Situated near to the eastern outskirts of Glasgow, Airdrie and Shotts is the successor seat to John Smith's old Monklands East fortress. The late Labour leader had a 15,712 majority in 1992, but following his death in 1994 the Labour candidate, Helen Liddell, won by only 1,640 votes over the SNP in a bitter by-election contest.
Airdrie is by far the largest centre of population and, like Shotts, is an industrial town suffering from a decline in traditional industries such as engineering, coal and iron and steel. Shotts is home to one of Scotland's main prisons.
One element which featured at the 1994 by-election was a perception that Airdrie was broadly Protestant - while neighbouring Coatbridge was broadly Catholic. It was claimed - and disputed - that Monklands Council favoured Catholic Coatbridge over Protestant Airdrie.
The SNP’s vote receded from its by-election levels at the 1997 General Election, giving Helen Liddell a majority of 15, 412 (37.4%). Labour remained strong at the 1999 Scottish Parliament elections, which saw Karen Whitefield win the seat with a majority of 8,985 (27.05%).