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.
The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament, created in 1999. Eight of the parliament's first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).
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.
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.
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.
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.
Argyll and Bute is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of Argyll and Bute. 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 the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
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.
Orkney is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Orkney. 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 the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Shetland is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Shetland. 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 the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Na h-Eileanan an Iar, formerly the Western Isles, is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Na h-Eileanan Siar. 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 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.
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each.
Inverness-shire or the County of Inverness, is a historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Highlands and some of the Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county by land area. It is generally rural and sparsely populated, containing only three towns which held burgh status, being Inverness, Fort William and Kingussie. The county is crossed by the Great Glen, which contains Loch Ness and separates the Grampian Mountains to the south-east from the Northwest Highlands. The county also includes Ben Nevis, the highest mountain in both Scotland and the United Kingdom.
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.
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.
