Before 1997, the constituency was the safest Conservative seat in Scotland. In the 1997 Labour landslide, it was won by Jim Murphy who held the seat until Kirsten Oswald of the Scottish National Party was elected in the 2015 SNP landslide. In 2017, the constituency returned to Conservative control for the first time in 20 years, when it was gained by Conservative candidate Paul Masterton. However in the 2019 election Oswald was re-elected, gaining the seat for the SNP once again.