Bathgate and Linlithgow
Scotland · County constituency · West Lothian borough
About the Bathgate and Linlithgow constituency
Bathgate and Linlithgow is a county constituency in Scotland, covering most or all of West Lothian. The sitting MP is Kirsteen Sullivan (Labour (Co-op)), first elected in July 2024.
At the 2024 general election, Labour won Bathgate and Linlithgow with 47.0% of the vote, ahead of the SNP on 27.2%, a majority of 8,323 votes. Turnout was 58.3%.
If a general election were held today, PollCheck's projection at the current seven-poll average has the SNP on 32.7% and Labour on 32.4% in Bathgate and Linlithgow, a margin of 0.3 points, a projected change from Labour since 2024. The projection updates automatically as new polls are added.
Demographically, Bathgate and Linlithgow is a Remain-leaning area (an estimated 42.6% voted Leave in 2016). About 42.6% of residents hold a degree, 65.1% of homes are owner-occupied, and the seat has a median age of about 43 (2021 Census).
Across the last 5 general elections on record, the seat has been won by the SNP 3 times, Labour 2 times (earlier years may be on predecessor boundaries).
Who lives in Bathgate and Linlithgow? Constituency demographics
From the 2021 Census and 2016 EU referendum estimates. Constituency-level data on 2024 boundaries.
How did Bathgate and Linlithgow vote in 2024 and how would it vote now?
2024 vote shares from the HoC Library. Current projection is at the 7-poll average.
2024 general election
Current projection
Map of Bathgate and Linlithgow
Switch between ward-level 2024 election winners and a demographic view. Ward winners are Britain Elects' / New Statesman modelled estimates with an average ~4pp margin of error per ward. The demographic view splits the seat into small neighbourhoods (around 800 residents each, from Scotland's 2022 Census). Hover any area for detail.
How Bathgate and Linlithgow voted at the Scottish Parliament election (7 May 2026)
Bathgate and Linlithgow crosses multiple Holyrood boundaries: Bathgate (79%), Falkirk East and Linlithgow (18%), Almond Valley (2%). Scotland uses the Additional Member System: voters cast one ballot for a constituency MSP and a second for a regional list. The figures below are the constituency vote.
| Holyrood constituency | Share of Bathgate and Linlithgow | Winner | Runner-up | Elected MSP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bathgate | 79% | SNP 40.7% | Labour 24.0% | Pauline Stafford |
| Falkirk East and Linlithgow | 18% | SNP 38.6% | Labour 24.1% | Martyn Day |
| Almond Valley | 2% | SNP 46.3% | Labour 21.9% | Angela Constance |
Holyrood 2026 constituency results from official declarations. Overlap percentages are area-based using the post-2024 Westminster boundary against the new Holyrood second-review boundary (in force from 7 May 2026).
Bathgate and Linlithgow within West Lothian
The Westminster constituency of Bathgate and Linlithgow sits entirely within West Lothian Council. Local council elections are a separate ballot from Westminster general elections - English councils rotate their election cycles and West Lothian was not due to vote in 2026, so the figures below show the most recent council ward results available.
Council overlap
| Council | Share of seat |
|---|---|
| West Lothian | 100% |
Recent council by-elections
Council ward by-elections held inside this seat, most recent first. The result column shows which party won; the share column shows the top three parties’ vote shares on the day.
| Date | Ward | Result | Top 3 vote shares |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Dec 2025 | Whitburn & Blackburn | Ref GAIN from Lab | Ref 32% Lab 28% Con 17% |
| 14 Mar 2025 | Broxburn Uphall and Winchburgh | SNP HOLD | — |
| 15 Nov 2024 | Whitburn and Blackburn | Lab HOLD | — |
| 23 Aug 2024 | Armadale and Blackridge | Lab GAIN from Ind | — |
| 9 Dec 2022 | Broxburn Uphall and Winchburgh | Lab HOLD | — |
Most recent council ward results
Latest council winner per ward. Where the council held a May 2026 election, those results are shown; otherwise we show the most recent available ward result (via DCLEAPIL, 2014-2024), or, where the seat was uncontested at the last election, the current sitting councillor from OpenCouncilData. The "Shift since GE2024" column is only computed for May 2026 results - earlier council votes pre-date the GE, so no directional shift is shown.
| Ward | GE2024 winner | Latest council winner | Shift since GE2024 | Turnout |
|---|
Projection trajectory
PollCheck's projection for Bathgate and Linlithgow at each of the last 60 GB polls. Hover the chart for the underlying poll details.
Who has won Bathgate and Linlithgow at past general elections?
2024 result is on current boundaries. The 2019 row is the UK Parliament's notional recalculation onto the 2024 boundaries (directly comparable to 2024). The 2010, 2015 and 2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time and aren't directly comparable.
| Year | Result | MP | Lab | Con | LD | Majority | Turnout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010predecessor | Lab hold | Michael Connarty Linlithgow and East Falkirk MP | 49.8% | 11.9% | 12.8% | 12,553 | 63.6% |
| 2015predecessor | SNP gain from Lab | Martyn Day Linlithgow and East Falkirk MP | 31.0% | 12.0% | 2.0% | 12,934 | 70.8%+7.2 |
| 2017predecessor | SNP hold | Martyn Day Linlithgow and East Falkirk MP | 31.1% | 29.1% | 3.4% | 2,919 | 65.1%-5.7 |
| 2019notional | Scottish National Party winner | Martyn Day Linlithgow and East Falkirk MP, pre-review boundary | 18.8% | 24.6% | 8.2% | 8,671 | 65.9% |
| 2024 | Lab gain from SNP | Kirsteen Sullivan | 47.0% | 7.5% | 5.2% | 8,323 | 58.3%-7.6 |
Bathgate and Linlithgow was created or substantially redrawn by the 2023 boundary review. Pre-2024 rows below are for the predecessor seat Linlithgow and East Falkirk (the seat that covered most of this area), so vote shares and majorities aren’t directly comparable to the post-2024 figures.
Constituencies most like Bathgate and Linlithgow
Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Bathgate and Linlithgow. Politics shown for context.
- ↓Private rent8.8 / 8.7vs 20.2
- ↓Leave42.6 / 42.1vs 53.2
- ↑Social rent25.1 / 25.5vs 16.8
- ↓Private rent8.8 / 9.6vs 20.2
- ↓Leave42.6 / 43.3vs 53.2
- ↑Social rent25.1 / 24.0vs 16.8
- ↓Private rent8.8 / 8.3vs 20.2
- ↓Leave42.6 / 41.2vs 53.2
- ↑Social rent25.1 / 25.8vs 16.8
- ↓Private rent8.8 / 7.6vs 20.2
- ↓Leave42.6 / 37.9vs 53.2
- ↑Graduate42.6 / 41.6vs 33.7
- ↓Leave42.6 / 41.8vs 53.2
- ↑Graduate42.6 / 45.4vs 33.7
- ↓Private rent8.8 / 11.9vs 20.2
What would change this seat?
Move the sliders to set national vote shares. The per-seat projection updates live. Reset returns to the current 7-poll average.
Related
Sources
- 2024 general election results · UK Parliament Election Results portal and House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10009.
- Notional 2019 results on 2024 boundaries · UK Parliament Election Results portal. Recalculated by Parliament; carries assumptions about how 2019 voters would have distributed across the redrawn boundaries.
- Historic general election results (2010-2017) · House of Commons Library historic results files (on the boundaries in force at the time).
- Ward-level GE2024 estimates · Britain Elects / New Statesman - article by Ben Walker, underlying spreadsheet. Modelled from constituency totals; average ~4pp per-ward MoE.
- May 2026 council ward results · Democracy Club via PollCheck's locals 2026 dataset.
- Earlier council ward results (2014-2024) · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (Jason Leman, drawing on Andrew Teale's LEAP dataset and Democracy Club).
- Demographics · ONS Census 2021 (England and Wales), aggregated to constituency level using the ONS LSOA21 -> PCON24 best-fit lookup.
- EU referendum 2016 estimates · Constituency-level Leave vote estimates (Hanretty 2017 method).
- MP details and Cabinet roles · UK Parliament Members API. MP photos are fetched live from the same source.
- Boundary geometry and lookups · ONS Open Geography Portal (PCON24 boundaries, LSOA21 boundaries, LSOA21-WD24-LAD24 best-fit lookup).
- Current projection and trajectory · PollCheck's demographic swingometer applied to the rolling 7-poll average from aggregated GB polls. Not a true MRP - vote-share movements are applied through per-constituency sensitivity multipliers derived from demographic regressions.
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