Candidates and Constituency Assessments

'Surely, the government's attention should be firmly focused on dealing with the worst recorded outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, not on going round the country trying to win votes. Elections are seen as rather disreputable episodes anyway, during which politicians tell porkies and spend huge amounts of cash rubbishing each other.' Iain MacWhirter in the Herald, 21 st March 2001.

Coatbridge & Chryston

7 th June 2001 Westminster Election

Turnout: 30,311 (58.09 %)
Logo	Party	Candidate	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	Tom Clarke	19,807	65.35 %	- 2.97 %
	Scottish National Party	Peter Kearney	4,493	14.82 %	- 2.20 %
	Liberal Democrat	Alistair Tough	2,293	7.56 %	+ 2.11 %
	Conservative	Patrick Ross-Taylor	2,171	7.16 %	- 1.39 %
	Scottish Socialist Party	Lynn Sheridan	1,547	5.10 %	(+ 5.10 %)
	Lab hold	Lab majority	15,314	50.53 %	- 0.77 %

1 st May 1997 Westminster Election

Turnout: 37,612 (72.30 %)
Logo	Party	Candidate	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	Tom Clarke	25,697	68.32 %	+6.55 %
	Scottish National Party	Brian Nugent	6,402	17.02 %	+0.26 %
	Conservative	Andrew Wauchope	3,216	8.55 %	-6.96 %
	Liberal Democrat	Morag Daly	2,048	5.45 %	-0.48 %
	Referendum	Bernard Bowsley	249	0.66 %	(+ 0.66 %)
	Lab hold	Lab majority	19,295	51.30 %	+6.29 %

Notional 1992 result

	Labour	24,843	61.77 %
	Scottish National Party	6,743	16.76 %
	Conservative	6,241	15.51 %
	Liberal Democrat	2,388	5.93 %
Lab win	Lab majority	18,100	45.01 %