Ross, Skye and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 57°16′26″N 5°53′46″W / 57.274°N 5.896°W / 57.274; -5.896

Ross, Skye and Lochaber
County constituency
for the House of Commons

Outline map

Boundary of Ross, Skye and Lochaber in Scotland.
Subdivisions of Scotland Highland
Current constituency
Created 2005
Member of parliament Ian Blackford (SNP)
Created from Ross, Skye & Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber
Overlaps
European Parliament constituency Scotland

Ross, Skye and Lochaber is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

The constituency covers a central portion of the Highland council area, and at 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi), it covers the largest area of any House of Commons constituency in Britain.[1] Until the 2015 General Election it was represented by former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 2005 by merging an area from Ross, Skye and Inverness West with an area from Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber. Most of the rest of Ross, Skye and Inverness West was merged with the rest of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber to form Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. A small area of Ross, Skye and Inverness West was merged into Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

For representation in the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) the area of the Westminster constituency is divided between Ross, Skye and Inverness West (the Holyrood constituency) and Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber (the Holyrood constituency).

Local government area

See also Politics of the Highland council area

The Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency is one of three Westminster constituencies covering the Highland council area, the other two being Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. Ross, Skye and Lochaber covers a central portion of the council area, with Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey to its south and east and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross to its north. Ross, Skye and Lochaber includes the Black Isle on the east coast of Scotland and, in the west, the Hebridean island of Skye.

When created in 2005, the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency covered 26 out of the 80 wards of the council area: 11 wards (Avoch and Fortrose, Black Isle North, Conon and Maryburgh, Dingwall North, Dingwall South, Gairloch, Knockbain and Killearnan, Lochbroom, Lochcarron, Muir of Ord and Strathpeffer and Strathconon) out of the 18 wards of the Ross and Cromarty committee area, all of the six wards of the Skye and Lochalsh area committee, all of the eight wards of the Lochaber committee area and one ward (Beauly and Strathglass) out of the 23 wards of the Inverness area committee.

Ward boundaries were redrawn again in 2007, and the management areas were abolished in favour of three new corporate management areas. The new areas consist of groups of the new wards, and boundaries are similar to those of the Westminster constituencies, as created in 2005. Two areas, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area and the Ross, Skye and Lochaber area, have the names of Westminster constituencies. The name of the third area, the Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch and Strathspey area, is very similar to that of the third constituency.

Members of Parliament

ElectionMember[2] Party
2005 Charles Kennedy Liberal Democrat
2015 Ian Blackford SNP

Election results

General Election 2015: Ross, Skye and Lochaber [3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
SNP Ian Blackford 20,119 48.1 +33.0
Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy 14,995 35.9 -16.8
Conservative Lindsay McCallum 2,598 6.2 -6.0
Labour Chris Conniff 2,043 4.9 -10.2
Scottish Green Anne Thomas 1,051 2.5 +0.3
UKIP Philip Anderson 814 1.9 +0.1
Independent Ronnie Campbell 191 0.5 -0.3
Majority 5,124 12.3
Turnout 41,811 77.2 +10.0
SNP gain from Liberal Democrat Swing +24.9
General Election 2010: Ross, Skye and Lochaber[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy 18,335 52.6 -6.1
Labour John McKendrick 5,265 15.1 +0.2
SNP Alasdair Stephen 5,263 15.1 +5.5
Conservative Donald Cameron 4,260 12.2 +2.2
Scottish Green Eleanor Scott 777 2.2 -1.1
UKIP Philip Anderson 659 1.9 +0.4
Independent Ronnie Campbell 279 0.8 +0.8
Majority 13,070 37.5
Turnout 34,838 67.2 +2.6
Liberal Democrat hold Swing -3.1
Note: The constituency was new in 2005 and +/- percentages are notional.
General Election 2005: Ross, Skye and Lochaber
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy 19,100 58.7 +14.4
Labour Christine Conniff 4,851 14.9 -8.1
Conservative John Hodgson 3,275 10.1 -0.2
SNP Mhairi Will 3,119 9.6 -8.0
Scottish Green David Jardine 1,097 3.4
UKIP Philip Anderson 500 1.5 +0.6
Scottish Socialist Anne Macleod 412 1.3 -0.7
Independent Morris Grant 184 0.6
Majority 14,249 43.8
Turnout 32,538 64.4 +2.1
Liberal Democrat hold Swing +11.2

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions: Elections". UK Parliament. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  2. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
  3. ↑ election result http://www.highland.gov.uk/news/article/8586/ross_skye_and_lochaber_constituency_-_uk_parliamentary_general_election_result 6Aug15
  4. ↑ total electorate 54,169 email from the Highland Council 7Aug15
  5. ↑ Ross, Skye and Lochaber, UKPollingReport

External links

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