Eastwood (Scottish Parliament constituency)

The other nine constituencies of the West Scotland region are: Clydebank and Milngavie, Cunninghame North, Cunninghame South, Dumbarton, Greenock and Inverclyde, Paisley, Renfrewshire North and West, Renfrewshire South and Strathkelvin and Bearsden.

The region covers part of the Argyll and Bute council area, the East Dunbartonshire council area, the East Renfrewshire council area, the Inverclyde council area, North Ayrshire council area, the Renfrewshire council area and the West Dunbartonshire council area.

Map of boundaries from 2011

The Eastwood constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, the name of the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was changed to East Renfrewshire.^[2]

In boundary changes in time for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the constituency of Eastwood was redrawn to be formed from the following electoral wards:

• In full:
  • Giffnock and Thornliebank
  • Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood
  • Newton Mearns South and Eaglesham
  • Clarkston, Netherlee and Williamwood
• In part:
  • Newton Mearns North and Neilston (shared with Renfrewshire South)

The Eastwood constituency is a highly affluent, middle-class commuter seat located south-west of Glasgow. It covers a majority of the East Renfrewshire council area, based principally around the towns of Newton Mearns, Eaglesham, Giffnock, Thornliebank, Netherlee, Busby and Clarkston which adjoin the City of Glasgow. According to data derived from the Scottish Index for Multiple Deprivation 60% of the seat's datazones are among the 10% most affluent areas in Scotland, with a further 15% of the seat's datazones being among the 20% most affluent areas in Scotland.^[3]

Data from the 2011 Scottish Census suggests that the seat has a substantial number of home-owners residing in large bungalows in comparison to the national average,^[4] with large portion of the seat's working population being employed in managerial, administrative and professional occupations.^[5]

The MSP for this constituency from its creation in 1999 was Ken Macintosh of Labour. In the 2016 election, Macintosh lost the seat, finishing third behind the Conservative victor Jackson Carlaw; however, he was returned as an additional MSP for the West Scotland region, following which he was elected as the Scottish Parliament's fifth Presiding Officer.

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood^[6]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw[a]	17,911	41.9	6.2	15,369	35.9	2.5
	SNP	Colm Merrick	15,695	36.8	5.6	12,433	29.0	0.4
	Labour	Katie Pragnell	6,759	15.8	14.8	8,449	19.7	0.3
	Scottish Green					3,524	8.2	1.6
	Independent	David Macdonald	1,352	3.2	New
	Liberal Democrats	Tahir Jameel	911	2.1	0.4	1,243	2.9	0.2
	Alba					502	1.2	New
	All for Unity					354	0.8	New
	Scottish Family					307	0.7	New
	Independent Green Voice					232	0.5	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					91	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					71	0.2	New
	Reform UK					64	0.1	New
	Independent	James Morrison				43	0.1	New
	Scottish Libertarian					42	0.1	0.1
	UKIP	Janice MacKay	75	0.2	New	41	0.1	1.2
	Independent	Maurice Campbell				27	0.1	New
	TUSC					26	0.1	New
	Scotia Future					12	0.0	New
	Renew					10	0.0	New
Majority			2,216	5.1	0.6
Valid Votes			42,703			42,840
Invalid Votes			141			85
Turnout			42,844	76.4	7.9	42,925	76.6	8.0
	Conservative hold		Swing		0.8
Notes

This was the smallest Conservative majority at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Eastwood^[7]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw[a]	12,932	35.7	2.3	13,929	38.3	11.4
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell[a]	11,322	31.2	6.9	10,680	29.4	5.0
	Labour	Ken Macintosh[b]	11,081	30.6	9.1	7,263	20.0	7.3
	Scottish Green					2,390	6.6	2.9
	Liberal Democrats	John Duncan	921	2.5	0.1	999	2.7	0.1
	UKIP					458	1.3	0.7
	Scottish Christian					286	0.1	0.1
	Solidarity					135	0.4	0.2
	RISE					129	0.4	New
	Scottish Libertarian					60	0.2	New
Majority			1,610	4.5	N/A
Valid Votes			36,256			36,329
Invalid Votes			116			58
Turnout			36,372	68.5	5.1	36,387	68.5	5.2
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
Notes

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Eastwood [9]
Notes:		Blue background denotes the winner of the electorate vote. Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list. Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member, or other incumbent. A Y or N denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.
Party		Candidate		Votes	%	±%	Party votes	%	±%
	Labour	Y Kenneth Macintosh		15,077	35.76	−0.10	12,365	29.41
	Conservative	Jackson Carlaw		14,186	33.64	+7.30	11,470	27.28
	SNP	Stewart Maxwell		7,972	18.91	+6.73	9,460	22.50
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon MacDonald		3,603	8.55	−4.45	3,332	7.92
	Independent	Frank McGee		1,327	3.15	+3.15
	Scottish Green						1,515	3.60
	Scottish Senior Citizens						737	1.75
	Solidarity						631	1.50
	BNP						505	1.20
	CPA						502	1.19
	Scottish Christian						500	1.19
	Save Our NHS Group						376	0.89
	Scottish Unionist Party (modern)						156	0.37
	Scottish Socialist						143	0.34
	Socialist Labour						126	0.30
	UKIP						112	0.27
	Scottish Voice						56	0.13
	Scottish Jacobite						50	0.12
	Socialist Equality						12	0.03
Informal votes				990			1,107
Total valid votes				42,165			42,048
Turnout				43,155
	Labour hold		Majority	891	2.11	−7.5

• "Eastwood constituency map" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 7 July 2021.