The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...

, created in 1999. Eight of the parliament's

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 their ...

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 ...

are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). The name ''Highlands and Islands'' is much older than the electoral region. The

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland and Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act of 1886 ...

area has a large area of overlap with the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

, and the two names are often regarded as representing the same area. The Highlands and Islands region is the largest of the eight electoral regions in terms of area, but the smallest in terms of population and electorate. It has boundaries with the North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife and the West Scotland electoral regions.

Constituencies and council areas

2011–

As a result of the

First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

the boundaries of the region and constituencies were redrawn for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

1999–2011

The constituencies were created in 1999 with the names and boundaries of

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, Bu ...

constituencies, as existing at that time. They covered all of four

council areas For local government purposes, Scotland is divided into 32 areas designated as "council areas" ( gd, comhairlean), which are all governed by single-tier authorities designated as "councils". They have the option under the Local Government (Ga ...

, the

Highland council area Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It share ...

, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles council area), the Orkney Isles council area and the Shetland Isles council area, and most of two others, the Argyll and Bute council area and the

Moray council area 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. Between 1975 ...

: A south-eastern portion of the Argyll and Bute area is covered by the

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

constituency, which is in the West of Scotland region. An eastern portion of the Moray area is covered by the

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Clan Gordon, ...

constituency, in the North East Scotland region.

Boundary changes

The Boundary Commission also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament. Highlands and Islands was amended so as to contain the newly redrawn constituencies of

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

;

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

and Ross;

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

and

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...

;

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. Between 1975 ...

; Na h-Eileanan an Iar;

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

;

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

; and

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...

and

Badenoch Badenoch (from gd, Bàideanach, meaning "drowned land") is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by t ...

List of MSPs

Constituency MSPs

Regional list MSPs

N.B. This table is for presentation purposes only

Election results

2021 Scottish Parliament election

Constituency results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2,

2021 Scottish Parliament election The 2021 Scottish Parliament election took place on 6 May 2021, under the provisions of the Scotland Act 1998. All 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament were elected in the sixth election since the parliament was re-established in 1999. The ele ...

: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result

Additional Member results

2016 election

In the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...

the region elected MSPs as follows: * 7

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 ...

MSPs (six constituency members and one additional member) * 3

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MSPs (all additional members) * 2

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

MSPs (both constituency members) * 2

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

MSPs (both additional members) * 1

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

MSP (additional member)

Constituency results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2,

: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result

Additional member results

Elected candidates are highlighted in bold.

2011 election

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows: * 9

MSPs (six constituency members and three additional members) * 2

MSPs (both constituency members) * 2

MSPs (both additional members) * 2

MSPs (both additional members)

Constituency results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2, 2011 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result

Additional member results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2, 2011 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 150px", Party ! Elected candidates ! style="width: 40px", Seats ! style="width: 40px", +/− ! style="width: 50px", Votes ! style="width: 40px", % ! style="width: 40px", +/−% , -

2007 election

In the

2007 Scottish Parliament election The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999. Local elections in Scotland fe ...

the region elected MSPs as follows: * 6

MSPs (four constituency MSPs and two additional members) * 4

MSPs (all constituency MSPs) * 3

MSPs (all additional members) * 2

MSPs (both additional members)

Constituency results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2,

: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result

Additional member results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2,

: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 150px", Party ! Elected candidates ! style="width: 40px", Seats ! style="width: 40px", +/− ! style="width: 50px", Votes ! style="width: 40px", % ! style="width: 40px", +/−% , -

2003 election

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows: * 5

MSPs (all constituency MSPs) * 4

MSPs (two constituency MSPs and two additional members) * 3

MSPs (one constituency MSP and two additional members) * 2

MSPs (both additional members) * 1

MSP (additional member)

Constituency results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2, 2003 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result Changes: *

Margaret Ewing Margaret Anne Ewing (''née'' McAdam, formerly Bain; 1 September 1945 – 21 March 2006) was a Scottish teacher, journalist and politician. She served as a Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament for East Dunbartonshire from 1974 t ...

MSP for

, died on 21 March 2006. The

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was won by

Richard Lochhead Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician who is Minister for Just Transition, Employment and Fair Work and has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Moray since 2006. He was previou ...

of the SNP.

Additional member results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2, 2003 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 150px", Party ! Elected candidates ! style="width: 40px", Seats ! style="width: 40px", +/− ! style="width: 50px", Votes ! style="width: 40px", % ! style="width: 40px", +/−% , - Changes: * Dave Petrie replaced Mary Scanlon. Scanlon resigned as an MSP in April 2006 to contest the Moray by-election following the death of

. Petrie was next on the

list.

1999 election

In the 1999 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows: * 5

MSPs (all constituency members) * 4

MSPs (two constituency and two additional members) * 4

MSPs (one constituency and three additional members) * 2

MSP (both additional members)

Constituency results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2, 1999 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result

Additional member results

{, class=wikitable !colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2, 1999 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands , - ! colspan="2" style="width: 150px", Party ! Elected candidates ! style="width: 40px", Seats ! style="width: 40px", +/− ! style="width: 50px", Votes ! style="width: 40px", % ! style="width: 40px", +/−% , -

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Highlands And Islands (Scottish Parliament Electoral Region) Scottish Parliamentary regions Politics of Moray Politics of Highland (council area) Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999–2011 Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions from 2011 Politics of Argyll and Bute Politics of the Outer Hebrides Politics of Orkney Politics of Shetland