Na h-Eileanan an Iar (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Western Isles (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Na h-Eileanan an Iar
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Na h-Eileanan an Iar in Scotland.
Subdivisions of Scotland	Na h-Eileanan Siar
Current constituency
Created	1918 (1918)
Member of Parliament	Angus MacNeil (SNP)
Created from	Ross & Cromarty Inverness-shire
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency	Scotland

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [nə'helanən ə'ɲiəɾ]; formerly Western Isles; English pronunciation: /nə ˈhɪlənən ənˈjɪər/) is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created in 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

History

The constituency was formed by merging together areas which were formerly within the Ross and Cromarty constituency and the Inverness-shire constituency.

Na h-Eileanan an Iar is the Scottish Gaelic for the Western Isles, which was the constituency's name prior to the 2005 general election. A similar constituency, with the same name is used by the Scottish Parliament.

Boundaries

The constituency area is that of the Outer Hebrides, known also as Na h-Eileanan Siar, and the constituency has the smallest electorate in the United Kingdom, one-fifth of the size of the largest, the Isle of Wight, with the latter also being an island constituency. However, the Isle of Wight is a substantially smaller parliamentary constituency in geographical terms. It has been suggested that Na h-Eileanan an Iar could be combined with the Orkney and Shetland constituency: the resulting combined electorate would still be well below the average constituency quota. Meanwhile the Scottish Boundary commission in 1980 originally proposed that the seat should be extended to include the Skye and Lochalsh areas, however this was overturned at a public enquiry. Generally, overriding considerations of sheer geographical size, a disparate population and of convenience for the MPs concerned as well as tradition and identity have tended to override the arguments about numerical imbalance. Furthermore, a change in the Boundary Commission's rules in 2000 added rule 3a which forbids Orkney or Shetland being combined with another council area.

Local government areas

When created, the area of the constituency was divided between two local government areas; the counties of Ross and Cromarty and Inverness-shire. The division line was the Lewis-Harris boundary, with Lewis in Ross and Cromarty and Harris in Inverness-shire.

In 1975 the constituency area became also an island council area, known as the Western Isles council area. That same area became one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland in 1996. The council area is known also as Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Politics

The seat has been a two-way marginal between the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party for many years. In the 2005 general election and the 2010 general election it was one of only two seats outside Northern Ireland in which the Conservative Party obtained less than 5% of the vote and was pushed into fifth place.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1918	Donald Murray	Liberal
	1922	Sir William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts	National Liberal
	1923	Alexander Mackenzie Livingstone	Liberal
	1929	Thomas Ramsay	Liberal
	1931		National Liberal
	1935	Malcolm Macmillan	Labour
	1970	Donald Stewart	SNP
	1987	Calum MacDonald	Labour
	2005	Angus MacNeil	SNP

Election results

2010s

General Election 2010: : Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Angus MacNeil	6,723	45.7	+0.8
	Labour	Donald John MacSween	4,838	32.9	-1.6
	Independent	Murdo Murray	1,412	9.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrat	Jean Davis	1,097	7.5	-0.5
	Conservative	Sheena Louise Norquay	647	4.4	+0.0
Majority			1,885	12.8
Turnout			14,717	66.1	+0.7
	SNP hold		Swing	+1.2

2000s

General Election 2005: Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Angus MacNeil	6,213	44.9	+8.0
	Labour	Calum MacDonald	4,772	34.5	−10.5
	Liberal Democrat	Jean Davis	1,096	7.9	+1.4
	Christian Vote	George Hargreaves	1,048	7.6	N/A
	Conservative	Andy Maciver	610	4.4	−5.1
	Scottish Socialist	Joanne Telfer	97	0.7	−1.5
Majority			1,441	10.4
Turnout			13,836	64.1	+4.0
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+9.3

General Election 2001: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Calum MacDonald	5,924	45.0	−10.6
	SNP	Alasdair Nicholson	4,850	36.9	+3.5
	Conservative	Douglas Taylor	1,250	9.5	+2.8
	Liberal Democrat	John Horne	849	6.5	+3.4
	Scottish Socialist	Joanne Telfer	286	2.2	N/A
Majority			1,074	8.1
Turnout			13,159	60.6	−9.5
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

General Election 1997: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Calum MacDonald	8,955	55.6
	SNP	Anne Lorne Gillies	5,379	33.4
	Conservative	James McGrigor	1,071	6.6
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Mitchison	495	3.1
	Referendum Party	Ralph Lionel	206	1.3	N/A
Majority			3,576	22.2
Turnout				70.1
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1992: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Calum MacDonald	7,664	47.8
	SNP	Frances MacFarlane	5,961	37.2
	Conservative	Robert Heany	1,362	8.5
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Mitchison	552	3.4
	Independent	Andrew Price	491	3.1
Majority			1,703	10.6
Turnout				70.4
	Labour hold		Swing

1980s

General Election 1987: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Calum MacDonald	7,041	42.7
	SNP	Ian Smith	4,701	28.5
	Social Democrat	Kenneth MacIver	3,419	20.7
	Conservative	M. Morrison	1,336	8.1
Majority			2,340	14.2
Turnout				70.2
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing

General Election 1983: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Donald Stewart	8,272	54.5
	Labour	Brian Wilson	4,560	30.1
	Conservative	M. Morrison	1,460	9.6
	Liberal	N. MacLeod	876	5.8
Majority			3,712	24.5
Turnout				66.5
	SNP hold		Swing

1970s

General Election 1979: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Donald Stewart	7,941	52.5
	Labour	A. Matheson	4,878	32.3
	Conservative	M. Morrison	1,600	10.6
	Liberal	N. MacLeod	700	4.6
Majority			3,063	20.3
Turnout				67.5
	SNP hold		Swing

General Election October 1974: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Donald Stewart	8,758	61.45
	Labour	M. Doig	3,526	24.74
	Conservative	N.K. Wilson	1,180	8.28
	Liberal	N. Macmillan	789	5.54
Majority			5,232	36.71
Turnout				63.41
	SNP hold		Swing

General Election February 1974: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Donald Stewart	10,079	67.05
	Labour	A.W. Wilson	2,879	19.15
	Conservative	J.J. Mackay	1,042	6.93
	United Labour Party (UK)	M.K. Macmillan	1,031	6.86
Majority			7,200	47.90
Turnout				66.27
	SNP hold		Swing

General Election 1970: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Donald Stewart	6,568	43.12
	Labour	M.K. Macmillan	5,842	38.35
	Conservative	R.K. MacLeod	2,812	18.53
Majority			726	4.77
Turnout			23,533	64.73
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing

1960s

General Election 1966: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	8,565	61.03
	Conservative	Charles A. Cameron	2,832	20.18
	Liberal	John Francis Matheson Macleod	2,638	18.80
Majority			5,733	40.85
Turnout				61.49
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1964: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	8,740	55.14
	Liberal	Donald B. Macleod	4,894	30.88
	Unionist	Charles A. Cameron	2,217	13.99
Majority			3,846	24.26
Turnout				66.88
	Labour hold		Swing

1950s

General Election 1959: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	8,663	53.61
	Liberal National	Donald B. Macleod	7,496	46.39
Majority			1,167	7.22
Turnout				64.18
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1955: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	8,4,87	48.77
	Liberal	JC Frame	6,315	42.66
Majority			2,172	14.67
Turnout				59.55
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1951: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	8,039	48.77
	Conservative	J Mitchell	6,7,09	40.70
	Liberal	David Murray	916	5.56
	SNP	C Maclean	820	4.97
Majority			1,330	8.07
Turnout				60.55
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1950: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Kenneth Macmillan	8,387	53.21
	Liberal	Huntley McDonald Sinclair	6,950	44.09
	Scottish Home Rule	David Murray	425	2.70
Majority			1,437	9.12
Turnout				55.7
	Labour hold		Swing

1940s

General Election 1945: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Macmillan	5,914	45.7	+4.7
	Liberal	H. McDonald Sinclair	4,277	33.0
	Unionist	Iain Macleod	2,756	21.3
Majority			1,637	12.7	+2.6
Turnout			12,947	53.3	+6.5
	Labour hold		Swing

1930s

General Election 1935: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Malcolm Macmillan	5,421	41.0
	Liberal National	Thomas Ramsay	4,076	30.9	-23.9
	SNP	Alexander MacEwan	3,704	28.1
Majority			1,345	10.1
Turnout			12,947	46.8	+8.0
	Labour gain from Liberal National		Swing

General Election 1931: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Thomas Ramsay	5,793	54.8	+10.7
	Unionist	I. M. Moffatt Pender	4,785	45.2	+21.8
Majority			1,008	9.6	-2.0
Turnout			10,578	36.8	-3.7
	Liberal National hold		Swing

1920s

General Election 1929: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Ramsay	4,877	44.1	-10.1
	Labour	J. M. MacDiarmid	3,589	32.5	15.3
	Unionist	I. M. Moffat-Pender	2,593	23.4	-5.2
Majority			1,288	21.6	-14.0
Turnout			11,059	40.5	+1.4
	Liberal hold		Swing

General Election 1924: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Livingstone	4,579	54.2	14.6
	Unionist	W. S. Morrison	2,318	28.6	-8.3
	Labour	A. G. Burns	1,454	17.2
Majority			2,161	25.6	+22.9
Turnout			8,451	39.1	-1.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	11.5

General Election 1923: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alexander Livingstone	3,391	39.6	-6.3
	Unionist	W. S. Morrison	3,158	36.9	N/A
	Independent Labour	H. McCowan	2,011	23.5
Majority			233	2.7	-5.5
Turnout			6,549	40.1	-14.0
	Liberal gain from National Liberal		Swing	N/A

General Election 1922: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National Liberal	Sir William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts	6,177	54.1	+11.6
	Liberal	Donald Murray	5,238	45.9	-1.4
Majority			939	8.2	+3.4
Turnout			11,415	54.1	+10.5
	National Liberal gain from Liberal		Swing	6.5

1910s

General Election 1918: Western Isles
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr Donald Murray	3,765	47.3
	Coalition Liberal	William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts	3,375	42.5
	Highland Land League	H. MacGowan	809	10.2
Majority			390	4.8
Turnout			7,949	43.6