Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency)

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster). It is the most northerly constituency on the British mainland. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.

Not to be confused with Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency) or Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
County constituency
for the House of Commons
Boundary of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross in Scotland
CountyHighland
Major settlementsThurso, Wick
Current constituency
Created1997
Redrawn 2005
Member of ParliamentJamie Stone (Liberal Democrats)
Created fromCaithness & Sutherland and Ross, Cromarty & Skye

The constituency is estimated to have voted to leave by EU by a margin of 52% to 48% in the 2016 Brexit referendum.[1]

Since the 2017 general election, the constituency has been represented by Jamie Stone of the Liberal Democrats.[2]

Boundaries

1997–2005: Caithness District, Sutherland District, and the Ross and Cromarty District electoral divisions of Easter Ross, Invergordon, and Tain.

2005–present: The Highland Council wards of Alness and Ardross, Brora, Caithness Central, Caithness North East, Caithness North West, Caithness South East, Dornoch Firth, Ferindonald, Golspie and Rogart, Invergordon, Pulteneytown, Rosskeen and Saltburn, Seaboard, Sutherland Central, Sutherland North West, Tain East, Tain West, Thurso Central, Thurso East, Thurso West, Tongue and Farr, Wick, and Wick West.

The constituency was created in 1997 by merging Caithness and Sutherland with an area from Ross, Cromarty and Skye which was abolished.

In 2005 the Westminster constituency was enlarged slightly, to include a small area from Ross, Skye and Inverness West. The rest of the latter was divided between two new constituencies, Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.

It is also the second-largest constituency by area, behind Ross, Skye and Lochaber.

Local government area
See also Politics of the Highland council area

Since it was created in 1997 the constituency has been one of three covering the Highland council area. Since 2005 the other two have been Ross, Skye and Lochaber and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey. From 1997 to 2005 the other constituencies of the council area were Ross, Skye and Inverness West and Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is the most northerly of the constituencies, and it now has the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency on its southern boundary.

As enlarged in 2005, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency covered 23 out of the 80 wards of the council area: all ten wards of the Caithness area committee, all six wards of the Sutherland area committee and seven (Alness and Ardross, Invergordon, Ferindonald, Rosskeen and Saltburn, Seaboard, Tain East and Tain West) out of the 18 wards of the Ross and Cromarty area committee.

Further information: Highland Council wards 1999 to 2007

Ward boundaries were redrawn again in 2007, and the management areas were abolished in favour of three new corporate management areas. The new areas consist of groups of the new wards, and boundaries are similar to those of the Westminster constituencies, as defined in 2005. Two areas, the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area and the Ross, Skye and Lochaber area, have the names of Westminster constituencies. The name of the third area, the Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch and Strathspey area, is very similar to that of the third constituency.

Scottish Parliament

In 1999 a Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) constituency was created with the name and boundaries of the Westminster constituency.

At Holyrood the area of the Westminster constituency is represented by an even larger constituency, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross.

Members of Parliament
ElectionMember[3] Party
1997 Robert Maclennan Liberal Democrats
2001 John Thurso Liberal Democrats
2015 Paul Monaghan SNP
2017 Jamie Stone Liberal Democrats

Election results
Election results since 1918

Elections in the 2010s
2019 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross[4][5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jamie Stone 11,705 37.2 +1.4
SNP Karl Rosie 11,501 36.6 +7.4
Conservative Andrew Sinclair 5,176 16.5 -6.1
Labour Cheryl McDonald 1,936 6.2 -6.2
Brexit Party Sandra Skinner 1,139 3.6 New
Majority 204 0.6 -6.0
Turnout 31,457 67.0 +1.1
Liberal Democrats hold Swing -3.0

This was the smallest Liberal Democrat majority at the 2019 general election.[6]

2017 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Jamie Stone 11,061 35.8 +0.7
SNP Paul Monaghan 9,017 29.2 –17.1
Conservative Struan Mackie 6,990 22.6 +15.8
Labour Olivia Bell 3,833 12.4 +3.4
Majority 2,044 6.6 N/A
Turnout 30,901 65.9 –6.0
Liberal Democrats gain from SNP Swing +8.9
2015 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross [8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
SNP Paul Monaghan 15,831 46.3 +27.1
Liberal Democrats John Thurso 11,987 35.1 −6.3
Labour John Erskine 3,061 9.0 −15.6
Conservative Alastair Graham 2,326 6.8 −6.2
UKIP Annie Murray 981 2.9 New
Majority 3,844 11.2 N/A
Turnout 34,186 71.9 +11.0
SNP gain from Liberal Democrats Swing +16.7
2010 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats John Thurso 11,907 41.4 -9.1
Labour John Mackay 7,081 24.6 +3.7
SNP Jean Urquhart 5,516 19.2 +5.9
Conservative Alastair Graham 3,744 13.0 +2.8
Independent Gordon Campbell 520 1.8 -1.3
Majority 4,826 16.8 -13.8
Turnout 28,768 60.9 +1.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing -6.4

Fourth Periodic Review boundaries
2005 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats John Thurso 13,957 50.5 +11.9
Labour Alan Jamieson 5,789 20.9 −3.4
SNP Karen Shirron 3,686 13.3 −7.0
Conservative Angus Ross 2,835 10.2 −3.3
Independent Gordon Campbell 848 3.1 +2.3
Scottish Socialist Luke Ivory 548 2.0 −0.2
Majority 8,168 29.6 +18.5
Turnout 27,663 59.1 −2.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +7.6
2001 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats John Thurso 9,041 36.4 +0.8
Labour Michael Meighan 6,297 25.3 −2.5
SNP John MacAdam 5,273 21.2 −1.8
Conservative Robert Rowantree 3,513 14.1 +3.3
Scottish Socialist Karn Mabon 544 2.2 N/A
Independent Gordon Campbell 199 0.8 N/A
Majority 2,744 11.1 +3.4
Turnout 24,867 60.2 −9.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing +1.6

Elections in the 1990s
1997 general election: Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross[12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Robert Maclennan 10,381 35.6 -8.8
Labour James Hendry 8,122 27.8 +12.2
SNP Euan Harper 6,710 23.0 +4.6
Conservative Tom Miers 3,148 10.8 -10.8
Referendum Carolyn Ryder 369 1.3 N/A
Scottish Green John Martin 230 0.8 N/A
UKIP Martin Carr 212 0.7 N/A
Majority 2,259 7.8 N/A
Turnout 29,172 70.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Notes and references
  1. https://democraticdashboard.com/constituency/caithness-sutherland-and-easter-ross
  2. "Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 2019-12-23.
  3. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "C" (part 1)
  4. "Candidates confirmed for UK Parliamentary general election 2019". The Highland Council. The Highland Council. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  5. "Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  6. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8749/CBP-8749.pdf
  7. Butlin, Heather (24 July 2017). "UK Parliamentary General Election". www.highland.gov.uk.
  8. MacNeill, Alison. "Caithness Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency - UK Parliamentary General Election result". www.highland.gov.uk.
  9. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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