2014 Cowdenbeath by-election
The Cowdenbeath by-election, 2014 was a by-election held for the Scottish Parliament constituency of Cowdenbeath on 23 January 2014, following the death of the constituency's MSP, Helen Eadie, after having been diagnosed with cancer the previous year.
Helen Eadie had represented the people of 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 a majority of 1,247 votes.
In the by-election, the seat was held by Labour candidate Alex Rowley, increasing Labour's vote share to 56%. There was an 11.25% swing from SNP to Labour. After the election, The SNP dismissed this with their candidate Natalie McGarry stating:
"I heard on the doorsteps from a lot of traditional Labour voters who said: 'Listen, Natalie, I'm not going to vote for you, but I am actually thinking about voting yes in the referendum'.
"So Alex Rowley may be the victor tonight, but I believe the whole of Scotland will celebrate a Yes victory in September."Result
