Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 55°12′00″N 3°30′22″W / 55.200°N 3.506°W / 55.200; -3.506

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale County constituency
Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale shown within Scotland
Created:	2005
MP:	David Mundell
Party:	Conservative
Type:	House of Commons
Council areas:	Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire, Scottish Borders
EP constituency:	Scotland

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the south of Scotland, within the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the First-past-the-post system of voting.

The seat has a diverse electoral history, with the Dumfriesshire area being a longtime Conservative seat, the Clydesdale area being formerly safe Labour territory, and Tweeddale had been part of Liberal Democrat voting constituencies since the 1980s. Current Scotland Office minister David Mundell, has held the seat since 2005, and since then has been the only Conservative MP representing a Scottish constituency.

A mostly rural constituency, it takes in the towns of Annan, Biggar, Gretna, Langholm, Lockerbie and Moffat.

Boundaries

As created by the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland the constituency is one of six covering the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area and the South Lanarkshire council area. The other five constituencies are: Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Dumfries and Galloway, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, Lanark and Hamilton East and Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency covers parts of all three council areas. The rest of the Dumfries and Galloway council area is covered by the Dumfries and Galloway constituency; the rest of the Scottish Borders council area is covered by the Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk constituency; and the rest of the South Lanarkshire council area is covered by the East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow constituency, the Lanark and Hamilton East constituency, and the Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency.

The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency is predominantly rural, and the terms of the name refer to the former local government county of Dumfries, the Clydesdale area of the South Lanarkshire council area and the Tweeddale area of the Scottish Borders council area. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency excludes, however, most of the town of Dumfries, which is within the Dumfries and Galloway constituency.

Politics

The seat's main predecessor seats: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale, all had distinct political influences. Dumfriesshire had been a Conservative/National Liberal seat from 1931 to 1997, however was lost to Labour's Russell Brown in 1997. Clydesdale had been a safe Labour seat since the 1980s, and Tweeddale, Ettrick & Lauderdale had been a Liberal/Liberal Democrat seat since 1983.

Following the boundary review for the 2005 General Election, Labour held a clear majority of 12% over the Conservatives and the seat was 96th^[1] in the Conservative's target list. The Liberal Democrats were in a close third place in the seat. However former Conservative MSP David Mundell was successful in taking the seat from Labour, with a swing of 8.0%. This left him as the only Conservative MP representing a Scottish constituency at the 2005 General Election, with other Conservative targets in Scotland such as Dumfries & Galloway and Angus ending in failure.

In 2010, Mundell was returned as the constituency's MP, with an increased majority however was once again the only Scottish Conservative MP elected.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [2]	Party
	2005	David Mundell	Conservative

Elections

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General Election 2010: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale [3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	17,457	38.0	+1.9
	Labour	Claudia Beamish	13,263	28.9	-3.4
	Liberal Democrat	Catriona Bhatia	9,080	19.8	-0.5
	SNP	Aileen Orr	4,945	10.8	+1.6
	UKIP	Douglas Watters	637	1.4	+0.4
	Scottish Green	Alis Ballance	510	1.1	+1.1
Majority			4,194	9.1	+5.2
Turnout			45,892	68.9	+0.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	2.6%

General Election 2005: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	16,141	36.2
	Labour	Sean Marshall	14,403	32.3
	Liberal Democrat	Patsy Kenton	9,046	20.3
	SNP	Andrew Wood	4,075	9.1
	Scottish Socialist	Sarah MacTavish	521	1.2
	UKIP	Tony Lee	430	1.0
Majority			1,738	3.9
Turnout			44,616	67.6
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

1. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/vote2005/html/gainsandlosses_con.stm
2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)
3. ^ Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale, and Tweedale UKPolling