Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Orkney
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament

Orkney shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	22,190 (2019)^[1]^[2]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Liberal Democrats
MSP	Liam McArthur
Council area	Orkney Islands

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.

Orkney has been held by the Liberal Democrats at all elections since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with the current MSP being Liam McArthur, who won the seat at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. The former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace represented the constituency from 1999 to 2007.

Electoral region

Orkney is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are: Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Moray, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Shetland and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

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 Islands council area, all of the Shetland Islands council area and all of Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Orkney constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, to cover the Orkney Islands council area. The constituency is protected in law due to its geographical separation from other parts of Scotland, and therefore its boundaries are not subject to review.^[3]

In the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster), the council area is covered by the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which also covers the Shetland Islands council area.^[4]

It contains all six of the Orkney Council wards: East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray; Kirkwall East; Kirkwall West and Orphir; North Isles; Stromness and South Isles; West Mainland.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrat
	2007	Liam McArthur	Liberal Democrat

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney^[5]^[6]
Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur^[a]	7,238	62.4	4.9	3,616	31.2	2.1
	SNP	Robert Leslie	3,369	29.1	4.7	3,384	29.2	5.6
	Conservative	Sam Bown	699	6.0	1.9	2,202	19.0	7.7
	Scottish Green					1,104	9.5	2.9
	Labour	Coilla Drake	290	2.5	0.4	725	6.3	1.5
	Scottish Family					127	1.1	New
	Alba					98	0.8	New
	Independent	Andy Wightman^[b]				87	0.8	New
	All for Unity					63	0.5	New
	Libertarian					32	0.3	New
	Reform UK					31	0.3	New
	UKIP					30	0.3	2.2
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					28	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					22	0.2	New
	Restore Scotland					18	0.2	New
	TUSC					15	0.1	New
	Independent	Hazel Mansfield				4	0.0	New
Majority			3,869	33.3	9.7
Valid Votes			11,596			11,586
Invalid Votes			25			27
Turnout			11,621	65.6	3.4	11,613	65.5	3.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		4.9
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency ^ Incumbent member on the list for Lothian region, having been elected as a member of the Scottish Greens in 2016

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney^[7]
Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur^[a]	7,096	67.4	31.7	3,515	33.4	8.0
	SNP	Donna Heddle	2,562	24.3	0.8	2,491	23.6	12.2
	Independent	James Stockan				1,775	16.8	New
	Conservative	Jamie Halcro Johnston	435	4.1	4.3	1,193	11.3	0.5
	Scottish Green					696	6.6	0.4
	Labour	Gerard McGarvey	304	2.9	2.7	506	4.8	4.2
	UKIP					255	2.4	1.5
	Independent	Paul Dawson	137	1.3	New
	Scottish Christian					49	0.5	1.0
	Solidarity					30	0.3	0.1
	RISE					27	0.3	New
Majority			4,534	43.1	32.6
Valid Votes			10,534			10,537
Invalid Votes			28			19
Turnout			10,562	62.1	12.2	10,556	62.1	12.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		16.3
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney^[8]
Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur^[a]	2,912	35.7	11.8	2,062	25.4
	Independent	James Stockan	2,052	25.2	New
	SNP	Donna Heddle	2,044	25.1	6.2	2,906	35.8
	Conservative	Jamie Halcro Johnston	686	8.4	10.5	875	10.8
	Labour	William Sharkey	458	5.6	7.5	730	9.0
	Scottish Green					501	6.2
	UKIP					316	3.9
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					128	1.6
	Scottish Christian					123	1.5
	BNP					63	0.8
	Socialist Labour					59	0.7
	Scottish Socialist					30	0.4
	Solidarity					18	0.2
	Others					316	3.9
Majority			860	10.5	17.9
Valid Votes			8,152			8,127
Invalid Votes			29			51
Turnout			8,181	49.9	3.5	8,178	49.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		9.0
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur	4,113	47.5	+1.8
	SNP	John Mowat	1,637	18.9	+5.7
	Conservative	Helen Gardiner	1,632	18.9	-4.9
	Labour	Iain MacDonald	1,134	13.1	+7.2
	Independent	Barrie Johnson	137	1.6	New
Majority			2,476	28.6	+6.7
Turnout			8,653	53.4	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.4

Scottish Parliament election 2003: Orkney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Wallace	3,659	45.7	-21.7
	Conservative	Christopher Zawadski	1,904	23.8	+8.2
	SNP	John Mowat	1,056	13.2	+2.9
	Scottish Socialist	John Aberdein	914	11.42	New
	Labour	Richard Meade	471	5.9	-0.9
Majority			1,755	21.9	-29.9
Turnout			8,004	51.7	-5.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-15.0

1990s

Scottish Parliament election 1999: Orkney
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Wallace	6,010	67.4
	Conservative	Christopher Zawadski	1,391	15.6
	SNP	John Mowat	917	10.3
	Labour	Angus Macleod	600	6.7
Majority			4,619	51.8
Turnout			8,918	57.0
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

References

^ "Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based)]". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
^ "accompanying summary notes". National Records of Scotland. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
^ "First Periodical Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries - Descriptive Booklet" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. January 2008. p. 3. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
^ "Fifth Review of UK Parliament Constituencies (2005 onwards) Orkney and Shetland county constituency" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. 2019. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
^ "Scottish Parliament Election - 6 May 2021". Orkney Islands Council. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
^ "Regional votes announced". Orkney Islands Council. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
^ "Scottish Parliamentary Election - 5 May 2016" (PDF). Orkney Islands Council. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2021.

External links

"Constituency Map" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 17 June 2021.

New title	Constituency represented by the Deputy First Minister of Scotland 1999–2005	Succeeded by Aberdeen South

v t e « 1999–2011 « Electoral regions and constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (2011–)
Central Scotland	Airdrie and Shotts Coatbridge and Chryston Cumbernauld and Kilsyth East Kilbride Falkirk East Falkirk West Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Motherwell and Wishaw Uddingston and Bellshill
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland Glasgow Cathcart Glasgow Kelvin Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn Glasgow Pollok Glasgow Provan Glasgow Shettleston Glasgow Southside Rutherglen
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute Caithness, Sutherland and Ross Inverness and Nairn Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar Orkney Shetland Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch
Lothian	Almond Valley Edinburgh Central Edinburgh Eastern Edinburgh Northern and Leith Edinburgh Pentlands Edinburgh Southern Edinburgh Western Linlithgow Midlothian North and Musselburgh
Mid Scotland and Fife	Clackmannanshire and Dunblane Cowdenbeath Dunfermline Kirkcaldy Mid Fife and Glenrothes North East Fife Perthshire North Perthshire South and Kinross-shire Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central Aberdeen Donside Aberdeen South and North Kincardine Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire West Angus North and Mearns Angus South Banffshire and Buchan Coast Dundee City East Dundee City West
South Scotland	Ayr Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Clydesdale Dumfriesshire East Lothian Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire Galloway and West Dumfries Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley Midlothian South, Tweeddale, and Lauderdale
West Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie Cunninghame North Cunninghame South Dumbarton Eastwood Greenock and Inverclyde Paisley Renfrewshire North and West Renfrewshire South Strathkelvin and Bearsden

v t e Electoral regions and constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (1999–2011) » 2011– »
Central Scotland	Airdrie and Shotts Coatbridge and Chryston Cumbernauld and Kilsyth East Kilbride Falkirk East Falkirk West Hamilton North and Bellshill Hamilton South Kilmarnock and Loudoun Motherwell and Wishaw
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland Glasgow Baillieston Glasgow Cathcart Glasgow Govan Glasgow Kelvin Glasgow Maryhill Glasgow Pollok Glasgow Rutherglen Glasgow Shettleston Glasgow Springburn
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber Moray Na h-Eileanan an Iar Orkney Ross, Skye and Inverness West Shetland
Lothians	Edinburgh Central Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Edinburgh North and Leith Edinburgh Pentlands Edinburgh South Edinburgh West Linlithgow Livingston Midlothian
Mid Scotland and Fife	Central Fife Dunfermline East Dunfermline West Kirkcaldy North East Fife North Tayside Ochil Perth Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central Aberdeen North Aberdeen South Angus Banff and Buchan Dundee East Dundee West Gordon West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
South of Scotland	Ayr Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Clydesdale Cunninghame South Dumfries East Lothian Galloway and Upper Nithsdale Roxburgh and Berwickshire Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
West of Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie Cunninghame North Dumbarton Eastwood Greenock and Inverclyde Paisley North Paisley South Strathkelvin and Bearsden West Renfrewshire

This page was last edited on 28 September 2023, at 20:01

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