Airdrie and Shotts (UK Parliament constituency)
Airdrie and Shotts is a constituency of the UK House of Commons, located in central Scotland within the North Lanarkshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.
| Airdrie and Shotts | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Airdrie and Shotts in Scotland for the 2005 general election | |
| Subdivisions of Scotland | North Lanarkshire |
| Major settlements | Airdrie, Caldercruix, Shotts |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1997 |
| Member of Parliament | Anum Qaisar (SNP) |
| Created from | Monklands East |
| Overlaps | |
| Scottish Parliament | Central Scotland |
The constituency has existed since 1997; however, it underwent significant boundary changes in 2005. Before 2015, it could have been described as a safe seat for the Labour Party, who held it with a majority of over 12,000 votes until Neil Gray of the Scottish National Party (SNP) was elected at that year's general election. Former MPs for the constituency include: Pamela Nash, former Baby of the House, John Reid, former Labour Home Secretary and Defence Secretary, and Helen Liddell, former Labour Scottish Secretary.
It is a generally working-class, urban seat, and contains the towns of Airdrie, Calderbank, Chapelhall, Glenmavis and Shotts.
From 2015-21, the Member of Parliament for the seat was Neil Gray of the SNP. He resigned in March 2021 to run for a seat in the Scottish Parliament, triggering a by-election.