Rutherglen and Hamilton West (UK Parliament constituency)


Rutherglen and Hamilton West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which was created for the 2005 general election. It covers almost all of the former constituency of Glasgow Rutherglen and most of the former constituency of Hamilton South, and it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election. The current MP is Margaret Ferrier of the Scottish National Party, who won the seat at the 2019 snap general election. She had previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017.

Boundaries

The Rutherglen and Hamilton West constituency covers part of the South Lanarkshire council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, l East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow and Lanark and Hamilton East constituencies. The Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale constituency also covers part of the Dumfries and Galloway council area and part of the Scottish Borders council area.
The terms of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West name refer to the town of Rutherglen and the west of the town of Hamilton.

Constituency profile

The seat contains significant commuter areas into the city of Glasgow, with trains being as short as 15 minutes away from the city centre. Like much of Greater Glasgow, the constituency contains a diverse range of economic profiles. The eastern edge of the constituency is largely dominated by prosperous, middle class suburban homes in Hamilton north and east and certain parts of Blantyre while the northern and western areas of the constituency have more areas of deprivation, such as Hillhouse. The seat itself contains a slightly higher than average proportion of remain voters at 62% and an average amount of no voters at 55%, making the seat an important Scottish bellwether. Historically dominated by Labour, the SNP gained the seat for the first time in their 2015 landslide and regained it in their 2019 landslide. The Conservatives have also made some inroads in the more prosperous areas within the seat, but not to the same level as the neighbouring constituency Lanark and Hamilton East.

Members of Parliament

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

This was the largest increase in UKIP vote share at the 2019 general election.

Elections in the 2000s