The third set of Highland Council wards, 22 in number, became effective for election purposes in 2007, for the fourth general election of the Highland Council. The new wards were created under the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, and are as defined in recommendations of the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. The Highland Council (''Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd'' in

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

) had become a

local government authority A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

in 1996, when the two-tier system of regions and districts was abolished and the Highland region became a

unitary council area A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, under the

Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland. It abolished the two-tier st ...

. The first Highland Council election, however, was one year earlier, in 1995. Until 1996 councillors shadowed the regional and district councils and planned for the transfer of powers and responsibilities. Elections to the council are normally on a four-year cycle, all wards being contestable at each election. For the periods 1995 to 1999 each of 72 wards had elected one

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

by the

first past the post system 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 their ...

. For the period 1999 to 2007, each of 80 wards had elected one councillor by the same system. In 2007, single-member, first past the post wards were replaced by 22 multi-member wards, each electing three or four councillors by the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate ...

system, to produce a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Until 2007 each council ward had been related to one of eight council management areas. In 2007 the council decided to replace the management areas with three new corporate management areas, named as (1) Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, (2) Ross, Skye and Lochaber and (3) Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey, and designed ''for those services that could not be effectively or efficiently delivered and managed at ward level''. Two of these names are also those of

Westminster Parliament 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 supremacy ...

(

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

)

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

, and one name is very similar to the name of another Westminster constituency, but constituency and corporate management area boundaries are different. Each corporate management area consists of a whole number of wards. For ward-level management purposes ten wards are stand-alone areas, eleven are merged into larger areas, and one is divided between two areas. Also, seven wards are grouped into an Inverness city management area. The wards are numbered as well as named.

Lists of wards created in 2007

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross wards

The Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross corporate management area consists of seven wards represented by 23 councillors.

Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey wards

The Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area consists of nine wards represented by 34 councillors. Also, seven of the wards, represented by 26 councillors, are grouped into an Inverness city management area with its own city committee.

Inverness wards

Other wards

Ross, Skye and Lochaber wards

The Ross, Skye and Lochaber corporate management area consists of six wards represented by 23 councillors.

Changes since 2007

Some large changes were made prior to the 2017 Highland Council election, most notably in the Caithness area. The number of wards was also reduced by one to 21. The current wards are below. Further changes were proposed by

Boundaries Scotland Boundaries Scotland is an independent body in Scotland created as the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. According to its website, it is responsible for: carrying out reviews of boun ...

in 2021, however these were rejected by the Scottish Parliament.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Highland Council Wards Created In 2007 Highland council wards Administrative divisions of Scotland Lists of wards in Scotland