Ross, Skye and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Ross, Skye and Lochaber


Type = County
Entity = Scotland
DivisionType = Council areas
Division = Highland
Year = 2005
MP = Charles Kennedy
Party = Liberal Democrats
EP = 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 convert|12000|km2|sqmi|-2, it is the largest UK Parliament constituency in area.

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 Hebidean island of Skye.

When the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency was created, in 2005, the Highland Council had eight management areas, Badenoch and Strathspey, Caithness, Inverness, Lochaber, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, Skye and Lochalsh and Sutherland, and each was represented by an area committee. The management area and area committee structure dated from 1996, when the council itself had been creaated. The management areas had the boundaries of the districts of the Highland region, as abolished in 1996. In 1999 however, ward boundaries were redrawn but management areas were unaltered, and therefore area committees ceased to represent exactly the areas for which they were named and for which they took decisions.

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.

The most recent general election of the Highland Council was in 2007, and its current political commposition is as follows:

Member of Parliament

* Charles Kennedy, Liberal Democrat (2005–"present") Previously MP for Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Ross, Cromarty and Skye

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Donald Cameron
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Charles Kennedy
votes =
percentage =
change =

: "Note: The constituency was new in 2005 and +/- percentages are notional.

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Charles Kennedy
votes = 19,100
percentage = 58.7
change = +14.4Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Christine Conniff
votes = 4,851
percentage = 14.9
change = -8.1Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = John Hodgson
votes = 3,275
percentage = 10.1
change = -0.2Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Mhairi Will
votes = 3,119
percentage = 9.6
change = -8.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Green Party
candidate = David Jardine
votes = 1,097
percentage = 3.4
change = Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = Philip Anderson
votes = 500
percentage = 1.5
change = +0.6Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Anne Macleod
votes = 412
percentage = 1.3
change = -0.7Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Morris Grant
votes = 184
percentage = 0.6
change =Election box majority
votes = 14,249
percentage = 43.8
change = Election box turnout
votes = 32,538
percentage = 64.4
change = +2.1Election box hold with party link
winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)
swing = +11.2

Notes and references

See also