Glasgow East is one of seven constituencies covering the Glasgow City council area. All are entirely within the council area.
Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area was covered by ten constituencies, of which two straddled boundaries with other council areas. The East constituency includes the area of the former Glasgow Baillieston constituency and parts of the former Glasgow Shettleston constituency.[1]Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the names and boundaries of the older Westminster constituencies.
Baillieston was always won by the Labour Party, as was its predecessor Glasgow Provan from its creation in 1955. Shettleston was won by the Labour Party at every election from 1950 onwards (in 1945 it was won by the Independent Labour Party). In 2008, the Scottish National Party succeeded in winning the seat from Labour in a by-election on a very large swing. Prior to the by-election, it had been one of the safest Labour seats in the United Kingdom.
The East constituency contains part of the M8 motorway and main railway lines into the city centre; the home ground of Glasgow Celtic football club is within the constituency. It is one of the most deprived areas in the UK: average male life expectancy is 68, five years less than the Scottish average, while in the Shettleston area it is 63.[2]
On 28 June2008, David Marshall MP announced he would step down because of a stress-related illness and was appointed Steward of the Manor of Northstead on 30 June2008, thus effectively resigning from the Commons.[3] Although the seat represented Labour's third highest majority in Scotland, they faced a strong challenge from the SNP, hot on the heels of Labour's disastrous performance in the 2008 Henley by-election.[4] Nominations for candidates closed at 4pm on 9 July, and the election took place on 24 July.[5]
At around 0230 hours on 25 July2008, and after a recount, the SNP candidate John Mason won the seat by a plurality of 365 votes over the Labour Party candidate Margaret Curran.[6]
