Constituency profile
Created ahead of the 2005 general election, Paisley and Renfrewshire North is a primarily rural county constituency in west-central Scotland that falls within the Renfrewshire council area. Until 2015, it was considered a safe Labour seat before a +25.6 percent handed the constituency to the SNP with a majority of over 9,000. In 2017, this was reduced to just over 2,613.
Constituency map published by the Boundary Commission for Scotland (5MB PDF)
My thank you message to the voters of Paisley and Renfrewshire North, 9 June 2017
I would like to thank the 12,842 residents of Paisley and Renfrewshire North who cast their vote for me yesterday and the local volunteers who held with my campaign. While we did not quite manage to unseat the SNP in this constituency, they have seen their lead slashed and an overwhelming majority of voters opt for one of the pro-union candidates.
The nationalists have also lost many of the seats across Scotland to the Conservatives, including big names like Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson. Closer to home, I send my best wishes to Paul Masterton who beat the SNP over in East Renfrewshire and Bill Grant who did the same in in Ayrshire. I’m sure they will be first-class Members of Parliament and they will be joining a Scottish Conservative contingent of 13 MPs heading to the House of Commons to represent our interests. It seems increasingly clear that Nicola Sturgeon’s dream of a second Scottish independence referendum any time in the near future is now dead.
It has been an enormous pleasure standing for election in the constituency where I grew up and we have seen our best showing locally for decades, more than doubling the Conservative vote. It was a humbling experience at the count in Paisley last night, seeing piles of votes emerging from boxes across Renfrewshire. I will never forget the trust that so many thousands of people put in me – and to every single one of you, I am immeasurably grateful.
I also wish my opponent Gavin Newlands well for the future. It is a great privilege to represent this beautiful constituency and I am sure he, along with other SNP MPs, will be reflecting seriously on yesterday's result. We will continue to put forward the positive case for Scotland’s place in the United Kingdom as well as fighting for a stronger economy, better public services and higher standards of living for all.
The fight will go on across Renfrewshire and if you would like to get involved, please get in touch with the Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Conservatives.
With all my best wishes,
David
