Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (UK Parliament constituency)
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| Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey County constituency |
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| Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey shown within Scotland | |
| Created: | 2005 |
| MP: | Danny Alexander |
| Party: | Liberal Democrats |
| Type: | House of Commons |
| Council areas: | Highland |
| EP constituency: | Scotland |
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey 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.
The constituency covers a south-eastern portion of the Highland council area.
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[edit] Boundaries
The constituency was created in 2005 by merging an area from Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber with an area from Ross, Skye and Inverness West. The rest of Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber was merged with most of the rest of Ross, Skye and Inverness West to form Ross, Skye and Lochaber. A small area of Ross, Skye and Inverness West was merged into Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
For representation in the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) the area of the Westminster constituency is divided between Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber (the Holyrood constituency) and Ross, Skye and Inverness West (the Holyrood constituency).
[edit] Local government area
The constituency is one of three covering the Highland council area, the other two being the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency and the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency.
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey covers a south-eastern portion of the council area, with Ross, Skye and Lochaber to its north and west.
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey covers 30 out of the 80 wards of the council area, as defined when the constituency was created: 22 wards (all except Beauly and Strathglass) of the Inverness committee area, all wards of the Nairn committee area and all wards of the Badenoch and Stathspey committee area.
Ward boundaries will change in April 2007, but these changes will not affect constituency boundaries. At the same time, the council will create three new operational management areas, with boundaries similar to but not identical to Westminster constituency boundaries. The new areas are called, in some contexts, North Highland, Mid and West Highland, and East Highland. In other contexts they are known, perhaps confusingly, by the names of the consituencies.
The City of Inverness is commonly supposed to lie within the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey constituency, but this city lacks clearly defined boundaries. The Highland Council committee area of Inverness, as defined in 2005, does include the former burgh of Inverness and the Inverness urban area, but is mostly rural, and includes an area covered by the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency.
[edit] Members of Parliament
- Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrats (2005–present)
[edit] Election results
- Note: The constituency was new in 2005 and +/- percentages are notional.
| General Election 2005: Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal Democrats | Danny Alexander | 17,830 | 40.3 | +10.8 | |
| Labour | David Stewart | 13,682 | 30.9 | -1.3 | |
| Scottish National Party | David Thompson | 5,992 | 13.5 | -9.5 | |
| Conservative | Robert Rowantree | 4,579 | 10.3 | -2.0 | |
| Scottish Green | Donnie MacLeod | 1,065 | 2.4 | N/A | |
| Publican Party | Donald Lawson | 678 | 1.5 | N/A | |
| Scottish Socialist | George MacDonald | 429 | 1.0 | -1 | |
| Majority | 4,148 | 9.4 | |||
| Turnout | 44,255 | 63.6 | +0.5 | ||
| Liberal Democrats gain from Labour | Swing | +6.0 | |||
