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Dunfermline East Scottish Parliament burgh constituency
Dunfermline East shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created:	1999
MSP:	Helen Eadie
Party:	Labour
Council area:	Fife

Dunfermline East is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Contents 1 Electoral region 2 Constituency boundaries and council area 3 Description of the constituency 4 Member of the Scottish Parliament 5 Election results 6 Footnotes

See also Mid Scotland and Fife Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East, Kirkcaldy, Ochil, Perth, Stirling and Tayside North.

The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area, all of the Stirling council area and parts of the Angus council area.

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies^[1]. The Dunfermline East Westminster constituency was divided between Dunfermline and West Fife and Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

The Holyrood constituency of Dunfermline East is one of five Mid Scotland and Fife constituencies covering the Fife council area, the others being Dunfermline West, Fife Central, Fife North East and Kirkcaldy. All are entirely within the council area.

Dunfermline East covers a south-western portion of the council area, with Dunfermline West to the west, Fife Central to the northeast and Kirkcaldy to the east.

The constituency contains no part of the town of Dunfermline, which is within the Dunfermline West constituency. (The pre-existing Westminster constituency was created during the period, 1975 to 1996, of local government regions and districts, when there was Dunfermline district of the Fife local government region. In 1996, regions and districts were replaced with unitary council areas.)

Cowdenbeath is the largest town in the constituency, and most of the constituency area was once part of the Fife coalfield, on the north bank of the Firth of Forth. The region has economic troubles, and the closure of the Rosyth naval base and the troubles at the naval dockyard have not helped.

Statistically, this is one of Labour’s safest seats in Scotland. In the House of Commons, there has been a Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the area since 1950. Gordon Brown, now Prime Minister, was MP for the Dunfermline East Westminster constituency from 1983 to 2005. He is now MP for the Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency, where his majority at the last general election was over 15,000.

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Helen Eadie	Labour
	2003
	2007

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Party	Helen Eadie	10,995	44.8	-5.2
	Scottish National Party	Ewan Dow	7,002	28.5	+10.1
	Conservative Party	Graeme Brown	3,718	15.1	+4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Karen Utting	2,853	11.6	+5.4
Majority			3,993	16.3
Turnout			24,568	48.1	+2.9
	Labour Party hold		Swing	-7.6

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Party	Helen Eadie	11,552	19.9	-6.0
	Scottish National Party	Janet Law	4,262	18.4	-8.2
	Conservative Party	Stuart Randall	2,485	10.7	+0.9
	Independent Campaign for Local Hospital Services	Brian Walker Stewart	1,890	8.2	+8.2
	Scottish Socialist Party	Linda Graham	1,537	6.6	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	Rodger Spillane	1,428	6.2	-1.5
Majority			7,290	31.5
Turnout			23,154	45.2
	Labour Party hold		Swing	+1.1

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Party	Helen Eadie	16,574	55.89	N/A
	Scottish National Party	David McCarthy	7,877	26.56	N/A
	Conservative Party	Carrie Ruxton	2,931	9.88	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Fred Lawson	2,276	7.67	N/A
Majority			8,697	29.33
Turnout			29,658
	Labour Party hold		Swing

1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland

v • d • e Electoral regions and Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament
Central Scotland	Airdrie and Shotts · Coatbridge and Chryston · Cumbernauld and Kilsyth · East Kilbride · Falkirk East · Falkirk West · Hamilton North and Bellshill · Hamilton South · Kilmarnock and Loudoun · Motherwell and Wishaw
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland · Glasgow Baillieston · Glasgow Cathcart · Glasgow Govan · Glasgow Kelvin · Glasgow Maryhill · Glasgow Pollok · Glasgow Rutherglen · Glasgow Shettleston · Glasgow Springburn
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute · Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross · Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber · Moray · Orkney · Ross, Skye and Inverness West · Shetland · Western Isles
Lothians	Edinburgh Central · Edinburgh East and Musselburgh · Edinburgh North and Leith · Edinburgh Pentlands · Edinburgh South · Edinburgh West · Linlithgow · Livingston · Midlothian
Mid Scotland and Fife	Central Fife  · Dunfermline East · Dunfermline West · Kirkcaldy · North East Fife · North Tayside · Ochil · Perth · Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central · Aberdeen North · Aberdeen South · Angus · Banff and Buchan · Dundee East · Dundee West · Gordon · West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
South of Scotland	Ayr · Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley · Clydesdale · Cunninghame South · Dumfries · East Lothian · Galloway and Upper Nithsdale · Roxburgh and Berwickshire · Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
West of Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie · Cunninghame North · Dumbarton · Eastwood · Greenock and Inverclyde · Paisley North · Paisley South · Strathkelvin and Bearsden · West Renfrewshire