Dunfermline East (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Dunfermline East (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Dunfermline East
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Major settlements	Cowdenbeath
1983 (1983)–2005 (2005)
Number of members	One
Replaced by	Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath Dunfermline & West Fife Glenrothes
Created from	Central Fife Dunfermline

Dunfermline East was a burgh constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post voting system.

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election from parts of the seats of Central Fife and Dunfermline. It was abolished for the 2005 general election as part of a major revision in the composition of parliamentary constituencies in Scotland.

Most of Dunfermline East and its neighbouring constituency Kirkcaldy now make up the new seat of Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath. The remaining parts of the seat were moved to the new Dunfermline and West Fife and Glenrothes constituencies.

The constituency's name was something of a misnomer as it never actually included any part of the town of Dunfermline. Cowdenbeath was the largest town in the constituency.

Members of Parliament

The constituency's only MP was Gordon Brown of the Labour Party, who was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1992 to 1997 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, when he became Prime Minister.

Election		Member[1]	Party
	1983	Gordon Brown	Labour

Election results

General Election 1983: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Brown	18,515	51.5
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	D Harcus	7,214	20.1
	Conservative	C Shenton	6,764	18.8
	SNP	G Hunter	2,573	7.2
	Communist	A Maxwell	864	2.4
Majority			11,301	31.4
Turnout				72.0
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1987: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Brown	25,381	64.5	+13.0
	Conservative	C Shenton	5,792	14.8	-4.0
	SDP–Liberal Alliance	E Harris	4,122	10.5	-9.6
	SNP	A McGarry	3,901	10.0	+2.8
Majority			19,589	49.7
Turnout				76.6	+4.6
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.5

General Election 1992: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Brown	23,692	62.4	-3.1
	Conservative	M Tennant	6,248	16.5	+1.7
	SNP	J Lloyd	5,746	15.1	+5.1
	Liberal Democrat	T Little	2,262	6.0	-4.5
Majority			17,444	45.9
Turnout				75.6	-1.0
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.4

General Election 1997: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Brown	24,441	66.8	+4.4
	SNP	J Ramage	5,690	15.6	+0.5
	Conservative	I Mitchell	3,656	10.0	-6.5
	Liberal Democrat	J Tolson	2,164	5.9	-0.1
	Referendum Party	T Dunsmore	632	1.7	+1.7
Majority			18,751	51.2
Turnout				69.6	-7.0
	Labour hold		Swing	2.0

General Election 2001: Dunfermline East
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon Brown	19,487	64.8	-2.0
	SNP	Johnny Mellon	4,424	14.7	-0.8
	Conservative	Stuart Randall	2,838	9.4	-0.6
	Liberal Democrat	John Mainland	2,281	7.6	+1.7
	Scottish Socialist	Andrew Jackson	770	2.6	N/A
	UKIP	Tom Dunsmore	286	1.0	N/A
Majority			15,063	50.1
Turnout			30,086	57.0	-13.2
	Labour hold		Swing	+0.6

References

1. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "D" (part 4)

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Rushcliffe	Constituency represented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer 1997–2005	Succeeded by Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath