(formerly '''''Western Isles''''') 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.
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 .
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. However, 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.
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 '' councils 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 ''.
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 , it was one of only two seats (the other being
Blaenau Gwent in which the
Conservative Party lost their deposit.
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Jean Davis
|
| |
1,096
|
| |
79
|
| |
+14
|
|
| |
Operation Christian Vote
|
| |
James Hargreaves
|
| |
1,048
|
| |
76
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Andy Maciver
|
| |
610
|
| |
44
|
| |
&minus51
|
|
| |
Scottish Socialist Party
|
| |
Joanne Telfer
|
| |
97
|
| |
07
|
| |
&minus15
|
|
| |
Scottish National Party
|
| |
Labour Party (UK)
|
| |
+93
|
|
| |
Scottish National Party
|
| |
Alasdair Nicholson
|
| |
4,850
|
| |
369
|
| |
+35
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Douglas Taylor
|
| |
1,250
|
| |
95
|
| |
+28
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
John Horne
|
| |
849
|
| |
65
|
| |
+34
|
|
| |
Scottish Socialist Party
|
| |
Joanne Telfer
|
| |
286
|
| |
22
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Scottish National Party
|
| |
Anne Lorne Gillies
|
| |
5,379
|
| |
334
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
James McGrigor
|
| |
1,071
|
| |
66
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Neil Mitchison
|
| |
495
|
| |
31
|
|
| |
Referendum Party
|
| |
Ralph Lionel
|
| |
206
|
| |
13
|
| |
''N/A''
|
|
| |
Scottish National Party
|
| |
Frances MacFarlane
|
| |
5,961
|
| |
372
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
Robert Heany
|
| |
1,362
|
| |
85
|
|
| |
Liberal Democrats (UK)
|
| |
Neil Mitchison
|
| |
552
|
| |
34
|
|
| |
Independent (politician)
|
| |
A Price
|
| |
491
|
| |
31
|
|
| |
Scottish National Party
|
| |
Ian Smith
|
| |
4,701
|
| |
285
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
M Morrison
|
| |
1,336
|
| |
81
|
|
| |
Labour Party (UK)
|
| |
Scottish National Party
|
|
| |
Labour Party (UK)
|
| |
B D H Wilson
|
| |
4,560
|
| |
301
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
M Morrison
|
| |
1,460
|
| |
96
|
|
| |
Liberal Party (UK)
|
| |
N MacLeod
|
| |
876
|
| |
58
|
|
| |
Labour Party (UK)
|
| |
A Matheson
|
| |
4,878
|
| |
323
|
|
| |
Conservative Party (UK)
|
| |
M Morrison
|
| |
1,600
|
| |
106
|
|
| |
Liberal Party (UK)
|
| |
N MacLeod
|
| |
700
|
| |
46
|
|
