Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | |
---|---|
County constituency for the House of Commons | |
County | Highland |
Major settlements | Thurso, Wick, Alness, Tain |
Current constituency | |
Created | 1997 Redrawn 2005 |
Member of Parliament | Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrats) |
Created from | Caithness & Sutherland and Ross, Cromarty & Skye |
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It is the most northerly constituency on the British mainland. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Since the 2017 general election, the constituency has been represented by Jamie Stone of the Liberal Democrats. [1]
1997–2005: Caithness District, Sutherland District, and the Ross and Cromarty District electoral divisions of Easter Ross, Invergordon, and Tain.
2005–present: The Highland Council wards of Alness and Ardross, Brora, Caithness Central, Caithness North East, Caithness North West, Caithness South East, Dornoch Firth, Ferindonald, Golspie and Rogart, Invergordon, Pulteneytown, Rosskeen and Saltburn, Seaboard, Sutherland Central, Sutherland North West, Tain East, Tain West, Thurso Central, Thurso East, Thurso West, Tongue and Farr, Wick, and Wick West.
The constituency was created in 1997 by merging Caithness and Sutherland with an area from Ross, Cromarty and Skye which was abolished.
In 2005 the Westminster constituency was enlarged slightly, to include a small area from Ross, Skye and Inverness West. The rest of the latter was divided between two new constituencies, Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.
It is also the second-largest UK constituency by area, behind Ross, Skye and Lochaber.
Since it was created in 1997 the constituency has been one of three covering the Highland council area. Since 2005 the other two have been Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. From 1997 to 2005 the other constituencies of the council area were Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is the most northerly of the constituencies, and it now has the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency on its southern boundary.
As enlarged in 2005, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency covered 23 out of the 80 wards of the council area: all ten wards of the Caithness area committee, all six wards of the Sutherland area committee and seven (Alness and Ardross, Invergordon, Ferindonald, Rosskeen and Saltburn, Seaboard, Tain East and Tain West) out of the 18 wards of the Ross and Cromarty 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 defined 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.
In 1999 a Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Westminster constituency.
At Holyrood the area of the Westminster constituency is represented by an even larger constituency, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.
Election | Member [2] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
1997 | Robert Maclennan | Liberal Democrats | |
2001 | John Thurso | Liberal Democrats | |
2015 | Paul Monaghan | SNP | |
2017 | Jamie Stone | Liberal Democrats |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Lucy Beattie [3] | ||||
Reform UK | Sandra Skinner [4] | ||||
Liberal Democrats | Jamie Stone [5] | ||||
Scottish Green | Anne Thomas [6] | ||||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Jamie Stone | 11,705 | 37.2 | +1.4 | |
SNP | Karl Rosie | 11,501 | 36.6 | +7.4 | |
Conservative | Andrew Sinclair | 5,176 | 16.5 | −6.1 | |
Labour | Cheryl McDonald | 1,936 | 6.2 | −6.2 | |
Brexit Party | Sandra Skinner | 1,139 | 3.6 | New | |
Majority | 204 | 0.6 | −6.0 | ||
Turnout | 31,457 | 67.0 | +1.1 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | −3.0 | |||
This was the smallest Liberal Democrat majority at the 2019 general election. [9]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Jamie Stone | 11,061 | 35.8 | +0.7 | |
SNP | Paul Monaghan | 9,017 | 29.2 | –17.1 | |
Conservative | Struan Mackie | 6,990 | 22.6 | +15.8 | |
Labour | Olivia Bell | 3,833 | 12.4 | +3.4 | |
Majority | 2,044 | 6.6 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 30,901 | 65.9 | –6.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from SNP | Swing | +8.9 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Paul Monaghan | 15,831 | 46.3 | +27.1 | |
Liberal Democrats | John Thurso | 11,987 | 35.1 | −6.3 | |
Labour | John Erskine | 3,061 | 9.0 | −15.6 | |
Conservative | Alastair Graham | 2,326 | 6.8 | −6.2 | |
UKIP | Annie Murray | 981 | 2.9 | New | |
Majority | 3,844 | 11.2 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 34,186 | 71.9 | +11.0 | ||
SNP gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | +16.7 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | John Thurso | 11,907 | 41.4 | −9.1 | |
Labour | John Mackay | 7,081 | 24.6 | +3.7 | |
SNP | Jean Urquhart | 5,516 | 19.2 | +5.9 | |
Conservative | Alastair Graham | 3,744 | 13.0 | +2.8 | |
Independent | Gordon Campbell | 520 | 1.8 | −1.3 | |
Majority | 4,826 | 16.8 | −13.8 | ||
Turnout | 28,768 | 60.9 | +1.8 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | −6.4 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | John Thurso | 13,957 | 50.5 | +11.9 | |
Labour | Alan Jamieson | 5,789 | 20.9 | −3.4 | |
SNP | Karen Shirron | 3,686 | 13.3 | −7.0 | |
Conservative | Angus Ross | 2,835 | 10.2 | −3.3 | |
Independent | Gordon Campbell | 848 | 3.1 | +2.3 | |
Scottish Socialist | Luke Ivory | 548 | 2.0 | −0.2 | |
Majority | 8,168 | 29.6 | +18.5 | ||
Turnout | 27,663 | 59.1 | −2.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +7.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | John Thurso | 9,041 | 36.4 | +0.8 | |
Labour | Michael Meighan | 6,297 | 25.3 | −2.5 | |
SNP | John MacAdam | 5,273 | 21.2 | −1.8 | |
Conservative | Robert Rowantree | 3,513 | 14.1 | +3.3 | |
Scottish Socialist | Karn Mabon | 544 | 2.2 | New | |
Independent | Gordon Campbell | 199 | 0.8 | New | |
Majority | 2,744 | 11.1 | +3.3 | ||
Turnout | 24,867 | 60.2 | −10.0 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +1.6 | |||
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Robert Maclennan | 10,381 | 35.6 | -8.8 | |
Labour | James Hendry | 8,122 | 27.8 | +12.2 | |
SNP | Euan Harper | 6,710 | 23.0 | +4.6 | |
Conservative | Tom Miers | 3,148 | 10.8 | -10.8 | |
Referendum | Carolyn Ryder | 369 | 1.3 | New | |
Scottish Green | John Martin | 230 | 0.8 | New | |
UKIP | Martin Carr | 212 | 0.7 | New | |
Majority | 2,259 | 7.8 | |||
Turnout | 29,172 | 70.2 | |||
Liberal Democrats win (new seat) |
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shares borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. Their councils, and those of Angus and Stirling, also have areas of the Scottish Highlands within their administrative boundaries.
Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey is a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. As with all seats since 1950 it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
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.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), in use between 1999 and 2011. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it was one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Ross, Skye and Inverness West was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Ross, Cromarty and Skye was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Ross, Skye and Inverness West was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It was one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
The politics of the Highland council area in Scotland are evident in the deliberations and decisions of the Highland Council, in elections to the council, and in elections to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) and the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). In the European Parliament the area was within the Scotland constituency, which covers all of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
The first general election to the Highland Council was held in May 1999, using 80 wards created for that election, and which remain in use today. Each ward elects one councillor by the first past the post system of election. Elections are held on a four-year cycle: therefore the next general election was in 2003.
The third set of Highland Council wards, 22 in number, became effective for election purposes in 2007, for the fourth general election of the Highland Council. The new wards were created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, and are as defined in recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland.
The Highland Council, the political body covering the Highland local authority created in 1995, comprises 21 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, which creates a form of proportional representation. The total number of councillors is 74, and the main meeting place and main offices are at the Highland Council Headquarters in Glenurquhart Road, Inverness.
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the northern part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Inverness and Nairn is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the Highland council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, as well as eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The fifth set of Highland Council wards, 21 in number, became effective for election purposes in 2017, for the fifth general election of the Highland Council. The new wards were created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, and are as defined in recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. The commission's report includes maps of the new wards
Generally, descriptions above are inferred from the maps.
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire is a proposed constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it will first be contested at the next general election.