 | 'Alex Salmond has, in my opinion, been proved correct. The situation we have now got is NATO has breached the international charter. The only group of nation states that can authorise this kind of action is the United Nations and we should return to the UN.' Alex Falconer, Labour MEP for Mid Scotland and Fife, April 1999. |  |
 |
Colin Welsh |  |
Marilyn Livingston MSP |
 |
Cllr Michael Scott-Hayward |  |
Alex Cole-Hamilton |
 | Rudi Vogels |
In 1983, the seat of Kirkcaldy was reduced in size. It exchanged 1,600 voters from Central Fife for the 10,000 voters of the town of Methil. In 1997 the boundary changes were minor.
The constituency includes the towns of Burntisland, Kinghorn, Auchtertool, Thornton and Buckhaven. Although Kirkcaldy was the birthplace of Robert Adam and Adam Smith, it has been represented by Labour since 1935.
It has always been a safe Labour seat and the closest they came to losing it was during the last war. In the 1944 by-election the SNP's D.C.C. Young took 41.3% of the vote coming within 2,800 votes of unseating Labour.
Harry Gourlay was Labour MP for Kirkcaldy from 1959 until his death in 1987. In October of 1974 the SNP ousted the Conservatives from second place to reduce Harry Gourlay's majority to 6,101 but in 1979 the nationalist tide receded and Mr Gourlay's majority rose to 13,063 over the Conservatives.
In 1983, the SDP took a good third place with almost 25%, in Kirkcaldy. While the Tory % vote stood unchanged at just over 26%, Harry Gourlay's vote fell by over 13% and his majority was reduced to 5,331.
Mr Gourlay died, at the age of 71 early in 1987, but a General Election was announced before the writ for the by-election was called. Mr Gourlay's successor was Dr Lewis Moonie, a psychiatrist, who more than doubled the Labour majority to 11,570 over the Conservatives.
In 1992, there was 7.25% swing from Labour to the SNP's Stewart Hosie. The SNP vote almost doubled, increasing by 10.8 % and Stewart Hosie leap-frogged the Lib Dems and the Conservatives to take second place, reducing Dr Moonie's majority to 9,126 in the process.
In 1997, Dr Moonie increased his majority from 9,126 to 10,710 over the SNP's Stewart Hosie who again contested the seat, while the SNP consolidated their second place, moving from 285 to 3,421 votes ahead of the Conservatives.
In 2001, there was little change in Kirkcaldy. Dr Moonie's obtained 54.1 % of the vote and was elected with a majority of 8,963 over the SNP's Shirley-Anne Sommerville, Parliamentary Assistant to Duncan Hamilton MSP for the Highlands & Island, and, like Stewart Hosie before her, SNP Vice Convenor for Youth Affairs. The SNP took 22.3 %, the Tories 10.7 %, the Lib Dems 10.1 % and the SSP 2.9 %.
Dr Moonie was a front bench spokesman for trade and industry with responsibility for information technology from 1989 to 1992 and again from 1994. From 199Ž to 1994 he had responsibility for the citizen's charter. In January 2000, Dr Moonie joined the government as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence. Waller and Criddle describe him as being 'accorded the wary respect due any psychiatrist working at Westminster.'
Dr Moonie was one of the majority of Labour MPs who were not interested in the higher workload and lower pay of Holyrood. In 1999 he was replaced as Labour candidate by Cllr Marilyn Livingston who represented the Sinclairtown/ Gallatown ward on Fife council where she had a 628 majority over the Liberal Democrats. Cllr Livingstone was elected as MSP for Kirkcaldy with a majority of 4,475 over the SNP. The SNP candidate was again Stewart Hosie, the Convenor of Kirkcaldy Constituency Branch, a past Vice Convenor for Youth Affairs, the SNP's Transport and Telecommunications Spokesperson and a member of the SNP National Council. Stewart Hosie increased the SNP vote by 9.4 % to 32.4 %. Tory Mike Scott Hayward took 10.3 %, down 3.4 % from 1997 while John Mainland obtained 9.4 % for the Lib Dems.
Marilyne Livingstone was born in 1953 and was a Fife councillor before her election as a MSP. As Convenor of the Labour group in the Scottish parliament she acted as a link between, backbenchers and the executive.
The SNP candidate is Colin Welsh, a Social Worker, UNISON member and Convenor of North East Fife SNP. He contested North East Fife in the 1997 Westminster election, coming third with 10.9 %, and at the 199 Scottish election, coming third with 17.7 %. A keen supporter of Hearts, he is also a member of CAMRA.
The Tory candidate is Mike Scott-Hayward, who contested Edinburgh Central in 1997, coming second with 21.2 % and Kirkcaldy in 1999, coming third with 10.3 %, Fife North East in 2001, coming second with 23.6 %. He won the Elie, St Monans & Pittenweem ward on Fife Council for the Tories in August 1999 with 22.0 % of the vote.
The Lib Dem candidate is Alex Cole-Hamilton while the SSP have selected Rudi Vogels.
Assessment:
Rank on Scottish National Party hit list: 32
Swing required for Scottish National Party gain: 7.90 % from Labour to Scottish National Party
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | Marilyn Livingston | 13,645 | 48.14 % | - 5.42 % |
|
Scottish National Party | Stewart Hosie | 9,170 | 32.35 % | + 9.42 % |
|
Conservative | Mike Scott-Hayward | 2,907 | 10.26 % | - 3.40 % |
|
Liberal Democrat | John Mainland | 2,620 | 9.24 % | + 0.57 % |
|
Lab win | Lab majority | 4,475 | 15.79 % | - 14.84 % |
| Logo | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | 12,440 | 43.86 % |
|
Scottish National Party | 8,535 | 30.10 % |
|
Conservative & Unionist Party | 2,936 | 10.35 % |
|
Liberal Democrats | 2,616 | 9.22 % |
 |
Scottish Green Party | 982 | 3.46 % |
|
Scottish Socialist Party | 405 | 1.43 % |
 |
Socialist Labour Party | 326 | 1.15 % |
 |
Natural Law Party | 76 | 0.27 % |
 |
Pro Life Alliance | 44 | 0.16 % |
|
Lab maj | 3,905 | 13.27 % |
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | Dr Lewis Moonie | 18,730 | 53.56% |
|
Scottish National Party | Stewart Hosie | 8,020 | 22.93% |
|
Conservative | Charlotte Black | 4,779 | 13.66% |
|
Liberal Democrat | John Mainland | 3,031 | 8.67% |
 |
Referendum | Victor Baxter | 413 | 1.18% |
| Lab hold | Lab majority | 10,710 | 30.63% |
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