Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | |
---|---|
Former county constituency for the House of Commons | |
Subdivisions of Scotland | Highland |
Major settlements | Aviemore, Kingussie, Inverness, Nairn |
2005–2024 | |
Created from | Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber and Ross, Skye & Inverness West |
Replaced by | Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire |
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey was a constituency of the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. As with all seats since 1950 it elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
The seat covered a broad south-eastern portion of the Highland council area. It had four locations in its name, the most nationwide.
Further to the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, the territory was subject to major boundary changes. Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey was combined with the majority of the Moray constituency (to be renamed Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey). To compensate, parts of the disappearing seat of Ross, Skye and Lochaber was added to the Inverness area, including Fort William and the Isle of Skye. As a consequence of these changes, a new constituency was created, named Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire , to be first contested at the 2024 general election. [1]
The constituency was created in 2005 by merging an area from Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber with an area from Ross, Skye and Inverness West. The rest of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber was merged with most of the rest of Ross, Skye and Inverness West to form Ross, Skye and Lochaber. 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 is divided between Inverness and Nairn and part of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
The Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency was one of three Westminster constituencies covering the Highland council area, the other two being Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey covers a south-eastern portion of the council area, with Ross, Skye and Lochaber to its north and west, and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross further north.
When created in 2005, the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency covered 31 out of the 80 wards of the council area: 22 wards (all except Beauly and Strathglass) of the Inverness area committee, all four wards of the Nairn area committee and all five wards of the Badenoch and Strathspey area committee. Following ward boundary changes in 2007, the constituency covers all 5 Inverness wards, Culloden & Ardersier, Nairn and Badenoch & Strathspey. It contains part of Ard & Loch Ness and a few corners of Caol & Mallaig, Fort William & Ardnamurchan and Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh.
The City of Inverness, for which letters patent were granted in 2001, may be supposed to lie within the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, but this city lacks clearly defined boundaries. The Highland Council management area of Inverness, as defined 1996 to 2007, included the former burgh of Inverness, as abolished in 1975, and the urban area centred on the burgh, and these do lie within the constituency. The management area included also a large rural area. As of 2007, the council has a city management area consisting of seven of the nine wards of its Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area. The boundaries of this city management are similar to those of the older management area.
Election | Member [2] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Danny Alexander | Liberal Democrats | |
2015 | Drew Hendry | SNP | |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Drew Hendry | 26,247 | 47.9 | +8.0 | |
Conservative | Fiona Fawcett | 15,807 | 28.8 | −1.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Robert Rixson | 5,846 | 10.7 | −1.6 | |
Labour | Lewis Whyte | 4,123 | 7.5 | −8.7 | |
Scottish Green | Ariane Burgess | 1,709 | 3.1 | New | |
Brexit Party | Les Durance | 1,078 | 2.0 | New | |
Majority | 10,440 | 19.1 | +9.7 | ||
Turnout | 54,810 | 70.2 | +1.5 | ||
SNP hold | Swing | +4.9 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Drew Hendry | 21,042 | 39.9 | −10.2 | |
Conservative | Nicholas Tulloch | 16,118 | 30.5 | +24.6 | |
Labour | Mike Robb | 8,552 | 16.2 | +8.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | Richie Cunningham | 6,477 | 12.3 | −19.0 | |
Scottish Christian | Donald Boyd | 612 | 1.2 | +0.5 | |
Majority | 4,924 | 9.4 | −9.4 | ||
Turnout | 52,801 | 68.7 | −5.5 | ||
SNP hold | Swing |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SNP | Drew Hendry [9] | 28,838 | 50.1 | +31.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | Danny Alexander | 18,029 | 31.3 | −9.4 | |
Labour | Mike Robb | 4,311 | 7.5 | −14.6 | |
Conservative | Edward Mountain | 3,410 | 5.9 | −7.4 | |
Scottish Green | Isla O'Reilly | 1,367 | 2.4 | +0.7 | |
UKIP | Les Durance | 1,236 | 2.1 | +0.9 | |
Scottish Christian | Donald Boyd [10] | 422 | 0.7 | −1.1 | |
Majority | 10,809 | 18.8 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 57,613 | 74.2 | +9.3 | ||
SNP gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | +20.4 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Danny Alexander | 19,172 | 40.7 | +0.4 | |
Labour | Mike Robb | 10,407 | 22.1 | −8.8 | |
SNP | John Finnie | 8,803 | 18.7 | +5.2 | |
Conservative | Jim Ferguson | 6,278 | 13.3 | +3.0 | |
Scottish Christian | Donald Boyd | 835 | 1.8 | New | |
Scottish Green | Donnie MacLeod | 789 | 1.7 | −0.7 | |
UKIP | Ross Durance | 574 | 1.2 | New | |
Solidarity (TUSC) | George MacDonald | 135 | 0.3 | New | |
Joy of Talk | Kit Fraser | 93 | 0.2 | New | |
Majority | 8,765 | 18.6 | +9.2 | ||
Turnout | 47,086 | 64.9 | +1.3 | ||
Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | +4.6 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | Danny Alexander | 17,830 | 40.3 | +10.8 | |
Labour | David Stewart | 13,682 | 30.9 | −1.3 | |
SNP | David Thompson | 5,992 | 13.5 | −9.5 | |
Conservative | Robert Rowantree | 4,579 | 10.3 | −2.0 | |
Scottish Green | Donnie MacLeod | 1,065 | 2.4 | New | |
Publican Party | Donald Lawson | 678 | 1.5 | New | |
Scottish Socialist | George MacDonald | 429 | 1.0 | −1.1 | |
Majority | 4,148 | 9.4 | N/A | ||
Turnout | 44,255 | 63.6 | +0.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | +6.0 |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 13,772 | 32.2 | |||
Liberal Democrats | 12,638 | 29.5 | |||
SNP | 9,836 | 23.0 | |||
Conservative | 5,262 | 12.3 | |||
Scottish Socialist | 885 | 2.1 | |||
Others | 402 | 0.9 | |||
Majority | 1,134 | 2.7 | |||
Labour hold | Swing |
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 has land borders with the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Argyll and Bute, Moray and Perth and Kinross. The wider upland area of the Scottish Highlands after which the council area is named extends beyond the Highland council area into all the neighbouring council areas plus Angus and Stirling.
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.
Moray was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Ross, Skye and Lochaber was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It elected 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.
The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides.
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, 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.
Moray is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of Moray. 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 within the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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 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 is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in 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 constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 periodic review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, and was the final constituency to announce its result, due to multiple recounts related to technical issues in its vote-counting.