Almond Valley (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Almond Valley (Gaelic: Srath Amain) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of West Lothian. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Lothian 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.

Almond Valley
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Almond Valley shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population86,477 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created2011
PartyScottish National Party
MSPAngela Constance
Council areaWest Lothian

The constituency was formed for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and comprises much of the old Livingston constituency. It is named for the River Almond which flows through Livingston. Since being formed the seat has been held by Angela Constance of the Scottish National Party, who was formerly the MSP for Livingston.

Electoral region

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The other eight constituencies of the Lothian region are: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern, Edinburgh Western, Linlithgow and Midlothian North and Musselburgh

The region includes all of the City of Edinburgh council area, parts of the East Lothian council area, parts of the Midlothian council area and all of the West Lothian council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

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Map of boundaries from 2011

The West Lothian council area is represented by two constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, these are Almond Valley and Linlithgow.

The new seat of Almond Valley replaces Livingston. The electoral wards used in its creation are:

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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Election Member Party
2011 Angela Constance SNP

Election results

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2020s

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2021 Scottish Parliament election: Almond Valley[2][3]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Angela Constance[a] 22,675 54.3  1.3 18,913 45.2  3.1
Labour Craig Smith 10,545 25.2  3.7 8,474 20.2  4.0
Conservative Damian Doran-Timson 6,952 16.6  1.4 7,861 18.8  2.0
Scottish Green 3,071 7.3  2.7
Liberal Democrats Caron Lindsay 1,601 3.8  0.9 1,229 2.9  0.8
Alba 749 1.8 New
Animal Welfare 355 0.8 New
All for Unity 298 0.7 New
Scottish Family 243 0.6 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 117 0.3 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 114 0.3 New
Reform UK 97 0.2 New
Women's Equality 81 0.2  0.5
Scottish Libertarian 77 0.2 New
UKIP 75 0.2  2.3
Communist 68 0.2 New
Independent Ashley Graczyk 25 0.1 New
SDP 20 0.0 New
Renew 14 0.0 New
Majority 12,130 29.1  5.0
Valid Votes 41,773 41,881
Invalid Votes 151 72
Turnout 41,924 61.1  7.2 41,953 61.1  7.1
SNP hold Swing  2.5
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

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2016 Scottish Parliament election: Almond Valley[4]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Angela Constance[a] 18,475 53.0  1.3 16,878 48.3  0.3
Labour Neil Findlay[b] 10,082 28.9  7.4 8,453 24.2  7.6
Conservative Stephanie Smith 5,308 15.2  9.1 5,868 16.8  10.7
Scottish Green 1,626 4.6  2.1
UKIP 875 2.5  1.7
Liberal Democrats Charles Dundas 1,007 2.9  0.8 723 2.1  0.3
Women's Equality 231 0.7 New
Solidarity 215 0.6  0.5
RISE 110 0.3 New
Majority 8,393 24.1  6.1
Valid Votes 34,872 34,979
Invalid Votes 128 55
Turnout 35,000 53.9  2.4 35,034 54.0  2.5
SNP hold Swing
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency
  2. ^ Elected on the party list
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Almond Valley[5]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Angela Constance[a] 16,704 54.3 N/A 14,946 48.6 N/A
Labour Laurence Fitzpatrick 11,162 36.3 N/A 9,770 31.8 N/A
Conservative Andrew Hardie 1,886 6.1 N/A 1,891 6.1 N/A
Independent Margo MacDonald[a] 1,282 4.2 N/A
Scottish Green 759 2.5 N/A
Liberal Democrats Emma Sykes 656 2.1 N/A 550 1.8 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 396 1.3 N/A
BNP 334 1.1 N/A
National Front Neil McIvor 329 1.1 N/A
UKIP 237 0.8 N/A
Socialist Labour 198 0.6 N/A
Scottish Christian 101 0.3 N/A
Scottish Socialist 88 0.3 N/A
CPA 63 0.2 N/A
Liberal 46 0.1 N/A
Independent David John Hogg 45 0.1 N/A
Solidarity 37 0.1 N/A
Independent Ken O'Neil 7 0.0 N/A
Independent Mev Brown 5 0.0 N/A
Majority 5,542 18.0 N/A
Valid Votes 30,737 30,755
Invalid Votes 86 73
Turnout 30,823 51.5 N/A 30,828 51.5 N/A
SNP win (new seat)
Notes
  1. ^ a b Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

References

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  1. ^ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. ^ "Election Results". West Lothian Council. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Constituencies A-Z: Almond Valley". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Scottish Parliament Elections 2016" (PDF). West Lothian Council. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  5. ^ "Scottish Parliament Elections 2011" (PDF). West Lothian Council. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
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