Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Former county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament

Roxburgh and Berwickshire shown within the South of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created 1999
Abolished 2011
Council area Scottish Borders

Roxburgh and Berwickshire was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament until 2011. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the South of Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

See also South of Scotland Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Cunninghame South, Dumfries, East Lothian, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, part of the North Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[1]

The Holyrood constituency covers an eastern portion of the Scottish Borders council area. The rest of the council area is covered by the Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale constituency, which also covers a western portion of the Midlothian council area.

Boundary review

Following its First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland has recommended the Roxburgh and Berwickshire seat be expanded to form the newly shaped Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency in time for the 2011 election.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

ElectionMemberParty
1999 Euan Robson Liberal Democrats
2003
2007 John Lamont Conservative

Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Roxburgh and Berwickshire[2]

Notes: Green background denotes the winner of the electorate vote.
Pink background denotes a candidate elected from their party list.
Yellow background denotes an electorate win by a list member.
A Green tick or Red X denotes status of any incumbent, win or lose respectively.

Party Candidate Votes % ±% Party Votes % ±%
Conservative John Lamont 10,556 41.11 +10.94 8,460 33.33
Liberal Democrats Red X Euan Robson 8,571 33.38 -7.85 5,956 23.47
SNP Aileen Orr 4,127 16.07 +3.56 5,317 20.95
Labour Mary Lockhart 2,108 8.21 -4.24 3,051 12.02
style="background-color: style="background:#DDDDDD; width:{{{2}}}px"| Independent Jesse Rae 318 1.24 +1.24
Scottish Green   1,065 4.20
Scottish Senior Citizens   423 1.67
BNP   268 1.06
UKIP   224 0.88
Scottish Christian   148 0.58
Solidarity   145 0.57
Socialist Labour   111 0.44
Scottish Socialist   86 0.34
Scottish Voice   54 0.21
Christian Peoples   44 0.17
Independent - Paddy Scott Hogg 28 0.11
Informal votes 599 899
Total Valid votes 25,680 25,380
Turnout 26,279
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Majority 1,985 7.73
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Euan Robson 9,280 41.2 +0.6
Conservative Sandy Scott 6,790 30.2 +2.4
SNP Roderick Campbell 2,816 12.5 -4.4
Labour Sam Held 2,802 12.5 - 2.2
Scottish Socialist Graeme McIver 823 3.7 n/a
Majority 2,490
Turnout 22511
Liberal Democrats hold Swing 0.9 from LD to Con
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Euan Robson 11,320 40.6 n/a
Conservative Alasdair Hutton 7,735 27.8 n/a
SNP Stuart Crawford 4,719 16.9 n/a
Labour Susan McLeod 2,802 14.7 n/a
Majority 3,585 n/a
Turnout 26,500 n/a
Liberal Democrats hold Swing n/a

Scottish Youth Parliament

Christina Hendry and Andrew McGowan were elected Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) in March 2011 for Roxburgh & Berwickshire.

Andrew McGowan MSYP took part in the 'Live Below the Line UK' challenge to raise money for the Global Poverty Project between 2 May - 6 May. The MSYP undertook the challenge to survive off £1 each day, for five days. Andrew raised just under £400 for the charity. The donations raised will go towards eradicating polio, ensuring a fair price for workers, exposing and tackling corruption as well as other anti-poverty strategies.

Andrew McGowan, who was also a Trustee/Director of the Scottish Youth Parliament, and Christina Hendrie stood down in June 2013.

In the SYP elections that followed, Nicola Pringle MSYP, Scott Redmond MSYP and Finlay Duff MSYP were elected to serve as Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament for the Borders.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland
  2. ↑ Sub-constituency election results for the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections - data-Scotland Office, 30 April 2008 (retrieved 5 April 2011)

See also