Central Fife (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Central Fife (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Central Fife
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Central Fife in Scotland for the 2001 general election
Subdivisions of Scotland	Fife
1974 (1974)–2005
Created from	West Fife
Replaced by	Glenrothes North East Fife

Central Fife was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from February 1974 until 2005, when it was largely replaced by the new Glenrothes constituency, with a small portion joining the expanded North East Fife.

It elected one Member of Parliament (MP), using the first-past-the-post voting system.

Boundaries

1974–1983

The burghs of Cowdenbeath, Leslie, Lochgelly, and Markinch, the districts of Glenrothes and Lochgelly, and the electoral divisions of Markinch North and Markinch South in the district of Kirkcaldy.^[1]

1983–1997

The Kirkcaldy District electoral divisions of:

• Denbeath/Aberhill
• Mountfleurie/Methilhill/Methil North
• Leven
• Kennoway/Windygates
• Leslie/Markinch Star
• Auchmuty/Woodside
• Pitteuchar/Stenton/Balgonie
• South Parks/Rimbleton
• Southwood/Caskieberran

1997–2005

The Kirkcaldy District electoral divisions of:

• Methil, Denbeath and Muiredge
• Methilhill and Mountfleurie
• Leven
• Kennoway and Windygates
• Markinch, Pitcoudie and Star
• Auchmuty, Woodside and Coaltown of Balgonie
• Pitleuchar and Stenton
• Rimbleton and South Parks
• Glenwood and Newcastle
• Leslie and Collydean

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [2]	Party
	Feb 1974	Willie Hamilton	Labour
	1987	Henry McLeish	Labour
	2001	John MacDougall	Labour
	2005	constituency abolished

Elections

Fife West election results

Elections of the 1970s

General election February 1974: Central Fife^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Willie Hamilton	24,418	53.3
	SNP	David Veitch Livingstone	10,324	22.5
	Conservative	Stephen Ronald Eyres	9,098	19.8
	Communist	Alexander Maxwell	2,019	4.4
Majority			14,094	30.8
Turnout			45,859	79.2
	Labour win (new seat)

General election October 1974: Central Fife^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Willie Hamilton	22,400	51.9	−1.4
	SNP	David Veitch Livingstone	14,414	33.4	+10.9
	Conservative	Peter Derek Clarke	5,308	12.3	−7.5
	Communist	Alexander Maxwell	1,040	2.4	−2.0
Majority			7,986	18.5	−12.3
Turnout			43,162	73.9	−5.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1979: Central Fife^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Willie Hamilton	27,619	58.0	+6.1
	Conservative	Iain Allistair McCrone	9,597	20.2	+7.9
	SNP	James Lynch	9,208	19.4	−14.0
	Communist	Alexander Maxwell	1,172	2.5	+0.1
Majority			18,022	37.8	+19.3
Turnout			47,596	77.4	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections of the 1980s

General election 1983: Central Fife^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Willie Hamilton	17,008	43.1	−11.2
	Liberal	Teresa Little	9,214	23.4	New
	Conservative	Douglas Mason	8,863	22.5	0.0
	SNP	James Taggart	4,039	10.2	−12.3
	Ecology	David Allison	297	0.8	New
Majority			7,794	19.7
Turnout			39,421	72.5
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1987: Central Fife^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry McLeish	22,827	53.4	+10.3
	Conservative	Richard Aird	7,118	16.7	−5.8
	Liberal	Teresa Little	6,487	15.2	−8.2
	SNP	Dan Hood	6,296	14.7	+4.5
Majority			15,709	36.7	+17.0
Turnout			42,728	72.6	+0.1
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.0

Elections of the 1990s

General election 1992: Central Fife^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry McLeish	21,036	50.4	−3.0
	SNP	Tricia Marwick	10,458	25.1	+10.4
	Conservative	Carol Cender	7,353	17.6	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Harrow	2,892	6.9	−8.3
Majority			10,578	25.3	−11.4
Turnout			41,739	74.3	+1.7
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1997: Central Fife^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Henry McLeish	23,912	58.7	+7.9
	SNP	Tricia Marwick	10,199	25.0	−0.1
	Conservative	Jacob Rees-Mogg	3,669	9.0	−8.6
	Liberal Democrats	Ross Laird	2,610	6.4	−0.5
	Referendum	John Scrymgeour-Wedderburn	375	0.9	New
Majority			13,713	33.7	+8.4
Turnout			40,765	69.8	−4.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections of the 2000s

General election 2001: Central Fife^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John MacDougall	18,310	56.3	−2.4
	SNP	David Alexander	8,235	25.3	+0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Riches	2,775	8.5	+2.1
	Conservative	Jeremy Balfour	2,351	7.2	−1.8
	Scottish Socialist	Morag Balfour	841	2.6	New
Majority			10,075	31.0	−2.7
Turnout			32,512	54.6	−15.2
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) (Central Fife and Kirkcaldy) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/764, retrieved 26 February 2023
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "F"
3. http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge74a/i08.htm
4. "UK General Election results: October 1974".
5. "Not updated: UK General Election results: May 1979".
6. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
7. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
8. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
9. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
10. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.