A THIRD of the seats at Holyrood are to be redrawn and renamed under boundary changes that would see Eastwood near Glasgow disappear from the electoral map.

While Humza Yousaf’s Glasgow constituency looks more winnable for the SNP under the plans, Nicola Sturgeon’s neighbouring seat would be radically redrawn and straddle the River Clyde.

In the first such review in 15 years, Boundaries Scotland proposes changing the shape and name of 25 of the 73 first-past-the-post seats at Holyrood for the 2026 election.

Of the rest, 21 are wholly unchanged, including the three island constituencies, and 26 retain their name while undergoing “relatively little change” in shape.

One seat, North East Fife, keeps its boundaries but changes its name to Fife North East to distinguish it from the equivalent seat at Westminster.

However the other 25 undergo a wide variety of changes. 

Eastwood, which is roughly equivalent to East Renfrewshire Council, is broken up, with its northern suburbs - Clarkston, Busby, Giffnock and Thornliebank - added to parts of Glasgow Cathcart and Glasgow Pollok to become Glasgow Priesthill & Giffnock.

While in the south, Newton Mearns and Eaglesham are put into Renfrewshire South alongside Barrhead, Neilston, Kilbarchan and Lochwinnoch.

North of the Clyde, Strathkelvin & Bearsden disappears, with Bearsden becoming part of a new Bearsden, Milngavie & Clydebank North seat, and most of the rest going into a new Kirkintilloch & Kilsyth seat.

Mr Yousaf’s Glasgow Pollok seat lose its southern foot and picks up Pollokshields from Ms Sturgeon’s constituency, becoming Glasgow Cardonald & Pollok.

Ms Sturgeon’s Glasgow Southside seat is scattered.  Renamed Glasgow Central & Provan, it takes in a strip along the south bank of the Clyde from Shieldhall to the Gorbals, plus another on the north bank from Yorkhill to Bridgeton.

Govanhill and Polmadie go into a new Glasgow Southside & Cathcart seat

However it is by no means certain that Ms Sturgeon would stand again in 2026.

If the plans go ahead, the average mainland seat will be home to 60,000 voters, ranging from 54,000 in Glasgow Cardonald & Pollok to 69,000 in Inverness & Nairn.

West central Scotland loses a seat while the Lothians gain one to reflect recent population growth in the east, with a sprawling new Edinburgh Forth & Linlithgow seat stretching from Cramond on the edge of the capital deep into West Lothian.

The largest seat would still be Caithness, Sutherland and Ross at 12,792 square kilometres, while Edinburgh Northern & Leith, at 13 sq km, would be the smallest.

The proposals now go out to an initial month-long consultation, followed by subsequent discussions, including local inquiries where at least 100 local electors object. 

Boundaries Scotland chair Ronnie Hinds said the provisional proposals were “robust”. 

He said: “They represent a necessary rebalancing to reflect movements of the electorate in Scotland since parliamentary boundaries were last reviewed. 

“We have reduced the variation in electorate between the largest and smallest constituencies by over a third and increased the number of constituencies sitting within a single council area from 51 to 59. 

“We will reflect on responses to the consultation and make changes where appropriate and where the legislation allows us to do so. We strongly encourage people to make their views heard. We particularly want to hear suggestions for alternative boundaries that comply with the legislative requirements and for constituency names.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, whose vast Edinburgh Western seat would be slashed in size under the plans, said: “These reviews are an important opportunity to ensure that residents in a changing Scotland can have their voices heard on an equal footing.

"However, I am surprised to see they are proposing a constituency that takes long-standing and historic parts of Edinburgh and combines them with areas as far out as Linlithgow. 

“This would seem to cut against Boundaries Scotland's responsibility to try and connect natural communities."

A Scottish Tory spokesperson added: "These proposals are at an early stage and we will scrutinise them in full before responding.”