East Renfrewshire (UK Parliament constituency)

East Renfrewshire (known as Eastwood from 1983 to 2005) is a constituency of the UK House of Commons, to the south of Glasgow, Scotland. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) using the first-past-the-post system of voting. It has been represented since 2024 by Blair McDougall of Scottish Labour.

East Renfrewshire
County constituency for the House of Commons
Interactive map of current boundaries
Boundary of East Renfrewshire in Scotland
Subdivisions of Scotland	East Renfrewshire
Electorate	69,982 (2015)[1]
Major settlements	Barrhead, Busby, Clarkston, Eaglesham, Giffnock, Neilston, Netherlee, Newton Mearns, Thornliebank, Uplawmoor, Waterfoot
Current constituency
Created	2005
Member of Parliament	Blair McDougall (Labour)
Seats	One
Created from	Eastwood[2]
1885–1983
Seats	One
Type of constituency	County constituency
Created from	Renfrewshire
Replaced by	Eastwood[3]

Until 1997, the constituency was the safest Conservative seat in Scotland.^[4][5] At the 1997 general election, which was a landslide victory for Labour, it was won by future Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy who held the seat until being defeated by Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party at the 2015 general election. In 2017, the constituency returned to Conservative control for the first time in twenty years, when it was won by Conservative candidate Paul Masterton. However, at the 2019 general election, Oswald regained the seat for the SNP once again, and in the 2024 Labour landslide, it again returned to the Labour party.

The constituency has a mostly middle-class electorate and includes affluent areas.^[6][7]

History

The constituency was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 for the 1885 general election. It was abolished for the 1983 general election, when it was partially replaced by the new Eastwood constituency.

The East Renfrewshire constituency was re-established for the 2005 general election, with the same boundaries as the previous Eastwood constituency. Despite the change of name, it is the only constituency in mainland Scotland whose boundaries were unchanged by the 2005 revision of Scottish constituencies.

Boundaries and local government areas

As created in 1885, the constituency was one of four covering the area of the county of Renfrewshire (except the burgh of Renfrew and the burgh of Port Glasgow, which were components of Kilmarnock Burghs until 1918). The four constituencies were: East Renfrewshire, West Renfrewshire, Paisley and Greenock. Greenock was enlarged and renamed Greenock and Port Glasgow in 1974.

From 1885, the constituency consisted of the parishes of Eastwood, Cathcart, Mearns and Eaglesham, and part of the parish of Govan.^[8]

From 1918, the constituency consisted of "The Upper County District, inclusive of all burghs situated therein, except the burghs of Paisley and Johnstone, together with so much of the burgh of Renfrew as is contained within the parish of Govan in the county of Lanark."

The constituency was abolished for the 1983 general election, eight years after the creation of local government regions and districts in 1975. The new constituency, with revised boundaries, was called Eastwood.

In 1996, the area of the Eastwood constituency became, also, the East Renfrewshire unitary council area.

In 1999, a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Eastwood Westminster constituency.

In the widespread redistribution of Scottish seats for the 2005 general election, the name of the Eastwood Westminster constituency was changed back to East Renfrewshire.

Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the boundaries were once again unchanged, being coterminous with those of East Renfrewshire Council.^[9][10]

Constituency profile and voting patterns

An outer suburban part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation and the rural hinterland to the south-west of the city, East Renfrewshire is predominantly an affluent, middle-class commuter area with a high proportion of owner-occupiers and professionals. East Renfrewshire has the largest Jewish population of any constituency in Scotland, with almost half of Scotland's Jewish population living in that area.

At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, East Renfrewshire returned a significant majority against Scottish independence; with a voter turnout of 90.4%, 41,690 votes were cast for "No" (63.2%) and 24,287 for "Yes" (36.8%). At the 2016 European Union membership referendum, a substantial majority of votes were cast in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in East Renfrewshire, with a turnout of 76.1% there were 39,345 "Remain" votes (74.3%) to 13,596 "Leave" votes (25.7%).^[11]

The area was looked on as a safely Conservative seat before Jim Murphy of the Labour Party gained the seat (then known as Eastwood) during their landslide victory in 1997. East Renfrewshire was then subsequently viewed as a relatively safe Labour seat until the SNP gained the seat in their 2015 landslide victory.

In 2017, during what would prove to be their best performance at a general election in Scotland for 34 years, the Conservatives subsequently gained the East Renfrewshire seat at the 2017 snap general election; with Paul Masterton being elected with a majority of 4,712 (8.8%) votes over Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party. However, at the 2019 general election; Oswald regained the seat for the SNP with a majority of 5,426 or 9.8%, establishing the seat as an SNP-Conservative marginal battleground.

In the 2024 Labour landslide, Labour retook the seat from the SNP, along with most other seats in Scotland, with the increase in their vote (31.3%) being both the party's highest in Scotland and the General Election as a whole.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[12]	Party
	1885	James Finlayson	Liberal
	1886	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	Conservative
	1906	Sir Robert Laidlaw	Liberal
	Jan 1910	John Gilmour	Unionist
	1918	Joseph Johnstone	Coalition Liberal
	1922	Robert Nichol	Labour
	1924	Alexander Munro MacRobert	Unionist
	1930	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton	Unionist
	1940	Guy Lloyd	Unionist
	1959	Betty Harvie Anderson	Unionist/Conservative
	1979	Allan Stewart	Conservative
1983		constituency abolished: see Eastwood
	2005	Jim Murphy	Labour
	2015	Kirsten Oswald	SNP
	2017	Paul Masterton	Conservative
	2019	Kirsten Oswald	SNP
	2024	Blair McDougall	Labour

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: East Renfrewshire^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Blair McDougall	21,935	43.7	+31.3
	SNP	Kirsten Oswald	13,514	26.9	−18.0
	Conservative	Sandesh Gulhane	8,494	16.9	−18.2
	Reform UK	Matt Alexander	2,360	4.7	N/A
	Scottish Green	Karen Sharkey	1,510	3.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Grant	1,150	2.3	−5.2
	Scottish Family	Maria Reid	487	1.0	N/A
	Liberal	Allan Steele	481	1.0	N/A
	ISP	Colette Walker	296	0.6	N/A
Majority			8,421	16.8	N/A
Turnout			50,227	68.4	−7.5
Registered electors			73,380
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	+24.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: East Renfrewshire^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Kirsten Oswald	24,877	44.9	+13.7
	Conservative	Paul Masterton	19,451	35.1	–4.9
	Labour	Carolann Davidson	6,855	12.4	–14.3
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew McGlynn	4,174	7.5	+5.4
Majority			5,426	9.8	N/A
Turnout			55,357	76.6	–0.2
	SNP gain from Conservative		Swing	+9.3

General election 2017: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Paul Masterton	21,496	40.0	+18.0
	SNP	Kirsten Oswald	16,784	31.2	–9.4
	Labour	Blair McDougall	14,346	26.7	–7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Aileen Morton	1,112	2.1	+0.2
Majority			4,712	8.8	N/A
Turnout			53,805	76.8	–4.3
	Conservative gain from SNP		Swing	+13.7

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § East Renfrewshire

General election 2015: East Renfrewshire^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Kirsten Oswald[19]	23,013	40.6	+31.7
	Labour	Jim Murphy[20]	19,295	34.0	–16.8
	Conservative	David Montgomery[21]	12,465	22.0	–8.4
	Liberal Democrats	Graeme Cowie[22]	1,069	1.9	–7.3
	UKIP	Robert Malyn[23]	888	1.6	+0.9
Majority			3,718	6.6	N/A
Turnout			56,730	81.1	+3.8
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+24.3

General election 2010: East Renfrewshire^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Murphy	25,987	50.8	+6.9
	Conservative	Richard Cook	15,567	30.4	+0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon MacDonald	4,720	9.2	–9.1
	SNP	Gordon Archer	4,535	8.9	+2.1
	UKIP	Donald McKay	372	0.7	New
Majority			10,420	20.4	+6.4
Turnout			51,181	77.3	+5.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+3.2

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: East Renfrewshire^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jim Murphy	20,815	43.9	–3.7
	Conservative	Richard Cook	14,158	29.9	+1.1
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon MacDonald	8,659	18.3	+5.4
	SNP	Osama Bhutta	3,245	6.8	–1.7
	Scottish Socialist	Ian Henderson	528	1.1	–0.6
Majority			6,657	14.0	–4.9
Turnout			47,405	72.1	+1.4
	Labour hold		Swing	–2.4

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1979: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Allan Stewart	25,910	49.89	+8.54
	Labour	E Sullivan	12,672	24.40	+4.57
	Liberal	WGA Craig	9,366	18.03	+3.41
	SNP	J Pow	3,989	7.68	−15.52
Majority			13,238	25.49	+7.34
Turnout			51,937	80.58	+2.93
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election October 1974: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Betty Harvie Anderson	19,847	41.35
	SNP	I Jenkins	11,137	23.20
	Labour	CJ Roberts	9,997	20.83
	Liberal	WGA Craig	7,015	14.62
Majority			8,710	18.15
Turnout			47,996	77.65
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election February 1974: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Betty Harvie Anderson	25,713	50.62
	Labour	RS Stewart	10,227	20.13
	Liberal	WGA Craig	9,588	18.88
	SNP	S Watterson	5,268	10.37
Majority			15,486	30.49
Turnout			50,796	80.66
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1970: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Betty Harvie Anderson	29,163	52.07
	Labour	Jessie Carnegie	16,062	28.68
	Liberal	Olivia Watt	7,053	12.59
	SNP	John M. Buchanan	3,733	6.66	New
Majority			13,101	23.39
Turnout			56,011	76.16
	Conservative hold		Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1966: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Betty Harvie Anderson	28,017	53.17
	Labour	Robert Lochrie	17,426	33.07
	Liberal	James W McHardy	7,252	13.76
Majority			10,591	20.10
Turnout			52,695	79.88
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1964: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Betty Harvie Anderson	27,846	52.54
	Labour	James Gordon	16,503	31.14
	Liberal	Derek M H Starforth	8,655	16.33
Majority			11,343	21.40
Turnout			53,004	82.63
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1959: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Betty Harvie Anderson	29,672	58.65
	Labour	Arthur J Houston	14,579	28.82
	Liberal	Derek M H Starforth	6,339	12.53	New
Majority			15,093	29.83
Turnout			50,590	82.85
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1955: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Guy Lloyd	30,959	68.30
	Labour	David J Phillips	14,371	31.70
Majority			16,588	36.60
Turnout			45,330	78.12
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1951: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Guy Lloyd	31,908	65.80
	Labour	David J Phillips	16,588	34.20
Majority			15,320	31.60
Turnout			48,496	81.74
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1950: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Guy Lloyd	31,650	65.44
	Labour	William L Taylor	16,716	34.56
Majority			14,934	30.88
Turnout			48,366	78.87
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Guy Lloyd	42,310	53.6	−2.0
	Labour Co-op	D. McArthur	36,634	46.4	+12.4
Majority			5,676	7.2	−14.4
Turnout			78,944	67.2	−8.7
	Unionist hold		Swing

1940 by-election: East Renfrewshire^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Guy Lloyd	34,316	80.7	+25.1
	Ind. Labour Party	Annie Maxton	8,206	19.3	N/A
Majority			26,110	61.4	+39.8
Turnout			42,522	43.4	−32.5
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1935: East Renfrewshire^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton	35,121	55.6	−3.8
	Labour Co-op	James Barr	21,475	34.0	+7.3
	SNP	Oliver Brown	6,593	10.4	−3.5
Majority			13,646	21.6	−11.1
Turnout			63,189	75.9	−4.8
	Unionist hold		Swing	−6.6

General election 1931: East Renfrewshire^[28][29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton	27,740	59.38
	Labour Co-op	James Strain	12,477	26.71
	National (Scotland)	Oliver Brown	6,498	13.91	N/A
Majority			15,263	32.67
Turnout			46,715	80.67
	Unionist hold		Swing

1930 by-election: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Douglas Douglas-Hamilton	19,753	53.6	+1.4
	Ind. Labour Party	Thomas Irwin	12,293	33.3	New
	National (Scotland)	William Brown	4,818	13.1	New
Majority			7,460	20.3	+15.9
Turnout			36,864	69.0	−8.8
	Unionist hold		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: East Renfrewshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Munro MacRobert	18,487	52.2	−3.5
	Labour	John Martin Munro	16,924	47.8	+3.5
Majority			1,563	4.4	−7.0
Turnout			35,411	77.8	−5.7
Registered electors			45,525
	Unionist hold		Swing	−3.7

1926 by-election: East Renfrewshire^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Munro MacRobert	11,817	52.0	−3.7
	Labour	John Martin Munro	10,889	48.0	+3.7
Majority			928	4.0	−7.4
Turnout			22,706	75.2	−8.3
Registered electors			30,211
	Unionist hold		Swing	−3.7

Alexander Munro MacRobert was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland on 31 December 1925.^[30]

General election 1924: East Renfrewshire^[30]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Alexander Munro MacRobert	13,716	55.7	+13.4
	Labour	Robert Nichol	10,903	44.3	−0.3
Majority			2,813	11.4	N/A
Turnout			24,619	83.5	+7.6
Registered electors			29,493
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+6.9

General election 1923: East Renfrewshire^[31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Nichol	9,857	44.6	+2.1
	Unionist	Frederick Lobnitz	9,349	42.3	+2.3
	Liberal	William Crawford	2,887	13.1	−4.4
Majority			508	2.3	−0.2
Turnout			22,093	75.9	−4.7
Registered electors			29,095
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.1

General election 1922: East Renfrewshire^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robert Nichol	9,708	42.5	+14.7
	Unionist	Frederick Lobnitz	9,158	40.0	New
	Liberal	Joseph Johnstone	4,013	17.5	−54.7
Majority			550	2.5	N/A
Turnout			22,879	80.6	+15.9
Registered electors			28,394
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	+34.7

Elections in the 1910s

Johnstone

General election 1918: East Renfrewshire^[33]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Joseph Johnstone	13,107	72.2	+25.3
	Labour	Robert Spence	5,048	27.8	New
Majority			8,059	44.4	N/A
Turnout			18,155	64.7	−24.2
Registered electors			28,066
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

General election December 1910: East Renfrewshire^[34][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gilmour	10,063	53.1	+0.7
	Liberal	Ian Macpherson	8,883	46.9	−0.7
Majority			1,180	6.2	+1.4
Turnout			18,946	88.9	+1.0
Registered electors			21,314
	Conservative hold		Swing	+0.7

General election January 1910: East Renfrewshire^[34][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Gilmour	9,645	52.4	+2.7
	Liberal	Robert Laidlaw	8,771	47.6	−2.7
Majority			874	4.8	N/A
Turnout			18,416	87.9	+6.4
Registered electors			20,947
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 1900s

Laidlaw

General election 1906: East Renfrewshire^[36][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Laidlaw	6,896	50.3	New
	Conservative	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	6,801	49.7	N/A
Majority			95	0.6	N/A
Turnout			13,697	81.5	N/A
Registered electors			16,797
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	N/A

General election 1900: East Renfrewshire^[37][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1895: East Renfrewshire^[37][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	Unopposed
	Conservative hold

General election 1892: East Renfrewshire^[38][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	4,484	56.9	−4.1
	Liberal	John Gloag Murdoch[39]	3,397	43.1	+4.1
Majority			1,087	13.8	−8.2
Turnout			7,881	80.5	+5.2
Registered electors			9,792
	Conservative hold		Swing	−4.1

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1886: East Renfrewshire^[40][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Hugh Shaw-Stewart	3,806	61.0	+14.7
	Lib-Lab	James Samuelson	2,438	39.0	−14.7
Majority			1,368	22.0	N/A
Turnout			6,244	75.3	−6.5
Registered electors			8,295
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing	+14.7

General election 1885: East Renfrewshire^[40][35]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Finlayson	3,642	53.7	N/A
	Conservative	Allan Gilmour, jun	3,144	46.3	N/A
Majority			498	7.4	N/A
Turnout			6,786	81.8	N/A
Registered electors			8,295
	Liberal win (new seat)

See also

• 1926 East Renfrewshire by-election
• 1930 East Renfrewshire by-election
• 1940 East Renfrewshire by-election
• Eastwood (UK Parliament constituency) (1983–2005)