# Cowdenbeath (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Cowdenbeath 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.
The town of Cowdenbeath was formerly part of the Dunfermline East constituency which was abolished in 2011.
The current Member is Annabelle Ewing of the Scottish National Party, elected in 2016, following her defeat of Alex Rowley.

## Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Dunfermline, 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 constituency of Cowdenbeath is formed from the following electoral wards, all of which are part of Fife:
* In full:
** Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay
** Cowdenbeath
** Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty
* In part:
** Rosyth (shared with Dunfermline)

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 2011 | Helen Eadie | Labour |
| 2014 | Alex Rowley | Labour |
| 2016 | Annabelle Ewing | SNP |

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Annabelle Ewing | 16,499 | 48.3 | 2.2 | 15,088 | 44.0 | 0.2 |
| | Labour | Alex Rowley | 10,486 | 30.7 | 5.2 | 8,308 | 24.3 | 5.3 |
| | Conservative | Darren Watt | 4,758 | 13.9 | 0.4 | 5,881 | 17.2 | 1.8 |
| | Scottish Green | Mags Hall | 1,344 | 3.9 | New | 2,212 | 6.5 | 2.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Malcolm Wood | 1,088 | 3.2 | 0.5 | 1,229 | 3.6 | 0.0 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 723 | 2.1 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 223 | 0.7 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 211 | 0.6 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 84 | 0.2 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 80 | 0.2 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 74 | 0.2 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 58 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 46 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| | Independent | Martin Keatings | Martin Keatings | Martin Keatings | Martin Keatings | 25 | 0.1 | New |
| | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | 10 | 0.0 | New |
| | Independent | Mercy Kamanja | Mercy Kamanja | Mercy Kamanja | Mercy Kamanja | 0 | 0.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,013 | 17.6 | 7.4 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 34,175 | | | 34,252 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 81 | | | 42 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,256 | 60.7 | 6.0 | 34,294 | 60.8 | 6.1 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Annabelle Ewing | 13,715 | 46.1 | 4.5 | 13,050 | 43.8 | 0.9 |
| | Labour | Alex Rowley | 10,674 | 35.9 | 10.6 | 8,825 | 29.6 | 9.3 |
| | Conservative | Dave Dempsey | 4,251 | 14.2 | 7.3 | 4,601 | 15.4 | 8.6 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,315 | 4.4 | 2.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Bryn Jones | 1,094 | 3.7 | 0.2 | 1,087 | 3.6 | 0.1 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 631 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 149 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 92 | 0.3 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 69 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,041 | 10.2 | 5.4 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 29,734 | | | 29,819 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 123 | | | 57 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,857 | 54.7 | 7.3 | 29,876 | 54.7 | 7.2 |
| | SNP gain from Labour | SNP gain from Labour | Swing | Swing | | | | |
| Notes ↑ Showing changes from 2011 election ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency by virtue of by-election victory ↑ Elected on the party list |||||||||
2014 Cowdenbeath by-election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Alex Rowley | 11,192 | 55.8 | 9.3 |
| | SNP | Natalie McGarry | 5,704 | 28.4 | 13.2 |
| | Conservative | Dave Dempsey | 1,893 | 9.4 | 2.4 |
| | UKIP | Denise Baykal | 610 | 3.04 | New |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jade Holden | 425 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| | The Victims Final Right | Stuart Graham | 187 | 0.93 | New |
| | SDA | James Trolland | 51 | 0.25 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,488 | 27.4 | 22.5 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 20,062 | | |
| Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | Rejected ballots | 21 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,083 | 34.8 | 12.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Cowdenbeath :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Helen Eadie | 11,926 | 46.5 | N/A | 10,003 | 38.9 | N/A |
| | SNP | Ian Chisholm | 10,679 | 41.6 | N/A | 11,030 | 42.9 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Belinda Don | 1,792 | 7.0 | N/A | 1,752 | 6.8 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Keith Legg | 997 | 3.9 | N/A | 912 | 3.5 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 611 | 2.4 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 434 | 1.7 | N/A |
| | Land Party | Mick Heenan | 276 | 1.1 | N/A | | | |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 276 | 1.1 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 247 | 1.0 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 171 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 84 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 81 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Independent | Andrew Roger | Andrew Roger | Andrew Roger | Andrew Roger | 57 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | CPA | CPA | CPA | CPA | CPA | 40 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 26 | 0.1 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,247 | 4.9 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 25,670 | | | 25,724 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 80 | | | 81 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,750 | 47.4 | N/A | 25,805 | 47.5 | N/A |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour 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: Cowdenbeath". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
* 1 2 3 4 "Scottish Parliamentary Results". Fife Council. 14 May 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
* ↑ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
* ↑ Candidates Fife News Online - Facebook
* ↑ Seven candidates will fight Cowdenbeath By-election Archived 24 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine CentralFifeTimes
* ↑ "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.