Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (UK Parliament constituency)

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale is a constituency of the UK 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. It is currently represented in Westminster by the former Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell^[1], who has been the MP since 2005; from 2005 to 2017 was the only Conservative MP in Scotland.^[2]

Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale
County constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of boundaries from 2024
Location within Scotland
Major settlements	Dumfries, Annan, Gretna, Gretna Green, Kirkconnel, Lockerbie, Sanquhar
Current constituency
Created	2005
Member of Parliament	David Mundell (Conservative)
Created from	Dumfries, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale

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.

Constituency profile

One of the largest seats in terms of area, the constituency is predominantly rural and is very sparsely populated. It stretches from 10 miles outside of Edinburgh in the northeast all the way down to Gretna at the border with England. It is also the only seat in Scotland that has been held by the Conservatives in every election since its creation. It contains some very affluent areas as well as some more working-class areas; however, it is a large rural seat where farming is a big source of employment. The M74, which is the main road between Scotland and England, runs through the constituency as do the West Coast Mainline and Glasgow South Western railway lines. Its largest towns are Dumfries (Most of which is within the neighbouring seat of Dumfries and Galloway), Annan, Biggar, Gretna/Gretna Green, Langholm, Lockerbie, Moffat and Peebles. The seat also contains the Southern Upland Way, a popular walk for tourists in the south of Scotland.

Boundaries

The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency was created by the Fifth Review of UK Parliament constituencies of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, and covers parts of the Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders council areas.

2005–2024: Under the Fifth Review, the boundaries were defined in accordance with the ward structure in place on 30 November 2004. Further to reviews of local government ward boundaries which came into effect in 2007 and 2017, but did not affect the parliamentary boundaries, the constituency comprised the following wards or part wards:

• The Dumfries and Galloway Council wards of Annandale East and Eskdale, Annandale North, Annandale South, Mid and Upper Nithsdale (most), Lochar (small part), and Nith (small part);
• The Scottish Borders Council wards of Tweeddale East and Tweeddale West (most); and
• The South Lanarkshire Council wards of Clydesdale East (majority) and Clydesdale South (minority).

2024–present: Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency was subject to minor boundary changes, losing the part of the Nith ward, offset by the gain of a further part of the Lochar ward. The remainder of the Clydesdale East ward was also added.^[3][4]

Political history

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, but was lost to Labour's Russell Brown at the 1997 general election, in which the Conservatives lost all their Scottish seats.

Clydesdale had been a safe Labour seat since the 1980s, and Tweeddale, Ettrick and 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, according to calculations of notional results (an estimate of how the seat would have voted if it had existed at the previous election) and the seat was 96th^[5] on the Conservatives' target list. The Liberal Democrats finished in a close third place at the election. However, former Conservative MSP David Mundell was successful in gaining the seat from Labour, with a swing of 8.0%. This left him as the sole Conservative MP representing a Scottish constituency at the 2005 general election,^[6] after the Conservative MP for Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, Peter Duncan was defeated when standing at the new Dumfries and Galloway constituency,^[7] and Conservative attempts to gain Angus from the SNP ended in failure.

In 2010, Mundell was re-elected, with an increased majority. In 2015, after the SNP landslide victory in Scotland, he narrowly defeated the SNP candidate, Emma Harper by 798 votes, and was the only Scottish Conservative MP elected.^[8] However, following the SNP's losses at the 2017 snap general election, the Conservatives gained 12 seats in Scotland, with Mundell increasing his majority to 9,441 votes. Mundell was re-elected at the 2019 general election, but with a reduced majority of 3,781 votes, in an election where the SNP made gains across Scotland at the expense of Labour and the Conservatives. Although his vote share fell considerably, Mundell was re-elected at the 2024 election with a slightly increased majority of 4,242 votes, as the SNP vote fell even further, with Labour coming in a close third.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2005	David Mundell	Conservative

Election results

Dumfriesshire Clydesdale and Tweeddale election results

Elections in the 2020s

2024 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale^{[9] [10]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	14,999	33.9	−12.6
	SNP	Kim Marshall	10,757	24.3	−13.6
	Labour	Daniel Coleman	10,140	22.9	+14.6
	Reform UK	David Kirkwood	3,822	8.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Drummond Begg	2,800	6.3	−1.0
	Scottish Green	Dominic Ashmole	1,448	3.4	N/A
	Scottish Family	Gareth Kirk	208	0.5	N/A
Majority			4,242	9.6	+1.9
Turnout			44,347	61.7	−10.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 2010s

2019 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale^[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	22,611	46.0	−3.4
	SNP	Amanda Burgauer	18,830	38.3	+8.2
	Labour	Nick Chisholm	4,172	8.5	−8.0
	Liberal Democrats	John Ferry	3,540	7.2	+3.2
Majority			3,781	7.7	−11.6
Turnout			49,153	71.9	−0.5
	Conservative hold		Swing	−5.8

2017 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	24,177	49.4	+9.6
	SNP	Màiri McAllan	14,736	30.1	−8.2
	Labour	Douglas Beattie	8,102	16.5	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats	John Ferry	1,949	4.0	+1.3
Majority			9,441	19.3	+17.8
Turnout			48,964	72.4	−3.7
	Conservative hold		Swing	+8.9

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

2015 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale^[14][15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	20,759	39.8	+1.8
	SNP	Emma Harper	19,961	38.3	+27.5
	Labour	Archie Dryburgh	7,711	14.8	−14.1
	UKIP	Kevin Newton	1,472	2.8	+1.4
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Kubie	1,392	2.7	−17.1
	Scottish Green	Jody Jamieson	839	1.6	+0.5
Majority			798	1.5	−7.6
Turnout			52,134	76.1	+7.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−12.9

2010 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	17,457	38.0	+1.8
	Labour	Claudia Beamish	13,263	28.9	−3.4
	Liberal Democrats	Catriona Bhatia	9,080	19.8	−0.5
	SNP	Aileen Orr	4,945	10.8	+1.7
	UKIP	Douglas Watters	637	1.4	+0.4
	Scottish Green	Alis Ballance	510	1.1	N/A
Majority			4,194	9.1	+5.2
Turnout			45,892	68.9	+1.3
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.6

Elections in the 2000s

2005 general election: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	David Mundell	16,141	36.2
	Labour	Sean Marshall	14,403	32.3
	Liberal Democrats	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. "Election 2015: David Mundell named new secretary of state for Scotland". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
2. "Election 2005: Conservatives hail lone success". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Archived from the original on 21 April 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.

   • "Election 2010: Tories fail to make Scots impact as Labour gain seats". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
   • "Election 2015: David Mundell named new secretary of state for Scotland". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
3. 2023 Review UK Parliament constituencies Boundary Commission for Scotland
4. "The Parliamentary Constituencies Order 2023". Schedule 3.
5. "BBC NEWS – Election 2005 – Key Seats – Conservative". news.bbc.co.uk.
6. "Election 2005: Results: Scotland". BBC News. 23 May 2005. Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
7. Jones, Philip N. (5 May 2005). "General Election – Dumfries and Galloway County Constituency – May 2005". dumgal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.

   • "Election 2005: Result: Dumfries and Galloway". 6 May 2005. Archived from the original on 12 October 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
8. "Election 2015: Election results: Mapping Scotland's dramatic change". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
9. "Results of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
10. "Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale, and Tweeddale County Constituency results". Dumfries and Galloway Council. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
11. "UK Parliamentary General Election – December 2019" (PDF). Dumfries and Galloway Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
12. "Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
13. "Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale – 2017 Election Results – General Elections Online". electionresults.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
14. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
15. Haswell, Alex (8 May 2015). "UK Parliamentary Elections Results 2015 for the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and". dumgal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.

    • "Election 2015: Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
16. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.

External links

• The boundaries of the constituency, and its predecessors, can be viewed at Scottish Boundaries Commission's Map Browser.
• The boundaries of the constituency can also be viewed at the Ordnance Survey's Election Maps site.
• Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2005 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
• Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK

55.2°N 3.5°W / 55.2; -3.5