Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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Constituency
Current constituency

Orkney is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

The former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace represented the constituency from 1999 to 2007.

Electoral region

See also: Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

Orkney is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies of are: Argyll and Bute; Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Inverness and Nairn; Moray; Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Western Isles); Shetland and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

The region covers most of Argyll and Bute council area, all of the Highland council area, most of the Moray council area, all of the Orkney Islands council area, all of the Shetland Islands council area and all of Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Orkney constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, to cover the Orkney Islands council area. In the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster), the council area is covered by the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which also covers the Shetland Islands council area.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color" |	1999	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrat
style="background-color: Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color" |	2003
style="background-color: Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color" |	2007	Liam McArthur
style="background-color: Template:Scottish Liberal Democrats/meta/color" |	2011

Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur	2,912	35.7	−11.8
	Independent	James Stockan	2,052	25.2	N/A
	SNP	Donna Heddle	2,044	25.1	+6.2
	Conservative	Jamie Halcro-Johnson	686	8.4	−10.4
	Labour	William Sharkey	458	5.6	−7.5
Majority			860	10.5
Turnout			8,152	49.3	−501
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur	4,113	47.5	+1.8
	SNP	John Mowat	1,637	18.9	+5.7
	Conservative	Helen Gardiner	1,632	18.9	−4.9
	Labour	Iain MacDonald	1,134	13.1	+7.2
	Independent	Barrie Johnson	137	1.6	+1.6
Majority			2,476	28.6
Turnout			8,653	53.4	+1.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Scottish Parliament election 2003: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Wallace	3,659	45.71	−21.68
	Conservative	Christopher Zawadski	1,904	23.79	+ 8.19
	SNP	John Mowat	1,056	13.19	+ 2.91
	Scottish Socialist	John Aberdein	914	11.42	+11.42
	Labour	Richard Meade	471	5.88	−0.85
Majority			1,755	21.9	−29.86
Turnout			8,004	51.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Scottish Parliament election 1999: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Wallace	6,010	67.4	N/A
	Conservative	Christopher Zawadski	1,391	15.6	N/A
	SNP	John Mowat	917	10.3	N/A
	Labour	Angus Macleod	600	6.7	N/A
Majority			4,619	51.8	N/A
Turnout			8,918	57.0	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)