Dunfermline (Gaelic: Dùn Phàrlain) is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Fife. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it is also one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 28. Created in 2011, it comprises parts of the former constituencies of Dunfermline East and Dunfermline West.
Bill Walker narrowly won the seat for the Scottish National Party in 2011, however he resigned after being convicted of assault charges in 2013. This led to the 2013 Dunfermline by-election, in which Labour's Cara Hilton was elected, defeating the SNP's Shirley-Anne Somerville. However Somerville subsequently ousted Hilton in the 2016 election and was re-elected in 2021 and 2026.
Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the Mid Scotland and Fife region are: Clackmannanshire and Dunblane, Cowdenbeath, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes, Fife North East, Perthshire North, Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Stirling. The region covers all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area and all of the Stirling council area.Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
Constituency boundaries and council area
Fife is represented in the Scottish Parliament by five constituencies, Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Mid Fife and Glenrothes and Fife North East.Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140-142.
The Dunfermline constituency was created by the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election from the following electoral wards of Fife Council:Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 141.
In full: West Fife and Coastal Villages Dunfermline Central Dunfermline North Dunfermline South In part: Rosyth (shared with Cowdenbeath)
At the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025 the seat boundaries were very slightly altered by a minor change of the boundary with the Cowdenbeath constituency in order to match ward boundaries (no electors were affected by this boundary change).Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 110.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Election Member Party 2011 Bill Walker SNP 2012 Independent 2013 Cara Hilton Labour 2016 Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP
Election results
2020s
2010s
Footnotes
Bibliography
External links