Argyll and Bute (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Argyll and Bute (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Argyll and Bute County constituency
Argyll and Bute shown within Scotland
Created:	1983
MP:	Alan Reid
Party:	Liberal Democrats
Type:	House of Commons
Council areas:	Argyll and Bute
EP constituency:	Scotland

Argyll and Bute is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 1983 general election, merging most of Argyll with some of Bute and Northern Ayrshire. A similar constituency, also called Argyll and Bute, is used by the Scottish Parliament.

Boundaries

When created in 1983, the constituency covered the area of the Argyll district of the Strathclyde region. In 2005 it was enlarged to cover the Argyll and Bute council area, which had been created in 1996. Thus Helensburgh, already included within the new council area, was included in the constituency.

Helensburgh had been within the Dunbarton district until 1996, and within the Dumbarton constituency until 2005.

Politics

Argyll & Bute is one of the few four-way marginal constituencies in Britain. The Liberal Democrats have held the seat since 1987, when they took it from the Conservatives and currently, the Conservatives, Labour and the SNP are capable of taking the seat with a small swing of less than 6.3%. The equivalent seat to Argyll & Bute in the Scottish Parliament was lost to the SNP in 2007, and was again taken by the nationalists in 2011.

Member of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	John MacKay	Conservative
	1987	Ray Michie	Liberal
	1988		Liberal Democrat
	2001	Alan Reid	Liberal Democrat

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2010: Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Reid	14,292	31.6	−4.9
	Conservative	Gary Mulvaney	10,861	24.0	+0.5
	Labour	David Graham	10,274	22.7	+0.3
	SNP	Mike MacKenzie	8,563	18.9	+3.4
	Scottish Green	Elaine Morrison	789	1.7	N/A
	Independent	George Doyle	272	0.6	N/A
	Scottish Jacobite	John Black	156	0.3	N/A
Majority			3,431	7.6
Turnout			45,207	67.3	+3.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−2.7

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Reid	15,786	36.5	+3.7
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor	10,150	23.5	−0.2
	Labour	Carolyn Manson	9,696	22.4	−0.3
	SNP	Isobel Strong	6,716	15.5	−2.0
	Scottish Socialist	Deirdre Henderson	881	2.0	−1.4
Majority			5,636	13.0
Turnout			43,229	64.2	+4.1
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+2.0

General Election 2001: Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Alan Reid	9,245	29.9	−10.3
	Labour	Hugh Raven	7,592	24.5	+8.9
	Conservative	Dave Petrie	6,436	20.8	+1.8
	SNP	Agnes Samuel	6,433	20.8	−2.4
	Scottish Socialist	Des Divers	1,251	4.0	N/A
Majority			1,653	5.4
Turnout			30,957	63.0	−10.0
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	−9.6

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Ray Michie	14,359	40.2	+5.3
	SNP	Prof Neil MacCormick	8,278	23.2	−0.6
	Conservative	R.M. Leishman	6,774	18.9	−8.8
	Labour	Dr A.A. Syed	5,596	15.7	+2.1
	Referendum Party	M.A.S.G. Stewart	713	2.0	N/A
Majority			6,081	17.0
Turnout
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing

General Election 1992:Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrat	Ray Michie	12,739	34.9	-2.4
	Conservative	John Corrie	10,117	27.7	-5.8
	SNP	Prof. Neil MacCormick	8,689	23.8	+6.7
	Labour	Des Browne	4,946	13.6	+1.5
Majority			2,622	7.2	+3.4
Turnout			36,491	76.1	+0.6
	Liberal Democrat hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Ray Michie	13,726	37.3
	Conservative	John MacKay	12,332	33.5
	SNP	R.R. Shaw	6,297	17.1
	Labour	D.Tierney	4,437	12.1
Majority			1,394	3.8
Turnout				75.5
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1983: Argyll and Bute
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John MacKay	13,380	38.6
	Liberal	Ray Michie	9,536	27.5
	SNP	I. Smith	8,514	24.6
	Labour	C. McCafferty	3,204	9.3
Majority			3,844	11.1
Turnout				72.9