Falkirk (UK Parliament constituency)

Boundaries

The constituency takes in the town of the same name and stretches west to include Denny and Banknock and east to the village of Whitecross. Falkirk is joined by most of the various sized towns and villages of its council area, including Bainsford, Banknock, Bonnybridge, Brightons, Camelon, Denny, Glen Village/Hallglen, Head of Muir, Laurieston, Maddiston, Polmont, Redding, Rumford, Shieldhill, Tamfourhill, Wallacestone, Westquarter and Whitecross.

2005–2024: Under the Fifth Review of UK Parliament constituencies, the boundaries were defined in accordance with the ward structure in place on 30 November 2004. Further to reviews of local government ward boundaries which came into effect in 2007 and 2017, but did not affect the parliamentary boundaries, the constituency comprised the following wards or part wards of Falkirk Council: Bonnybridge and Larbert; Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst; Denny and Banknock; Falkirk North (except a very small part); Falkirk South; Lower Braes (majority); and Upper Braes (minority).

2024–present: Further to the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency is composed of the Falkirk Council wards of:

• Denny and Banknock, Falkirk North, Falkirk South, Lower Braes, Upper Braes, and southern parts of Bonnybridge and Larbert, including Bonnybridge.

Carse, Kinnaird and Tryst ward and northern parts of Bonnybridge and Larbert ward were moved to the new constituency of Alloa and Grangemouth, partly offset by the addition of remaining parts of Falkirk North, Lower Braes and Upper Braes wards, transferred from Linlithgow and East Falkirk.

History

Main article: 2013 Labour Party Falkirk candidate selection

The Labour Party leadership was embroiled in a row with the Unite the Union over the selection of a candidate to replace disgraced former Labour MP Eric Joyce. In 2013, local officials of Unite, led by Len McCluskey, were accused of abusing membership procedures by "bulk-buying" and "packing" the Falkirk Constituency Labour Party with their own members in an attempt to get their preferred candidate, Karie Murphy (Labour election chief Tom Watson's office manager), selected. Unite was alleged to have signed up and paid the subscriptions for over 100 new party members in Falkirk, some of them allegedly unaware they were joining the Labour Party.

A leaked Unite document from December 2012 detailed its activity in Falkirk as "exemplary" for the way in which "we have recruited well over 100 Unite members to the party in a constituency with less than 200 members. 57 came from responses to a text message alone, (followed up face to face). A collective effort locally, but led and inspired by the potential candidate".

On 25 June 2013, Falkirk CLP was placed in "special measures" by the National Executive Committee at an emergency meeting after an internal report found "sufficient evidence for concern about the legitimacy of some new recruits to the Falkirk party." Under Labour's rules, the Central party takes control over a constituency party when in special measures and directly runs the parliamentary selection process. All members who had joined the constituency party in Falkirk after 12 March 2012 (the date Eric Joyce announced he would not stand for re-election) had their memberships suspended. Unite union responded to the NEC's disciplinary measure in a press statement:

In July, Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband blamed "a few individuals" for vote-rigging in Falkirk, saying: "Instead of defending what happened in Falkirk, Len McCluskey should be facing up to his responsibilities. He should not be defending the machine politics involving bad practice and malpractice that went on there, he should be facing up to it." As the controversy grew, Tom Watson, a former flatmate of McCluskey, resigned on 4 July from the Shadow Cabinet. Unite's favoured candidate Karie Murphy (a close friend of McCluskey) and the Falkirk CLP chairman Stephen Deans (who is also chair of the Unite trade union in Scotland) were also suspended by Labour HQ on the same day. The internal Labour Party investigation report into the matter was handed on 5 July to the Scottish police service. A Labour spokesperson said: "Until yesterday our advice was that there was no evidence of criminality. That changed after the solicitor took a look at it."

Len McCluskey rejected the NEC report's allegations that the Falkirk CLP selection was fixed as "smears" against Unite. He called on Ed Miliband for the internal party report to be published for "everyone to see" and for Miliband to set up an independent inquiry with the credibility to establish the truth. In an article for The Guardian, the sitting MP Eric Joyce called the actions of certain Unite officials in Falkirk as "amateurish, hubristic and irresponsible". The National Executive Committee confirmed it would impose an all women shortlist on the Falkirk CLP.

Members of Parliament

This seat was formed from Falkirk West and much of Falkirk East.

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

Elections in the 2010s

Safia Ali was suspended by the Labour Party over allegations that she made anti-Semitic posts on Facebook. Because nominations had closed at the time of her suspension, she still appeared on the ballot paper as the Labour candidate. The fall in the Labour Party's vote share of 18.6% was the worst that the party suffered in Scotland, and the 11th worst in the 630 seats it contested in the United Kingdom, at this election.

This was the largest numerical majority in Scotland at the 2019 general election.

Elections in the 2000s

Notes

References

References

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7. (6 July 2013). "Miliband calls police over claims of rigging".
8. Stacey, Kiran. (5 July 2013). "Why has Labour handed its Falkirk file to the police?".
9. (4 March 2016). "Labour 'to pass report on Falkirk candidate selection row to police' | Stirling & Central | News".
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11. (10 June 2015). "Falkirk Labour selection process moves ahead as row rumbles on – Falkirk Herald".
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