Post by john07 on Feb 19, 2021 18:33:36 GMT
This is a very messy Constituency matching up part of West Lothian Council with part of Falkirk Council. It has not always been so. The historic Constituency was Linlithgowshire which existed from 1708 to 1950. The seat was generally Conservative until the Liberals had some success in the late Victorian period through to the Great War. The Coalition Conservatives won in 1918 only for the seat to enter a period of change at every election. Manny Shinwell was elected in 1922, losing in 1924 and regaining the seat in a by-election in 1928. Shinwell held on in 1929 but lost in 1931. Labour regained the seat in 1935 through George Mathers who eventually stood down in 1951 by which time the seat had been renamed as West Lothian. John Taylor held the season until his death in 1962.
The prompted the West Lothian by-election which pitched Labour’s arch-Unionist, Tam Dalyell against the SNP’s William Wolfe. The subsequent election of Wolfe as Chairman (leader) of the SNP in 1969 helped to shape the modern SNP. Previously the SNP had a reputation as a bunch of oddballs ranging from ultra conservative to neo-fascist in political outlook who were deeply sceptical of the European Union. One-time SNP leader, Donald Stewart, MP for the Western Isles, was quoted in Private Eye, about the Stornaway Pakistani community, as stating that they were ‘too thick on the ground’. At the time there estimated to be ten Pakistanis, the families of former travelling salesmen who had settled, in Stornaway.
Wolfe more than anyone else helped shape the modern SNP as a left of centre, social democratic, pro-European party. Wolfe encouraged the likes of Alex Salmond to form the 79 Group to take on the Nationalist fundamentalists. While they were initially expelled from the party, they later came back and took over the party. However Wolfe lost out in his electoral battle against Dalyell over seven elections up to 1979. Dalyell posited the famous West Lothian question regarding what he regarded was the fundamental contradiction of devolution. The name was actually penned by Enoch Powell following an intervention by Dalyell. These contests proved to epitomise the struggle for the future direction of Scotland. While Dalyell won all the elections, it can be argued that the vision of Wolfe proved to be the long-term winner. Wolfe eventually stood down from Office in the SNP after an ill-judged intervention during the Falklands war.
In 1983, the new Constituency of Livingston was hived off and West Lothian became Linlithgow. This stemmed from the rising electorate from the New Town of Livingston. Subsequently, in 2005, the reduction in the number of Scottish MPs from 71 to 59 led to the creation of a Parliamentary monstrosity crossing Regional as well as Local Authority boundaries. Dalyell stood down at this point and was replaced by Michael Connarty. The seat fell to the SNP in the 2015 wave and looks set remains so for the foreseeable future with Martyn Day as MP.
The Constituency is on two railway lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the main line via Linlithgow, Polmont and Falkirk High to Queen Street and the other line via Bathgate, Armadale, and Blackridge to Queen Street Low Level. This has made the Constituency an attractive proposition for commuters for both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The prompted the West Lothian by-election which pitched Labour’s arch-Unionist, Tam Dalyell against the SNP’s William Wolfe. The subsequent election of Wolfe as Chairman (leader) of the SNP in 1969 helped to shape the modern SNP. Previously the SNP had a reputation as a bunch of oddballs ranging from ultra conservative to neo-fascist in political outlook who were deeply sceptical of the European Union. One-time SNP leader, Donald Stewart, MP for the Western Isles, was quoted in Private Eye, about the Stornaway Pakistani community, as stating that they were ‘too thick on the ground’. At the time there estimated to be ten Pakistanis, the families of former travelling salesmen who had settled, in Stornaway.
Wolfe more than anyone else helped shape the modern SNP as a left of centre, social democratic, pro-European party. Wolfe encouraged the likes of Alex Salmond to form the 79 Group to take on the Nationalist fundamentalists. While they were initially expelled from the party, they later came back and took over the party. However Wolfe lost out in his electoral battle against Dalyell over seven elections up to 1979. Dalyell posited the famous West Lothian question regarding what he regarded was the fundamental contradiction of devolution. The name was actually penned by Enoch Powell following an intervention by Dalyell. These contests proved to epitomise the struggle for the future direction of Scotland. While Dalyell won all the elections, it can be argued that the vision of Wolfe proved to be the long-term winner. Wolfe eventually stood down from Office in the SNP after an ill-judged intervention during the Falklands war.
In 1983, the new Constituency of Livingston was hived off and West Lothian became Linlithgow. This stemmed from the rising electorate from the New Town of Livingston. Subsequently, in 2005, the reduction in the number of Scottish MPs from 71 to 59 led to the creation of a Parliamentary monstrosity crossing Regional as well as Local Authority boundaries. Dalyell stood down at this point and was replaced by Michael Connarty. The seat fell to the SNP in the 2015 wave and looks set remains so for the foreseeable future with Martyn Day as MP.
The Constituency is on two railway lines between Edinburgh and Glasgow, the main line via Linlithgow, Polmont and Falkirk High to Queen Street and the other line via Bathgate, Armadale, and Blackridge to Queen Street Low Level. This has made the Constituency an attractive proposition for commuters for both Edinburgh and Glasgow.
