Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath
Aug 19, 2020 20:36:51 GMT
robertwaller, unrepentantfool, and 1 more like this
Post by southpaw1 on Aug 19, 2020 20:36:51 GMT
I'll maybe add more details later but just wrote up the following:
Created in 2005, the Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath seat and this area of Fife in general, has a very interesting political history. In more recent times it was associated with the former Chancellor and Prime Minister, Gordon Brown who represented the area for 22 years. Set in the heart of the old Fife coalfield, this seat could arguably be the most left-wing constituency in Britain. From 1935 to 1950 the seat of West Fife was represented by a Communist MP, Willie Gallacher and although the Communists have not fielded a candidate in a General Election for a number of years now, Willie Clarke was a long-standing communist (latterly Independent) serving on Fife Council representing the Ballingry & Lochore electoral division for 43 years. In the 2003 Local Elections he obtained 95% of the vote in a 3-way contest.
The seat is based on the previous Dunfermline East, minus a few very Labour villages such as Kinglassie and Cardenden to the north and the more mixed Rosyth in the south. In came the 3 Kirkcaldy wards in the extreme east of the constituency. Kirkcaldy is now the most populated settlement with 32,000 electors which is just under half of the seat's electorate. Down the Forth coast are the smaller towns of Kinghorn, Burntisland, Aberdour and Dalgety Bay. The Tories actually won the Dalgety Bay East ward in the 2003 locals but this is a seat where they are very weak overall. Inland we start to encroach into the ex-mining areas of Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Kelty, Lumphinnans and the above mentioned Ballingry - these communities were known as 'Little Moscow's' back in the day and indeed, there is a road named 'Gagarin Way' in Lumphinnans.
Gordon Brown always held 5 figure majorities during his reign here before the SNP tidal wave of 2015 where they overturned a Labour majority of 23,000 on a staggering 35% swing. And despite a setback in 2017 when the seat was won back by Labour, the SNP are now back again albeit by just 1,200 votes.
Created in 2005, the Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath seat and this area of Fife in general, has a very interesting political history. In more recent times it was associated with the former Chancellor and Prime Minister, Gordon Brown who represented the area for 22 years. Set in the heart of the old Fife coalfield, this seat could arguably be the most left-wing constituency in Britain. From 1935 to 1950 the seat of West Fife was represented by a Communist MP, Willie Gallacher and although the Communists have not fielded a candidate in a General Election for a number of years now, Willie Clarke was a long-standing communist (latterly Independent) serving on Fife Council representing the Ballingry & Lochore electoral division for 43 years. In the 2003 Local Elections he obtained 95% of the vote in a 3-way contest.
The seat is based on the previous Dunfermline East, minus a few very Labour villages such as Kinglassie and Cardenden to the north and the more mixed Rosyth in the south. In came the 3 Kirkcaldy wards in the extreme east of the constituency. Kirkcaldy is now the most populated settlement with 32,000 electors which is just under half of the seat's electorate. Down the Forth coast are the smaller towns of Kinghorn, Burntisland, Aberdour and Dalgety Bay. The Tories actually won the Dalgety Bay East ward in the 2003 locals but this is a seat where they are very weak overall. Inland we start to encroach into the ex-mining areas of Cowdenbeath, Lochgelly, Kelty, Lumphinnans and the above mentioned Ballingry - these communities were known as 'Little Moscow's' back in the day and indeed, there is a road named 'Gagarin Way' in Lumphinnans.
Gordon Brown always held 5 figure majorities during his reign here before the SNP tidal wave of 2015 where they overturned a Labour majority of 23,000 on a staggering 35% swing. And despite a setback in 2017 when the seat was won back by Labour, the SNP are now back again albeit by just 1,200 votes.
