Fife constituency boundaries face shake-up in national review

If current provisional proposals are approved, the Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, and Mid Fife and Glenrothes constituencies would see changes - and Fife North East would undergo a minor name tweak.

Boundaries Scotland, an independent non-political institution responsible for the review, said the existing boundaries have been in place since 2011 and used in three Scottish Parliament elections - in 2011, 2016, and 2021.

However, the current review is required by Scottish legislation, and finalised recommendations must be presented to Scottish Ministers by May 1, 2025.

Boundaries Scotland published its provisional proposals last Wednesday, and the public consultation ends on June 17.

The overall number of MSPs will remain at 129, and the review and any subsequent proposals do not affect UK Parliament boundaries, council area or ward boundaries or any services provided within them - but Boundaries Scotland said that boundaries must be reviewed from time to time to ensure fairness.

“The population and therefore the electorate of each constituency is constantly changing with people moving into or out of areas as well as within the same area,” the report stated.

“As a result of these changes, some MSPs may represent considerably more or fewer electors than others. These variations in levels of representation are one of the reasons that we carry out regular reviews of Scottish Parliament boundaries, in order to ensure electoral fairness.”

If the proposals are approved, all five of the Scottish parliamentary constituencies within the Kingdom will see changes. Burntisland would no longer be included in the Kirkcaldy constituency area. Instead, it would be included in the Cowdenbeath boundary along with the western half of ward nine of Fife Council.

The Cowdenbeath constituency would also extend westward to include Charlestown and Limekilns - it previously ended just west of Rosyth - but it would lose Cardenden and Auchterrderren to Mid-Fife and Glenrothes. No other changes are proposed for Mid-Fife and Glenrothes, leaving the coastal towns of Methil, Buckhaven, and East Wemyss for the Kirkcaldy constituency. The Dunfermline constituency remains largely unchanged, but North East Fife could become Fife North East

The proposed changes kicked off a one month public consultation period ending.Once that closes, Boundary Scotland will consider making further revisions based on feedback, and if changes are made, another one-month consultation will be held.

“We will reflect on responses to the consultation and make changes where appropriate and where the legislation allows us to do so. We strongly encourage people to make their views heard,” said Ronnie Hinds, chair of Boundaries Scotland, and a former chief executive of Fife Council.

Boundaries Scotland must review and make recommendations for the boundaries of 73 constituencies and eight regions. The aim is to design constituencies where the electorate is as close to the electoral quota as is practicable- making each one as close to 59,902 voters as possible.

“I believe that our provisional proposals offer a robust set of constituencies within the legislative rules set for us,” said Mr Hinds. “They represent a necessary rebalancing to reflect movements of the electorate in Scotland since parliamentary boundaries were last reviewed.”

The consultation is available here at Boundaries Scotland.