Glasgow Rutherglen
Labour hold

Once a separate burgh to the south east of Glasgow, Rutherglen has been included in a Glasgow constituency since the early 1970s. Its politics have also converged with those of that near one-party (Labour) state, as an old tendency to Liberal preference from the 1980s was not sustained in the 1990s, although they finished in a strongish third place in both the 1997 General Election and for the 1999 Scottish Parliament.

Tommy McAvoy is one of Labour's silent hewers of wood and drawers of water, as a Whip, by 1997 third in seniority as the Pairing Whip. Born 1943 and Catholic-secondary-school-educated, he was a sometime storeman and fork lift truck driver, who served a short, five-year apprenticeship on Strathclyde Council before reaching Westminster in 1987, where, as a Catholic, he follows his church on low abortion limits.

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   Thriving Wealthy Achievers, Suburban Areas 4.49% 14.99% 29.94 Affluent Greys, Rural Communities 0.00% 2.13% 0.00 Prosperous Pensioners, Retirement Areas 1.18% 2.49% 47.52 Expanding Affluent Executives, Family Areas 1.35% 4.43% 30.54 Well-Off Workers, Family Areas 9.45% 7.27% 129.91 Rising Affluent Urbanites, Town & City Areas 8.37% 2.56% 326.31 Prosperous Professionals, Metropolitan Areas 0.31% 2.04% 15.32 Better-Off Executives, Inner City Areas 1.48% 3.94% 37.56 Settling Comfortable Middle Agers, Mature Home Owning Areas 6.61% 13.04% 50.70 Skilled Workers, Home Owning Areas 5.34% 12.70% 42.05 Aspiring New Home Owners, Mature Communities 2.85% 8.14% 35.00 White Collar Workers, Better-Off Multi Ethnic Areas 1.50% 4.02% 37.37 Striving Older People, Less Prosperous Areas 6.56% 3.19% 205.81 Council Estate Residents, Better-Off Homes 18.38% 11.31% 162.54 Council Estate Residents, High Unemployment 20.22% 3.06% 660.17 Council Estate Residents, Greatest Hardship 11.90% 2.52% 472.68 People in Multi-Ethnic, Low-Income Areas 0.00% 2.10% 0.00 Unclassified Unclassified 0.00% 0.06% 0.00

Area Percent GB Percent Index GB=100   £0-5K 12.30% 9.41% 130.71 £5-10K 19.44% 16.63% 116.90 £10-15K 17.99% 16.58% 108.53 £15-20K 13.87% 13.58% 102.12 £20-25K 10.03% 10.39% 96.52 £25-30K 7.11% 7.77% 91.49 £30-35K 5.04% 5.79% 86.97 £35-40K 3.59% 4.33% 82.94 £40-45K 2.59% 3.27% 79.35 £45-50K 1.89% 2.48% 76.15 £50-55K 1.40% 1.90% 73.28 £55-60K 1.04% 1.47% 70.69 £60-65K 0.79% 1.15% 68.34 £65-70K 0.60% 0.91% 66.18 £70-75K 0.46% 0.72% 64.18 £75-80K 0.36% 0.57% 62.32 £80-85K 0.28% 0.46% 60.58 £85-90K 0.22% 0.37% 58.94 £90-95K 0.18% 0.31% 57.38 £95-100K 0.14% 0.25% 55.90 £100K + 0.64% 1.34% 47.56