Ross, Skye and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)

Ross, Skye and Lochaber
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Ross, Skye and Lochaber in Scotland
Subdivisions of Scotland	Highland
Major settlements	Dingwall, Fort William, Kyle of Lochalsh, Mallaig, Muir of Ord, Ullapool, Portree
2005–2024
Created from	Ross, Skye & Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber
Replaced by	Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire

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.

The constituency covered a central portion of the Highland council area, and at 12,000 square kilometres (4,600 sq mi), it covered 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. After that, it was represented by Ian Blackford, the former leader of the Scottish National Party in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2022.

The seat was abolished for the 2024 general election, with its contents being distributed to neighbouring constituencies. ^[2]

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 Caithness, Sutherland and Ross and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

Local government area

See also: Politics of the Highland council area

The Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency was 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 included 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.

Abolition

Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolished for the 2024 general election. ^[2] Its area was split roughly equally between Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Black Isle and Dingwall) and the new constituency of Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire (Isle of Skye, Mallaig and Fort William). A relatively small area around Ballachulish was transferred to Argyll and Bute, which was renamed Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member [3]	Party
	2005	Charles Kennedy	Liberal Democrat
	2015	Ian Blackford	SNP

Elections

Ross and successor constituencies election results

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: Ross, Skye and Lochaber ^{[4] [5]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Ian Blackford	19,263	48.3	+8.1
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Harrow	9,820	24.6	+3.7
	Conservative	Gavin Berkenheger	6,900	17.3	−7.5
	Labour	John Erskine	2,448	6.1	−6.1
	Brexit Party	Kate Brownlie	710	1.8	New
	Scottish Christian	Donald Boyd	460	1.2	New
	Scottish Family	Richard Lucas	268	0.7	New
Majority			9,443	23.7	+8.3
Turnout			39,869	73.5	+1.7
Registered electors			54,229
	SNP hold		Swing

General election 2017: Ross, Skye and Lochaber ^{[6] [7]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Ian Blackford	15,480	40.2	−7.9
	Conservative	Robert Mackenzie	9,561	24.8	+18.6
	Liberal Democrats	Jean Davis	8,042	20.9	−15.0
	Labour	Peter Ó Donnghaile	4,695	12.2	+7.3
	Independent	Ronnie Campbell	499	1.3	+0.8
	Something New	Stick Sturrock	177	0.5	New
Majority			5,919	15.4	+3.2
Turnout			38,503	71.8	−5.4
	SNP hold		Swing	−13.3

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § Ross, Skye and Lochaber

General election 2015: Ross, Skye and Lochaber ^{[8] [9]}

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Ian Blackford	20,119	48.1	+33.0
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Kennedy	14,995	35.9	−16.7
	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	0.0
	Independent	Ronnie Campbell	191	0.5	−0.3
Majority			5,124	12.2	N/A
Turnout			41,811	77.2	+10.0
	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+24.9

General election 2010: Ross, Skye and Lochaber ^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	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	+2.1
	Scottish Green	Eleanor Scott	777	2.2	−1.2
	UKIP	Philip Anderson	659	1.9	+0.4
	Independent	Ronnie Campbell	279	0.8	New
Majority			13,070	37.5	−6.3
Turnout			34,838	67.2	+2.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−3.1

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

General election 2005: Ross, Skye and Lochaber ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	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	New
	UKIP	Philip Anderson	500	1.5	+0.6
	Scottish Socialist	Anne Macleod	412	1.3	−0.7
	Independent	Morris Grant	184	0.6	New
Majority			14,249	43.8	+22.5
Turnout			32,538	64.4	+2.6
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+11.2

References

1. "Parliamentary Constituencies". Parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
2. Boundary Commission for Scotland (28 June 2023). "2023 Review of UK Parliament Constituency Boundaries in Scotland" (PDF). Retrieved 22 July 2023.
3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)
4. "Notice of poll – UK Parliamentary elections 2019 Ross, Skye and Lochaber Constituency" (PDF). The Highland Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
5. "Ross, Skye & Lochaber parliamentary constituency – Election 2019" . Retrieved 14 December 2019.
6. "General Election: SNP reselects 54 MPs". www.scotsman.com.
7. Butlin, Heather. "UK Parliamentary General Election". www.highland.gov.uk.
8. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
9. MacNeill, Alison. "Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency – UK Parliamentary General Election result". www.highland.gov.uk.
10. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
11. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

• "Election 2010: Ross, Skye & Lochaber". BBC News. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
• Ross, Skye and Lochaber UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2005 – May 2024) at MapIt UK

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Yeovil	Constituency represented by the Leader of the Liberal Democrats 2001–2006	Succeeded by North East Fife
Preceded by Moray	Constituency represented by the Leader of the Scottish National Party in Westminster 2017–2022	Succeeded by Aberdeen South

57°16′26″N5°53′46″W / 57.274°N 5.896°W / 57.274; -5.896