| Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber Scottish Parliament county constituency |
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| Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland |
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| Created: | 1999 |
| MSP: | Fergus Ewing |
| Party: | Scottish National Party |
| Council area: | Highland |
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects 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 covers a southern portion of the Highland council area.
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Electoral region
The other seven constituencies of the Highlands and Islands electoral region are Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Moray, Orkney, Ross, Skye and Inverness West, Shetland and the Western Isles.
The region covers most of Argyll and Bute council area, all of the Highland council area, most of the Moray council area, all of the Orkney council area, all of the Shetland council area and all of Na h-Eileanan Siar.
Constituency boundaries
The Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were generally replaced with new larger constituencies[1]. For representation at Westminster, the area of the Holyrood constituency is now divided between two constituencies: the Ross, Skye and Lochaber Westminster constituency and the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Westminster constituency.
Council area
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber is the most southerly of three Holyrood constituencies covering the Highland council area. The other two are Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber has Ross, Skye and Inverness West on its northern boundary. Inverness East, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is further north. All three constituencies are within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.
When created in 1999 the constituency boundaries were definable with reference to council wards which were grouped, by the Highland Council, in relation to eight council management areas. Constituency and management area names have many elements in common, and the management areas had the boundaries of former districts of the Highland region, as abolished in 1996, namely Inverness, Nairn, Lochaber, Ross and Cromarty, Skye and Lochalsh, Badenoch and Strathspey, Caithness and Sutherland.
The management areas were abolished this year, 2007, and the council has now three new corporate management areas, defined as groups of new wards, also introduced this year, 2007. The boundaries of the corporate management areas are similar to those of Westminster constituencies created in 2005. One corporate management area, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area, has boundaries, therefore, which are also similar to those of a Holyrood constituency. The boundaries of the other two corporate areas, the Ross, Skye and Lochaber area and the Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch and Strathspey area, are quite unlike those of any Holyrood constituency.
The most recent general election of the Highland Council was this year, 2007, and its current political composition is as follows:
| Independent Group (Sandy Park group) | Liberal Democrats | Scottish National Party | Labour | Independent Members Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 22 | 17 | 7 | 5 |
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Fergus Ewing | Scottish National Party | |
| 2003 | |||
| 2007 | |||
Election results
| Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| SNP | Fergus Ewing | 16,443 | 41.5 | +10.6 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Craig Harrow | 10,972 | 27.7 | +11.5 | |
| Labour | Linda Stewart | 7,559 | 19.1 | -8.8 | |
| Conservative | Jamie Halcro Johnston | 4,635 | 11.7 | -6.1 | |
| Majority | 5,471 | 13.8 | |||
| Rejected Ballots | 1,249 | ||||
| Turnout | 36,609 | 55.3 | +3.1 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 0.5 | |||
| Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| SNP | Fergus Ewing | 10,764 | 30.9 | -2.1 | |
| Labour | Rhoda Grant | 9,718 | 27.9 | -4.1 | |
| Conservative | Mary Scanlon | 6,205 | 17.8 | +3.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Patsy Kenton | 5,622 | 16.2 | -4.2 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Steven Arnott | 1,661 | 4.8 | N/A | |
| Independent | Thomas Lamont | 825 | 2.4 | +2.4 | |
| Majority | 1046 | 3.0 | +1.9 | ||
| Turnout | 34795 | 52.5 | -10.0 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | ||||
| Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| SNP | Fergus Ewing | 13825 | 33.1 | N/A | |
| Labour | Joan Aitken | 13384 | 32.0 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Donnie Fraser | 8508 | 20.3 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Mary Scanlon | 6107 | 14.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 441 | 1.1 | |||
| Turnout | 41824 | 62.5 | |||
Notes and references
See also
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