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Gordon is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...
(
Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...
), which elects one member of Parliament (MP) by the
first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...
system of election. The constituency first returned a member in the 1983 general election, but has undergone boundary changes since that date. The constituency has been represented since 12 December 2019 by Richard Thomson of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...
.


Boundaries

1983–1997: Gordon District, and the City of Aberdeen District electoral divisions of East Don and West Don. 1997–2005: The Gordon District electoral divisions of East Gordon, Formartine, Garioch, Inverurie, Kintore and Newmachar, and West Gordon, the Banff and Buchan District electoral division of Lower Deveron and Upper Ythan, and the Moray District electoral division of Keith-Strathisla. 2005–present: The Aberdeenshire Council wards of Tarves, Ythan, Ellon Town, Logie Buchan, Meldrum, Udny-Slains, Belhelvie, Insch, Chapel and Gadie, Inverurie North, Inverurie Central, Inverurie South and Port Elphinstone, Kintore and Keithhall, Newmachar and Fintray, Huntly West, Huntly East, and Strathbogie, and the Aberdeen City Council wards of Pitmedden, Bankhead/Stoneywood, Danestone, Jesmond, Oldmachar, and Bridge of Don. New boundaries were used for the 2005 general election. Prior to that election the constituency covered a central portion of the Aberdeenshire council area and a small eastern portion of the Moray council area. As a result of the 2005 boundary changes, in accordance with the Fifth Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the Gordon constituency is now one of five covering the Aberdeenshire council area and the Aberdeen City council area. The Gordon constituency now covers a central portion of the Aberdeenshire area and a northern portion of the Aberdeen City area. Entirely within the Aberdeenshire area, there is also Banff and Buchan, to the north of Gordon, and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, to the south. Entirely within the Aberdeen City area, there is also Aberdeen North, to the south of Gordon, and Aberdeen South, further south. The towns of Ellon,
Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settleme ...
and Inverurie remain within the constituency.
Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...
(within the Moray council area) was transferred to the
Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland (council area), ...
constituency, Turriff was transferred to the Banff and Buchan constituency, and Kemnay and Westhill were transferred to the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency. The Bridge of Don and Dyce areas (within the Aberdeen City council area) were transferred to the Gordon constituency from the Aberdeen North constituency.


Constituency profile and voting patterns


Constituency profile

An affluent, semi-rural constituency spanning across central
Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area inclu ...
and northern
Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
, the Gordon constituency is among the least deprived and highest-earning seats in Scotland, with a high proportion of skilled and professional workers. The constituency covers the A90 and A96 corridors in Aberdeenshire north of Aberdeen, covering the towns of
Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settleme ...
, Inverurie and Kintore situated along the Valleys of the River Don in the region of Garioch, and the towns of Ellon and Oldmeldrum in Formartine. The boundaries of the constituency stretch down into Aberdeen to the south-east, to cover the city's northern suburbs of Bankhead, Bridge of Don,
Danestone Danestone is a small, village-like area of Aberdeen, Scotland, located next to the suburb of Bridge of Don. Located North of Aberdeen City Centre, ''Danestone'' is a relatively new area of Aberdeen. The area was all farmland until the 1980s whe ...
and Dyce. Oil, agriculture and tourism form an important part of the local economy, with most of the constituency's settlements around Aberdeen serving as commuter territory for the city, including the towns of Inverurie and Kintore and the villages of Balmedie and Newmachar, where there is rapid population growth, with many areas seeing their population double within the last decade. Various energy companies have representations in Dyce and Bridge of Don, among which are EMS Oil and
GE Oil and Gas GE Oil & Gas was the division of General Electric that owned its investments in the petroleum industry. In July 2017, this division was merged with Baker Hughes. The division supplied equipment for the petroleum industry including drilling, ...
. The constituency also covers Aberdeen International Airport in Dyce, Scotland's third-busiest airport by passenger numbers.
Huntly Huntly ( gd, Srath Bhalgaidh or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settleme ...
, approximately 40 miles north-west of Aberdeen, is the historic home of the Gordon Highlanders regiment and is the site of Huntly Castle, the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon. Huntly is also the headquarters of Dean's bakers, who produce shortbread. Ellon, approximately 16 miles north of Aberdeen, is a coastal resort sitting on the mouth of the River Ythan. On the outskirts of the town is a brewery owned by
BrewDog BrewDog is a multinational brewery and pub chain based in Ellon, Scotland. With production of over 800,000 hectolitres, BrewDog claims to be the "#1 Craft Brewer in Europe". It was founded in 2007 by James Watt and Martin Dickie, who together ...
.


Voting patterns

In the UK Parliament, Gordon was traditionally a Liberal- Conservative marginal. The constituency's predecessor seats of East Aberdeenshire and West Aberdeenshire were previously represented by the Conservatives. When Gordon was first formed in 1983, it was narrowly won by Malcolm Bruce of the Liberals, with a slender majority of 850 votes. Bruce subsequently increased his majority tenfold in 1987, before seeing it cut to just 274 in
1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engin ...
, in new boundaries which benefited the Conservative Party. Since the Conservatives' landslide defeat in
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
, Gordon had returned Bruce of the Liberal Democrats with an increasing strong majority until Richard Thomson of the
Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...
cut his majority down by nearly 4,000 votes in
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
. In the nationwide SNP landslide victory in
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the April ...
, Salmond, former First Minister of Scotland and SNP Leader, gained the seat for the SNP with a majority of 8,687 votes ahead of the Liberal Democrats; with Bruce standing down. Salmond previously represented the coterminous Gordon constituency in the Scottish Parliament from
2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...
until his retirement from the Scottish Parliament in 2016. In the Scottish Parliament, Gordon was first represented by Nora Radcliffe of the Liberal Democrats in 1999. The constituency was a three-way marginal between the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and SNP. Alex Salmond gained the constituency in 2007 with a 2,000 majority, increasing it to over 15,000 votes in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
. More recently the Conservatives have made a strong comeback in Gordon, gaining the overlapping Aberdeenshire West constituency in 2016, and coming second behind the SNP in the overlapping constituencies of Aberdeen Donside and
Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire East ( Gaelic: ''Siorrachd Obar Dheathain an Ear'') is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Aberdeenshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first ...
. At the 2016 European Union membership referendum, the Gordon constituency is estimated to have voted to Remain within the European Union on a margin of 55.5% Remain 44.5% Leave, an above-average Leave vote relative to the rest of Scotland. The Scottish Conservatives took the most votes in the area at the 2017 local council elections, prompting party leader Ruth Davidson to say on a visit to Inverurie that "We won the local government election in Gordon this week, beating the SNP into second place. It means that in this seat, as in many others, it is a two-horse race between us and the cottishNationalists." In response to Davidson's comments, the SNP MP for Gordon at the time, Alex Salmond said: “It’s just arrogance, for Ruth Davidson to continue the line of ‘we’re going to take this seat, and we’re going to take that seat’. Once it doesn't happen, it's very bad news for Ruth Davidson's credibility.” Salmond was later unseated by Conservative Colin Clark at the 2017 snap election on 8 June. The swing to the Conservatives was 20.4%, the party's largest swing in the whole of Britain. The defeat of Salmond was a bitter blow to SNP activists in the North East who characterised it to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' as, “So disrespectful”, “How could local people do that to him?” However, in the 2019 election, Richard Thomson narrowly regained the seat for the SNP with a majority of 819 (1.4%), meaning the seat remains an SNP-Conservative marginal.


Members of Parliament


Election results


Elections in the 2010s

This was the largest swing towards the Conservatives within the United Kingdom at the 2017 general election.


Elections of the 2000s

Before the 2005 general election, Scotland went through major boundary changes.


Elections of the 1990s


Elections of the 1980s


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon (Uk Parliament Constituency) Politics of Aberdeen Politics of Aberdeenshire Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983