Ross, Skye and Inverness West (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Ross, Skye and Inverness West (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Ross, Skye and Inverness West
Former county constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Ross, Skye and Inverness West in Scotland for the 2001 general election
Subdivisions of Scotland	Highland
1997–2005
Seats	One
Created from	Ross, Cromarty & Skye Inverness, Nairn & Lochaber
Replaced by	Ross, Skye & Lochaber Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross

Ross, Skye and Inverness West was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

The constituency was formed by merging most of the former Ross, Cromarty and Skye constituency (that constituency minus an Easter Ross area) with part of the former Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber constituency.

When abolished in 2005 much of the area of the constituency became part of the then new Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency. Most of the rest went to Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey while a tiny portion joined Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.

There was also a Ross, Skye and Inverness West constituency of the Scottish Parliament, which was created in 1999 with the same boundaries as the former House of Commons constituency.

Boundaries

Skye and Lochalsh District, the Inverness District electoral divisions of Aird North, Aird South, Ballifeary-Columba, Caledonian Canal, Merkinch, and Scorguie, and the Ross and Cromarty District electoral divisions of Alness and Ardross, Black Isle East, Black Isle West, Dingwall, Ferindonald, Lochbroom, Ord and Conon, Strathconon, and Wester Ross.

Council area

See also Politics of the Highland council area

The constituency area was entirely within the Highland unitary council area. In terms of Highland Council committee areas it covered Ross and Cromarty minus an Easter Ross area, all of Skye and Lochalsh, and part of Inverness.

Members of Parliament

Charles Kennedy of the Liberal Democrats was elected in 1997 and re-elected in 2001. Most of Kennedy's tenure as leader of his party coincided with his time as MP for this seat. When the constituency was abolished in 2005, Kennedy was elected MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber.

Election results

Ross and successor constituencies election results

Elections of the 2000s

General election 2001: Ross, Skye and Inverness West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Kennedy	18,832	54.1	+15.4
	Labour	Donald Crichton	5,880	16.9	−11.8
	SNP	Jean Urquhart	4,901	14.1	−5.5
	Conservative	Angus Laing	3,096	8.9	−2.0
	Scottish Green	Eleanor Scott	699	2.0	+1.2
	Scottish Socialist	Stuart Topp	683	2.0	New
	UKIP	Philip Anderson	456	1.3	New
	Countryside	James Crawford	265	0.8	New
Majority			12,952	37.2	+27.2
Turnout			34,812	61.6	−10.0
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Elections of the 1990s

General election 1997: Ross, Skye and Inverness West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Kennedy	15,472	38.7	0.0
	Labour	Donnie Munro	11,453	28.7	+9.8
	SNP	Margaret Paterson	7,821	19.6	+0.8
	Conservative	Mary MacLeod	4,368	10.9	−10.9
	Referendum	Les Durance	535	1.3
	Scottish Green	Alan Hopkins	306	0.8
Majority			4,019	10.0
Turnout			39,955	71.6
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "R" (part 2)