2014 Cowdenbeath by-election

The 2014 Cowdenbeath by-election was a by-election held for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Cowdenbeath on 23 January 2014.

Background

The by-election was held following the death of the constituency's MSP, Helen Eadie, who had been diagnosed with cancer the previous year.
Eadie had represented Cowdenbeath since the first election to the Scottish Parliament in 1999, making her one of the few MSPs to have served in the Scottish Parliament continuously since its inception. Prior to the 2011 election the seat was known as Dunfermline East. In the 2011 election Eadie held the seat with 46.5% of the vote and a majority of 1,247 votes over the second placed Scottish National Party candidate.

In the by-election, the seat was held by Labour candidate Alex Rowley, increasing Labour's vote share to 55.8% and majority to 27.4% over SNP candidate Natalie McGarry, with an 11.25% swing.

Despite Labour's by-election success, in the subsequent 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Annabelle Ewing gained the constituency for the SNP, although Rowley was re-elected to the Scottish parliament as an additional member for the Mid Scotland Fife region.