 | 'Fifteen seconds was all Blair thought necessary to deal with both the Scottish and Welsh constitutions yet his speech lasted for more than an hour. This proves that Blair wants all the real decisions affecting Scotland to be made by him in London, not Scots or even the Scottish Labour Party.' Scottish National Party National Convener, Alex Salmond MP. |  |
 | Linda Fabiani |  | Andy Kerr |
 | Craig Stevenson |  | Ewan Hawthorn |
The seat of East Kilbride has been had very stable boundaries since it was formed in February 1974. In 1983 the size of the seat was reduced, shedding some voters to Hamilton. In 1997, the changes are reversed with part of Hamilton being transferred to East Kilbride.
East Kilbride has been held by Labour since its creation in February 1974, when Dr Maurice Miller, previously MP for Glasgow Kelvingrove, had a majority of more than 5,000 over the Conservatives.
The closest Labour have come to losing East Kilbride was in October 1974 when the Scottish National Party's Gordon Murray, Provost of Cumbernauld & Kilsyth District Council, slashed the Labour majority to 2,700 and pushed the Conservatives into third place.
In 1979, Dr Miller's vote went up from 21,000 to 31,000 giving him a majority of 14,000 over the Conservatives, while the Scottish National Party were banished to third place.
In 1983, the combination of boundary changes and the ascendance of the Alliance reduced Dr Miller's majority to 4,300 over the Social Democratic Party's Denis Sullivan.
Dr Miller retired in 1987 and was replaced by Adam Ingram. Mr Ingram was returned with an increased majority of 12,600 over Denis Sullivan of the SDP.
In 1992, Adam Ingram's majority was reduced slightly to just under 12,000, this time over the Scottish National Party's Cllr Kathleen McAlorum, who almost doubled her party's share of the vote, leap-frogging the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the process.
In 1997 Adam Ingram took 27,584 votes (56.5 %) and increased his majority to 17,384 over the SNP's George Gebbie. Although Mr Ingram is almost unknown outside East Kilbride, he is a JP and a member of the Privy Council. He is a Minister of State for Northern Ireland with responsibility for Security, Police, Criminal Justice, Prisons & Economic Development.
As Mr Ingram is not standing for Holyrood, Labour have selected his election agent Andy Kerr to replace him. Kerr was a candidate for Scottish General Secretary when Jack McConnell, this site's number one fan retired but lost out to Alex Rowley. Andy Kerr is a Blairite loyalist who can be relied upon to toe the London line.
The Scottish National party have chosen Linda Fabiani, a Housing Association Director and first time candidate. Ms Fabiani joined the SNP in 1990 and is fifth on the SNP's regional list. She has been tipped by Allan Ross and Lynn Cochrane in the Scotsman to win a regional list seat.
In the 1970s Gordon Murray appealed to Tories saying 'Vote SNP and keep Labour out. Vote Tory and you let Labour in.' It is a philosophy which applies to many seats in Scotland and tactical voting is highly developed. However, allowing Labour in may appeal to a lot of Tories now that Blair is pursuing Thatcherite policies with more vigour than John Major ever did. In any case, Scottish National Party candidate Craig Stevenson will be hoping that the haemorrhage of Labour's vote in local government by-elections will be reproduced in the General Election. If there is a SNP surge, it is likely to occur in seats like East Kilbride. However, Labour's majority should protect Andy Kerr from anything other than a major SNP advance.
| Feb 1974 - | Labour |
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Adam Ingram | 27,584 | 56.53% |
| Scottish National Party | George Gebbie | 10,200 | 20.90% |
| Conservative | Clifford Herbertson | 5,863 | 12.02% |
| Liberal Democrat | Kate Philbrick | 3,527 | 7.23% |
 | Pro Life Alliance | John Deigham | 1,170 | 2.40% |
 | Referendum | Julie Gray | 306 | 0.63% |
 | Natural Law | Ewan Gilmour | 146 | 0.30% |
| Lab hold | Lab majority | 17,384 | 35.63% |
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