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Talk:Strathkelvin and Bearsden (UK Parliament constituency)

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1983 change figures

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As the seat did not exist prior to the 1983 general election I am wondering what the percentage change figures are based on - is it a notional result for if the seat had existed in 1979? If so I am not sure how reliable it is as a Conservative vote share of 46.5% seems unlikely given that in the main predecessor seat East Dunbartonshire the Conservatives only polled just over 34% in 1979. Equally the SNP polled 20.6% in the old East Dunbartonshire so the 12.9% implied here seems a bit low, especially as they had also polled about 20% in West Stirlingshire in 1979, parts of which had also been added to the new constituency. Dunarc (talk) 21:06, 26 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have discovered that The Times Guide to the House of Commons 1979 suggests that the notional 1979 figures compiled for the BBC and ITN did suggest a large Conservative majority for this seat, so the change figures may well be based on these notional results. However, even if that is so I think it should be made clear. I am also somewhat sceptical of the merits of notional changes, particularly for 1983 as I know it was felt at the time that some of these notional 1979 figures may not have been that accurate (and some of the 1983 results seemed to confirm this - Birmingham Erdington was the famous example). Dunarc (talk) 19:57, 28 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]