# Dunfermline (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Dunfermline (Gaelic: Dùn Phàrlain) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Fife. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Created in 2011, it comprises parts of the former constituencies of Dunfermline East and Dunfermline West.
Bill Walker narrowly won the seat for the Scottish National Party in 2011, however he resigned after being convicted of assault charges in 2013. This led to the 2013 Dunfermline by-election, in which Labour's Cara Hilton was elected, defeating the SNP's Shirley-Anne Somerville. However Somerville subsequently ousted Hilton in the 2016 election and was re-elected in 2021.

## Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, North East Fife, Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling.
The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.

## Constituency boundaries and council area

Fife is represented in the Scottish Parliament by five constituencies, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes and North East Fife.
The Dunfermline constituency is formed from the following electoral wards, all of which are part of Fife:
* In full:
** West Fife and Coastal Villages
** Dunfermline Central
** Dunfermline North
** Dunfermline South
* In part:
** Rosyth (shared with Cowdenbeath)

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 2011 | Bill Walker | SNP |
| 2012 | Bill Walker | Independent |
| 2013 | Cara Hilton | Labour |
| 2016 | Shirley-Anne Somerville | SNP |

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Shirley-Anne Somerville | 20,048 | 49.0 | 5.7 | 16,623 | 40.5 | 0.4 |
| | Labour | Julie MacDougall | 11,384 | 27.8 | 1.7 | 8,468 | 20.6 | 2.5 |
| | Conservative | Roz McCall | 6,314 | 15.4 | 2.2 | 7,884 | 19.2 | 0.8 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 3,432 | 8.4 | 3.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Aude Boubaker-Calder | 3,196 | 7.8 | 1.8 | 2,956 | 7.2 | 1.4 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 772 | 1.9 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 290 | 0.7 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 228 | 0.6 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 97 | 0.2 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 94 | 0.2 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 78 | 0.2 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 62 | 0.2 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 42 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| | Independent | Martin Keatings | Martin Keatings | Martin Keatings | Martin Keatings | 38 | 0.1 | New |
| | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | 16 | 0.0 | New |
| | Independent | Mercy Kamanja | Mercy Kamanja | Mercy Kamanja | Mercy Kamanja | 3 | 0.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,664 | 21.2 | 7.4 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 40,942 | | | 41,083 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 167 | | | 77 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,109 | 66.0 | 8.8 | 41,160 | 66.0 | 8.8 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Shirley-Anne Somerville | 14,257 | 43.3 | 5.7 | 13,223 | 40.1 | 0.9 |
| | Labour | Cara Hilton | 9,699 | 29.5 | 6.1 | 7,634 | 23.1 | 8.8 |
| | Conservative | James Reekie | 5,797 | 17.6 | 10.5 | 6,597 | 20.0 | 12.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | James Calder | 3,156 | 9.6 | 10.1 | 2,826 | 8.6 | 2.7 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,796 | 5.4 | 2.2 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 598 | 1.7 | 0.9 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 138 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 117 | 0.4 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 60 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,558 | 13.8 | 11.8 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 32,909 | | | 32,989 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 99 | | | 31 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,008 | 57.2 | 4.2 | 33,020 | 57.2 | 4.1 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 5.9 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Showing changes from 2011 election ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency by virtue of by-election victory |||||||||
Scottish Parliament by-election, 2013: Dunfermline :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Cara Hilton | 10,279 | 42.5 | 6.9 |
| | SNP | Shirley-Anne Somerville | 7,402 | 30.7 | 6.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Susan Leslie | 2,852 | 11.8 | 7.9 |
| | Conservative | James Reekie | 2,009 | 8.3 | 1.2 |
| | UKIP | Peter Adams | 908 | 3.8 | New |
| | Scottish Green | Zara Kitson | 593 | 2.5 | New |
| | Independent | John Black | 161 | 0.7 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,877 | 11.8 | N/A |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 24,200 | | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 41 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 24,241 | 42.8 | 10.2 |
| | Labour gain from SNP | Labour gain from SNP | Swing | 6.9 | |
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Dunfermline :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Bill Walker | 11,010 | 37.6 | N/A | 12,039 | 41.0 | N/A |
| | Labour | Alex Rowley | 10,420 | 35.6 | N/A | 9,371 | 31.9 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jim Tolson | 5,776 | 19.7 | N/A | 3,304 | 11.3 | N/A |
| | Conservative | James Reekie | 2,093 | 7.1 | N/A | 2,283 | 7.8 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 928 | 3.2 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 420 | 1.4 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 276 | 0.9 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 221 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 197 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 99 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | CPA | CPA | CPA | CPA | CPA | 74 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 72 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Independent | Andrew Roger | Andrew Roger | Andrew Roger | Andrew Roger | 56 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 24 | 0.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 590 | 2.0 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 29,299 | | | 29,364 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 92 | | | 82 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,391 | 53.0 | N/A | 29,446 | 53.1 | N/A |
| | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||

## 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 Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 160. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
* ↑ "Constituencies A-Z: Dunfermline". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
* 1 2 3 "Scottish Parliamentary Results". Fife Council. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
* ↑ "Dunfermline by-election briefing" (PDF). Scottish Parliament Information Centre. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
* ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
* ↑ "2011 Election analysis (Excel 2.37MB)". Scottish Parliament. Retrieved 23 June 2021.