Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

Highlands and Islands
Scottish Parliament electoral region
Highlands and Islands shown within Scotland
Created	1999
MSPs	Scottish National Party 9 Liberal Democrats 2 Labour Party 2 Conservative 2
Constituencies	Argyll and Bute Caithness, Sutherland and Ross Inverness and Nairn, Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar Orkney Shetland Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
Council areas	Argyll and Bute (part) Highland Moray(part) Na h-Eileanan Siar Orkney Isles Shetland Isles

The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Eight of the parliament's first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).

The name Highlands and Islands is much older than the electoral region. The Highlands and Islands area has a large area of overlap with the Scottish Highlands, and the two names are often regarded as representing the same area.

The Highlands and Islands region is the largest of the eight electoral regions in terms of area, but the smallest in terms of population and electorate. It has boundaries with the North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife and West of Scotland electoral regions.

The most high-profile MSP for the region has been Winnie Ewing, the matriarch of the Ewing political family.

Constituencies and council areas

2011–

As a result of the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries the boundaries of the region and constituencies were redrawn for the 2011 general election.

1999–2011

The constituencies were created in 1999 with the names and boundaries of Westminster constituencies, as existing at that time. They covered all of four council areas, the Highland council area, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles council area), the Orkney Isles council area and the Shetland Isles council area, and most of two others, the Argyll and Bute council area and the Moray council area:

Constituency

Map

Argyll and Bute covers most of the Argyll and Bute council area. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross covers a northern portion of the Highland council area. Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber covers a southern portion of the Highland council area. Moray covers most of the Moray council area. Orkney covers the Orkney Isles council area. Ross, Skye and Inverness West covers a central portion of the Highland council area. Shetland covers the Shetland Isles council area. Western Isles covers Na h-Eileanan Siar.

A south-eastern portion of the Argyll and Bute area is covered by the Dumbarton constituency, which is in the West of Scotland region. An eastern portion of the Moray area is covered by the Gordon constituency, in the North East Scotland region.

Boundary changes

The Boundary Commission also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament. Highlands and Islands was amended so as to contain the newly redrawn constituencies of Argyll and Bute; Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Inverness and Nairn; Moray; Na h-Eileanan an Iar; Orkney Islands; Shetland Islands; and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

2011 Scottish Parliament election

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

• 9 Scottish National Party MSPs (six constituency members and three additional members)
• 2 Liberal Democrat MSPs (both constituency members)
• 2 Labour MSPs (both additional members)
• 2 Conservative MSPs (both additional members)

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Highlands and Islands
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll and Bute	Michael Russell	SNP hold
	Caithness, Sutherland and Ross	Rob Gibson	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Inverness and Nairn	Fergus Ewing	SNP hold
	Moray	Richard Lochhead	SNP hold
	Na h-Eileanan an Iar	Alasdair Allan	SNP hold
	Orkney	Liam McArthur	Liberal Democrats hold
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats hold
	Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch	Dave Thompson	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats

Additional member results

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Highlands and Islands
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	John Finnie Jean Urquhart Mike MacKenzie	3	+1	85,082	47.5%	+13.1%
	Labour	Rhoda Grant David Stewart	2	-1	25,884	14.5%	-3.2%
	Liberal Democrats		0	±0	21,729	12.1%	-8.0%
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon	2	±0	20,843	11.6%	-0.8%
	Scottish Green		0	0	9,076	5.1%	+0.4%
	Scottish Christian		0	0	3,541	2.0%	-1.4%
	UK Independence Party		0	0	3,372	1.9%	+1.2%
	All Scotland Pensioners Party		0	0	2,770	1.5%	-0.6%
	Ban Bankers Bonuses		0	0	1,764	1.0%	n/a
	Liberal		0	0	1,969	0.9%	n/a
	Socialist Labour		0	0	1,406	0.8%	+0.2%
	BNP		0	0	1,134	0.6%	-0.5%
	Scottish Socialist		0	0	509	0.3%	-0.2%
	Solidarity		0	0	204	0.1%	-0.9%

2007 Scottish Parliament election

In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

• 6 Scottish National Party MSPs (four constituency MSPs and two additional members)
• 4 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency MSPs)
• 3 Labour MSPs (all additional members)
• 2 Conservative MSPs (both additional members)

Constituency results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Highlands and Islands
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll and Bute	Jim Mather	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats
	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Jamie Stone	Liberal Democrats hold
	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	Fergus Ewing	SNP hold
	Moray	Richard Lochhead	SNP hold
	Orkney	Liam McArthur	Liberal Democrats hold
	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	John Farquhar Munro	Liberal Democrats hold
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats hold
	Western Isles	Alasdair Allan	SNP gain from Labour

Additional member results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Highlands and Islands
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Rob Gibson David Thompson	2	±0	63,979	34.4%	+11.0
	Liberal Democrats		0	±0	37,001	19.9%	+1.1
	Labour	Peter Peacock Rhoda Grant David Stewart	3	+1	32,952	17.7%	-4.6
	Conservative	Mary Scanlon Jamie McGrigor	2	±0	23,334	12.6%	-3.4
	Scottish Green		0	-1	8,602	4.6%	-3.6
	Scottish Christian		0	±0	6,332	3.4%	+3.4
	Scottish Senior Citizens		0	±0	3,841	2.1%	+2.1
	BNP		0	±0	2,152	1.2%	+1.2
	Solidarity		0	±0	1,833	1.0%	+1.0
	UKIP		0	±0	1,287	0.7%	-0.5
	Socialist Labour		0	±0	1,027	0.6%	-0.4
	Scottish Socialist		0	±0	973	0.5%	-4.8
	Publican Party		0	±0	914	0.5%	+0.5
	Christian Peoples		0	±0	885	0.5%	+0.5
	Scottish Voice		0	±0	450	0.2%	+0.2
	Scottish Enterprise		0	±0	211	0.1%	+0.1

2003 Scottish Parliament election

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

• 5 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency MSPs)
• 4 Scottish National Party MSPs (two constituency MSPs and two additional members)
• 3 Labour MSPs (one constituency MSP and two additional mermbers)
• 2 Conservative MSPs (both additional members)
• 1 Green MSP (additional member)

Constituency results

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Highlands and Islands
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll and Bute	George Lyon	Liberal Democrats
	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Jamie Stone	Liberal Democrats
	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	Fergus Ewing	SNP
	Moray	Margaret Ewing	SNP
	Orkney	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrats
	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	John Farquhar Munro	Liberal Democrats
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats
	Western Isles	Alasdair Morrison	Labour

Changes:

• Margaret Ewing, Scottish National Party MSP for Moray, died on 21 March 2006. The by-election was won by Richard Lochhead of the SNP.

Additional member results

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Highlands and Islands
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Jim Mather Rob Gibson	2	±0	39,497	23.43%	-4.3%
	Labour	Peter Peacock Maureen Macmillan	2	−1	37,605	22.31%	-3.16
	Liberal Democrats		0	0	31,655	18.78%	-2.65%
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon	2	±0	26,989	16.01%	+1.07%
	Scottish Green	Eleanor Scott	1	+1	13,935	8.27%	+4.52%
	Scottish Socialist		0	0	9,000	5.34%	+4.46%
	UKIP		0	0	1,947	1.16%	N/A
	Robbie the Pict (Independent)		0	0	1,822	1.08%	+0.51%
	Countryside Party		0	0	1,768	1.05%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	0	1,617	0.96%	-0.43%
	Scottish People's		0	0	793	0.47%	N/A
	Independent		0	0	353	0.21%	+0.03
	Rural Party		0	0	177	0.11%	N/A

Changes:

• Dave Petrie replaced Mary Scanlon. Scanlon resigned as an MSP in April 2006 to contest the Moray by-election following the death of Margaret Ewing. Petrie was next on the Conservative list.

1999 Scottish Parliament election

In the 1999 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

• 5 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency members)
• 4 Scottish National Party MSPs (two constituency and two additional members)
• 4 Labour MSPs (one constituency and three additional members)
• 2 Conservative MSP (both additional members)

Constituency results

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Highlands and Islands
Constituency		Elected member	Result
	Argyll and Bute	George Lyon	Liberal Democrats gain
	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross	Jamie Stone	Liberal Democrats gain
	Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber	Fergus Ewing	SNP gain
	Moray	Margaret Ewing	SNP gain
	Orkney	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrats gain
	Ross, Skye and Inverness West	John Farquhar Munro	Liberal Democrats gain
	Shetland	Tavish Scott	Liberal Democrats gain
	Western Isles	Alasdair Morrison	Labour gain

Additional member results

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Highlands and Islands
Party		Elected candidates	Seats	+/−	Votes	%	+/−%
	SNP	Winnie Ewing Duncan Hamilton	2	N/A	55,593	27.73%	N/A
	Labour	Peter Peacock Maureen Macmillan Rhoda Grant	3	N/A	51,371	25.47%	N/A
	Liberal Democrats		0	N/A	43,226	21.43%	N/A
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor Mary Scanlon	2	N/A	30,122	14.94%	N/A
	Scottish Green		0	N/A	7,560	3.75%	N/A
	I Noble (Independent)		0	N/A	3,522	1.75%	N/A
	Socialist Labour		0	N/A	2,808	1.39%	N/A
	Highlands and Islands		0	N/A	2,607	1.29%	N/A
	Scottish Socialist Party		0	N/A	1,770	0.88%	N/A
	Robbie the Pict (Independent)		0	N/A	1,151	0.57%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	712	0.35%	N/A
	Natural Law		0	N/A	536	0.27%	N/A
	Independent		0	N/A	354	0.18%	N/A