Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency)

UK constituency infobox alt
Name = Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross


Type = County
Entity = Scotland
DivisionType = Council areas
Division = Highland
Year = 1997
MP = John Thurso
Party = Liberal Democrats
EP = Scotland

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Boundaries

The constituency was created in 1997 by merging Caithness and Sutherland with an area from Ross, Cromarty and Skye. The rest of Ross, Cromarty and Skye was merged into another new constituency, Ross, Skye and Inverness West.

In 1999 a Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Westminster constituency.

In 2005 the Westminster constituency was enlarged slightly, to include a small area from Ross, Skye and Inverness West. The rest of the latter was divided between two new constituencies, Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.

For representation at Holyrood, therefore, the area of the Westminster constituency is now divided between two constituencies, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (the Holyrood constituency) and Ross, Skye and Inverness West (the Holyrood constituency).

Local government area

:"See also "Politics of the Highland council area

Since it was created in 1997 the constituency has been one of three covering the Highland council area. Since 2005 the other two have been Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. From 1997 to 2005 the other constituencies of the council area were Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is the most northerly of the constituencies, and it now has the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency on its southern boundary.

In 2005 the Highland Council had eight management areas, Badenoch and Strathspey, Caithness, Inverness, Lochaber, Nairn, Ross and Cromarty, Skye and Lochalsh] and Sutherland, and each was represented by an area committee. The management area and area committee structure dated from 1996, when the council itself had been created. The management areas had the boundaries of the districts of the Highland region, as abolished in 1996. In 1999 however, ward boundaries were redrawn but management areas were unaltered, and therefore area committees ceased to represent exactly the areas for which they were named and for which they took decisions.

As enlarged in 2005, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency covered 23 out of the 80 wards of the council area: all ten wards of the Caithness area committee] , all six wards of the Sutherland area committee and seven (Alness and Ardross, Invergordon, Ferindonald, Rosskeen and Saltburn, Seaboard, Tain East and Tain West) out of the 18 wards of the Ross and Cromarty area committee.

Ward boundaries were redrawn again, this year, 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 defined 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.

The most recent general election of the Highland Council was this year, 2007, and its current political commposition is as follows:

Members of Parliament

*John Thurso, Liberal Democrat (2001−"present")
*Robert Adam Ross Maclennan, Liberal Democrat (1997−2001)

Election results

2005

:"Note: The constituency was slightly enlarged in 2005. Therefore +/- percentages are somewhat notional.

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = John Thurso
votes = 13,957
percentage = 50.5
change = +11.9Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Alan Jamieson
votes = 5,789
percentage = 20.9
change = −3.4Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Karen Shirron
votes = 3,686
percentage = 13.3
change = −7.0Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Angus Ross
votes = 2,835
percentage = 10.2
change = −3.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Gordon Campbell
votes = 848
percentage = 3.1
change = +2.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Luke Ivory
votes = 548
percentage = 2.0
change = −0.2Election box majority
votes = 8,168
percentage = 29.5
change = Election box turnout
votes = 27,663
percentage = 59.1
change = −2.0Election box hold with party link
winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)
swing = +7.6

2001

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = John Thurso
votes = 9,041
percentage = 36.4
change = +0.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = Michael Meighan
votes = 6,297
percentage = 25.3
change = −2.5Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = John MacAdam
votes = 5,273
percentage = 21.2
change = −1.8Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Robert Rowantree
votes = 3,513
percentage = 14.1
change = +3.3Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Karn Mabon
votes = 544
percentage = 2.2
change = (+2.2)Election box candidate with party link
party = Independent (politician)
candidate = Gordon Campbell
votes = 199
percentage = 0.8
change = (+0.8)Election box majority
votes = 2,744
percentage = 11.1
change = Election box turnout
votes = 24,867
percentage = 60.2
change = −9.8Election box hold with party link
winner = Liberal Democrats (UK)
swing =

1997

Election box candidate with party link
party = Liberal Democrats (UK)
candidate = Robert Maclennan
votes = 10,381
percentage = 35.6
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Labour Party (UK)
candidate = James Hendry
votes = 8,122
percentage = 27.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Euan Harper
votes = 6,710
percentage = 23.0
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Conservative Party (UK)
candidate = Tom Miers
votes = 3,148
percentage = 10.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Referendum Party
candidate = C. Ryder
votes = 369
percentage = 1.3
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Green Party
candidate = J. Martin
votes = 230
percentage = 0.8
change = "N/A"Election box candidate with party link
party = United Kingdom Independence Party
candidate = M. Carr
votes = 212
percentage = 0.7
change = "N/A"Election box majority
votes = 2,259
percentage =
change = "N/A"Election box turnout
votes =
percentage = 70.2
change = "N/A"

Notes and references

See also