Na h-Eileanan an Iar (UK Parliament constituency)

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Na h-Eileanan an Iar
County constituency
Na h-Eileanan an Iar shown within Scotland
Created: 1918
MP: Angus MacNeil
Party: Scottish National Party
Type: House of Commons
Council areas: Na h-Eileanan Siar
EP constituency: Scotland

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (formerly Western Isles) pron IPA: [nə ˈhɪlənən ənˈjɪə(r)] is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, created in 1918. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Contents

[edit] History

The constituency was formed by merging together areas which were formerly within the Ross and Cromarty constituency and the Inverness-shire constituency.

Na h-Eileanan an Iar is derived from the Gaelic for Western Isles, which was the constituency's name prior to the 2005 general election. A similar constituency, called Western Isles, is used by the Scottish Parliament.

[edit] Boundaries

The constituency area is that of the Outer Hebrides, known also as Na h-Eileanan Siar, and the constituency has the smallest electorate in the United Kingdom, one-fifth of the size of the largest, the Isle of Wight, with the latter also being an island constituency. However the Isle of Wight is a substantially smaller parliamentary constituency in geographical terms. It has been suggested that Na h-Eileanan an Iar could be combined with the Orkney and Shetland constituency: the resulting combined electorate would still be well below the average constituency quota. Meanwhile the Scottish Boundary commission in 1980 originally proposed that the seat should be extended to include the Skye and Lochalsh areas, however this was overturned at a public enquiry. Generally, overriding considerations of sheer geographical size, a disparate population and of convenience for the MPs concerned as well as tradition and identity have tended to override the arguments about numerical imbalance. Furthermore, a change in the Boundary Commission's rules in 2000 added rule 3a which forbids Orkney or Shetland being combined with another council area.

[edit] Local government areas

When created the area of the constituency was divided between two local government areas, the counties of Ross and Cromarty and Inverness-shire. The division line was the Lewis-Harris boundary, with Lewis in Ross and Cromarty and Harris in Inverness-shire.

In 1975 the constituency area became also an island council area, known as the Western Isles council area. That same area became one of the 32 unitary council areas of Scotland in 1996. The council area is known also as Na h-Eileanan Siar.

[edit] Politics

The seat has been a two-way marginal between the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party for many years. In the 2005 UK general election, together with Blaenau Gwent, it was one of only two seats (outside Northern Ireland) in which the Conservative Party lost their deposit.

[edit] Members of Parliament

Election Member Party
1918 Donald Murray Liberal
1922 Sir William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts National Liberal
1923 Alexander Mackenzie Livingstone Liberal
1929 Thomas Ramsay Liberal
1931 National Liberal
1935 Malcolm MacMillan Labour
1970 Donald Stewart SNP
1987 Calum MacDonald Labour
2005 Angus MacNeil SNP

[edit] Election results

[edit] 1910s

General Election 1918: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Donald Murray 3,765 47.3
Coalition Liberal Sir William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts 3,375 42.5
Highland Land League H. McCowan 809 10.2
Majority 390 4.8
Turnout 7,949 43.6

[edit] 1920s

General Election 1922: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Sir William Dingwall Mitchell Cotts 6,177 54.1 +11.6
Liberal Donald Murray 5,238 45.9 -1.4
Majority 939 8.2 +3.4
Turnout 11,415 54.1 +10.5
National Liberal gain from Liberal Swing 6.5
General Election 1923: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Alexander Livingstone 3,391 39.6 -6.3
Conservative W. S. Morrison 3,158 36.9 N/A
Independent Labour H. McCowan 2,011 23.5
Majority 233 2.7 -5.5
Turnout 6,549 40.1 -14.0
Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1924: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Alexander Livingstone 4,579 54.2 14.6
Conservative W. S. Morrison 2,318 28.6 -8.3
Labour A. G. Burns 1,454 17.2
Majority 2,161 25.6 +22.9
Turnout 8,451 39.1 -1.0
Liberal hold Swing 11.5
General Election 1929: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Ramsay 4,877 44.1 -10.1
Labour J. M. MacDiarmid 3,589 32.5 15.3
Conservative I. M. Moffat-Pender 2,593 23.4 -5.2
Majority 1,288 21.6 -14.0
Turnout 11,059 40.5 +1.4
Liberal hold Swing

[edit] 1930s

General Election 1931: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Liberal Thomas Ramsay 5,793 54.8 +10.7
Conservative I.M. Moffatt Pender 4,785 45.2 +21.8
Majority 1,008 9.6 -2.0
Turnout 10,578 36.8 -3.7
National Liberal hold Swing
General Election 1935: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Malcolm Macmillan 5,421 41.0
National Liberal Thomas Ramsay 4,076 30.9 -23.9
Scottish National Party A M MacEwan 3,704 28.1
Majority 1,345 10.1
Turnout 12,947 46.8 +8.0
Labour gain from National Liberal Swing

[edit] 1940s

General Election 1945: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Malcolm Macmillan 5,914 45.7 +4.7
Liberal H. M. Sinclair 4,277 33.0
Conservative Iain Macleod 2,756 21.3
Majority 1,637 12.7 +2.6
Turnout 12,947 53.3 +6.5
Labour hold Swing

[edit] 1950s

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[edit] 1960s

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[edit] 1970s

General Election 1979: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Donald Stewart 7,941 52.5
Labour A. Matheson 4,878 32.3
Conservative M. Morrison 1,600 10.6
Liberal N. MacLeod 700 4.6
Majority 3,063 20.3
Turnout 67.5
Scottish National Party hold Swing

[edit] 1980s

General Election 1983: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Donald Stewart 8,272 54.5
Labour Brian Wilson 4,560 30.1
Conservative M. Morrison 1,460 9.6
Liberal N. MacLeod 876 5.8
Majority 3,712 24.5
Turnout 66.5
Scottish National Party hold Swing
General Election 1987: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Calum MacDonald 7,041 42.7
Scottish National Party Ian Smith 4,701 28.5
Social Democrat Kenneth McIver 3,419 20.7
Conservative M. Morrison 1,336 8.1
Majority 2,340 14.2
Turnout 70.2
Labour gain from Scottish National Party Swing

[edit] 1990s

General Election 1992: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Calum MacDonald 7,664 47.8
Scottish National Party Frances MacFarlane 5,961 37.2
Conservative Robert Heany 1,362 8.5
Liberal Democrat Neil Mitchison 552 3.4
Independent A. Price 491 3.1
Majority 1,703 10.6
Turnout 70.4
Labour hold Swing
General Election 1997: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Calum MacDonald 8,955 55.6
Scottish National Party Anne Lorne Gillies 5,379 33.4
Conservative James McGrigor 1,071 6.6
Liberal Democrat Neil Mitchison 495 3.1
Referendum Party Ralph Lionel 206 1.3 N/A
Majority 3,576 22.2
Turnout 70.1
Labour hold Swing

[edit] 2000s

General Election 2001: Western Isles
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Calum MacDonald 5,924 45.0 −10.6
Scottish National Party Alasdair Nicholson 4,850 36.9 +3.5
Conservative Douglas Taylor 1,250 9.5 +2.8
Liberal Democrat John Horne 849 6.5 +3.4
Scottish Socialist Joanne Telfer 286 2.2 N/A
Majority 1,074 8.1
Turnout 13,159 60.6 −9.5
Labour hold Swing
General Election 2005: Na h-Eileanan an Iar
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Angus MacNeil 6,213 44.9 +8.0
Labour Calum MacDonald 4,772 34.5 −10.5
Liberal Democrat Jean Davis 1,096 7.9 +1.4
Christian Vote James Hargreaves 1,048 7.6 N/A
Conservative Andy Maciver 610 4.4 −5.1
Scottish Socialist Joanne Telfer 97 0.7 −1.5
Majority 1,441 10.4
Turnout 13,836 64.1 +4.0
Scottish National Party gain from Labour Swing +9.3
Confirmed candidates for the next UK general election[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Scottish National Party Angus MacNeil
Labour Donald John MacSween

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Westminster constituencies of Scotland
Aberdeen North · Aberdeen South · Airdrie & Shotts · Angus · Argyll & Bute · Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock · Banff & Buchan · Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk · Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross · Central Ayrshire · Coatbridge, Chryston & Bellshill · Cumbernauld, Kilsyth & Kirkintilloch East · Dumfries & Galloway · Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale & Tweeddale · Dundee East · Dundee West · Dunfermline & West Fife · East Dunbartonshire · East Kilbride, Strathaven & Lesmahagow · East Lothian · East Renfrewshire · Edinburgh East · Edinburgh North & Leith · Edinburgh South · Edinburgh South West · Edinburgh West · Falkirk · Glasgow Central · Glasgow East · Glasgow North · Glasgow North East · Glasgow North West · Glasgow South · Glasgow South West · Glenrothes · Gordon · Inverclyde · Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey · Kilmarnock & Loudoun · Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath · Lanark & Hamilton East · Linlithgow & East Falkirk · Livingston · Midlothian · Moray · Motherwell & Wishaw · Na h-Eileanan an Iar · North Ayrshire & Arran · North East Fife · Ochil & South Perthshire · Orkney & Shetland · Paisley & Renfrewshire North · Paisley & Renfrewshire South · Perth & North Perthshire · Ross, Skye & Lochaber · Rutherglen & Hamilton West · Stirling · West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine · West Dunbartonshire

[edit] References

  1. ^ Na h-Eileanan an Iar, UKPollingReport
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