Lanark and Hamilton East (UK Parliament constituency)
Lanark and Hamilton East is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which was first used at the 2005 general election. It covers parts of the former Clydesdale, Hamilton North and Bellshill and Hamilton South constituencies, and it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.
Lanark and Hamilton East | |
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County constituency for the House of Commons | |
Boundary of Lanark and Hamilton East in Scotland | |
Subdivisions of Scotland | South Lanarkshire |
Major settlements | Carluke, Carstairs, Hamilton, Lanark, Larkhall, Uddingston |
Current constituency | |
Created | 2005 |
Member of Parliament | Angela Crawley (SNP) |
Created from | Clydesdale Hamilton North & Bellshill Hamilton South |
Historically a safe Labour seat, in 2015 it was gained by the Scottish National Party when they won a record 56 of the 59 Scottish seats at Westminster, ending 51 years of Labour Party dominance at UK general elections in Scotland. Two years later, at the 2017 general election, the Conservatives surged into second place, only 266 votes behind sitting MP Angela Crawley, followed by Labour in third place, just 96 votes behind the Conservative candidate, making the seat Britain's tightest three-way marginal. The result also made it the tightest three-way marginal since 1945.
Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat will be subject to major boundary changes, gaining western areas of Hamilton and losing the towns of Bothwell, Uddingston and Carluke. As a consequence, the reconfigured constituency will be renamed Hamilton and Clyde Valley, to be first contested at the next general election.