# Falkirk East (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Falkirk East (Gaelic: An Eaglais Bhreac an Ear) 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 Michelle Thomson of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 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 West, 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 was subsequently itself redrawn for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, with the newly shaped Falkirk East being formed from the following electoral wards:
* In full: Bo'ness and Blackness, Grangemouth, Lower Braes, Upper Braes
* In part: Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst, Falkirk South (shared with Falkirk West constituency)

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1999 | Cathy Peattie | Labour |
| 2011 | Angus MacDonald | SNP |
| 2021 | Michelle Thomson | SNP |

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Michelle Thomson | 18,417 | 47.4 | 4.0 | 16,432 | 42.1 | 4.7 |
| | Labour Co-op | Allyson Black | 10,832 | 27.9 | 2.0 | 8,516 | 21.8 | 0.5 |
| | Conservative | Neil Benny | 7,618 | 19.6 | 0.1 | 8,800 | 22.5 | 2.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Paul Rolfe | 1,007 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 912 | 2.3 | 0.1 |
| | Independent | Peter Krykant | 971 | 2.5 | New | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,333 | 6.0 | 1.3 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 629 | 1.6 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 325 | 0.8 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 220 | 0.6 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 220 | 0.6 | New |
| | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | 205 | 0.5 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 127 | 0.3 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 97 | 0.2 | New |
| | Independent | Paddy Hogg | Paddy Hogg | Paddy Hogg | Paddy Hogg | 84 | 0.2 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 83 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 76 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,585 | 19.5 | 6.0 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 38,845 | | | 39,059 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 115 | | | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,960 | 62.9 | 8.8 | | | |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 6.0 | | | |
| Notes |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Angus MacDonald | 16,720 | 51.4 | 0.6 | 15,199 | 46.4 | 3.9 |
| | Labour | Craig Martin | 8,408 | 25.9 | 12.3 | 7,281 | 22.3 | 7.5 |
| | Conservative | Callum Laidlaw | 6,342 | 19.5 | 11.1 | 6,450 | 19.8 | 12.0 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,537 | 4.7 | 2.2 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 812 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | James Munro | 1,054 | 3.2 | 0.6 | 716 | 2.2 | 0.4 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 279 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 154 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 96 | 0.3 | New |
| | Independent | Deryck Beaumont | Deryck Beaumont | Deryck Beaumont | Deryck Beaumont | 63 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,312 | 25.5 | 12.9 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 32,524 | | | 32,587 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 105 | | | 45 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,629 | 54.1 | 4.0 | 32,632 | 54.1 | 4.0 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 6.5 | | | |
| Notes |||||||||
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Angus MacDonald | 14,302 | 50.8 | N/A | 14,221 | 50.5 | N/A |
| | Labour | Cathy Peattie | 10,767 | 38.2 | N/A | 8,401 | 29.8 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Lynn Munro | 2,372 | 8.4 | N/A | 2,212 | 7.8 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 706 | 2.5 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 649 | 2.3 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ross Laird | 727 | 2.6 | N/A | 534 | 1.9 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 310 | 1.1 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 282 | 1.0 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 280 | 1.0 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 208 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | Independent | Hugh O'Donnell | Hugh O'Donnell | Hugh O'Donnell | Hugh O'Donnell | 81 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 60 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 35 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Others | Others | Others | Others | Others | 206 | 0.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,535 | 12.6 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 28,168 | | | 28,185 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 80 | | | 64 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,248 | 50.1 | N/A | 28,249 | 50.1 | 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 East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Cathy Peattie | 13,184 | 43.5 | −8.1 |
| | SNP | Annabelle Ewing | 11,312 | 37.3 | +9.8 |
| | Conservative | Scott Campbell | 3,701 | 12.2 | +2.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Natalie Maver | 2,136 | 7.0 | +1.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,872 | 6.2 | −18.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,333 | 53.1 | +4.0 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -9.0 | |
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Cathy Peattie | 14,235 | 51.65 | +5.53 |
| | SNP | Keith Brown | 7,576 | 27.49 | −5.75 |
| | Conservative | Tom Calvert | 2,720 | 9.87 | +0.12 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Karen Utting | 1,651 | 5.99 | −1.21 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Mhairi McAlpine | 1,377 | 5.00 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,659 | 24.16 | +12.28 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,559 | 49.06 | −12.35 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### 1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Falkirk East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Cathy Peattie | 15,721 | 45.12 | N/A |
| | SNP | Keith Brown | 11,582 | 33.24 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Alastair Orr | 3,399 | 9.75 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Gordon Macdonald | 2,509 | 7.20 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Raymond Stead | 1,643 | 4.67 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,139 | 11.88 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,845 | 61.41 | N/A |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour 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 East: Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (map, 2015), Falkirk Council
* ↑ Constituencies A-Z | Falkirk East, BBC News; retrieved 7 May 2021
* ↑ "Scottish Parliamentary election results". Falkirk Council. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
* ↑ "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.