.
From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the newly reshaped Falkirk West was formed from the following electoral wards:
* In full: Denny and Banknock, Bonnybridge and Larbert, Falkirk North
* In part: Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst, Falkirk South (shared with Falkirk East constituency)

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

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

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Michael Matheson | 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 | 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 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,802 | 7.1 | 1.5 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 697 | 1.8 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 373 | 0.9 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 212 | 0.5 | New |
| | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | 209 | 0.5 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 112 | 0.3 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 96 | 0.2 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 86 | 0.2 | New |
| | Independent | Paddy Hogg | Paddy Hogg | Paddy Hogg | Paddy Hogg | 68 | 0.2 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 63 | 0.2 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 53 | 0.1 | 2.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 14,149 | 29.9 | 5.2 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 39,603 | | | 39,738 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 154 | | | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,629 | 62.2 | 8.4 | | | |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Michael Matheson | 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 | 5,877 | 18.3 | 10.9 | 5,923 | 18.4 | 11.1 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,809 | 5.6 | 2.9 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 775 | 2.4 | 1.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gillian Cole-Hamilton | 966 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 679 | 2.1 | 0.4 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 267 | 0.8 | 0.3 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 225 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 132 | 0.4 | New |
| | Independent | Deryck Beaumont | Deryck Beaumont | Deryck Beaumont | Deryck Beaumont | 85 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,280 | 35.1 | 14.8 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 32,083 | | | 32,154 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 120 | | | 43 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,203 | 53.8 | 3.0 | 32,197 | 53.8 | 3.0 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 7.4 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list |||||||||
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Michael Matheson | 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 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 764 | 2.7 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 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 | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 318 | 1.1 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 236 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 224 | 0.9 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 222 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Independent | Hugh O'Donnell | Hugh O'Donnell | Hugh O'Donnell | Hugh O'Donnell | 97 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 96 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 39 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Others | Others | Others | Others | Others | 202 | 0.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,745 | 20.3 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 28,199 | | | 28,261 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 111 | | | 71 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,310 | 50.8 | N/A | 28,332 | 50.8 | N/A |
| | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||

### 2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 776 | 2.7 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,785 | 51.7 | +1.1 |
| | SNP gain from Independent | SNP gain from Independent | Swing | +1.2 | |
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 10,000 | 37.88 | +1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,400 | 50.65 | −12.4 |
| | Independent hold | Independent hold | Swing | | |

### 1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk West :
| Party | 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 | Majority | Majority | 12,192 | 35.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,602 | 63.0 |
| | Independent win (new seat) | Independent win (new seat) | Independent win (new seat) | Independent win (new seat) |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
* ↑ First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Archived 17 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine Boundary Commission for Scotland
* ↑ Scottish Parliament Constituencies Order OPSI
* ↑ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ Falkirk West: Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (map, 2015), Falkirk Council
* ↑ Constituencies A-Z | Falkirk West, BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
* ↑ Scottish Parliamentary election results Falkirk Council
* ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
* ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 June 2021.