Argyll and Bute (Scottish Parliament constituency)
# Argyll and Bute (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Argyll and Bute (Gaelic: Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of Argyll and Bute. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

The seat has been held by Jenni Minto of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The Argyll and Bute constituency is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Moray, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney, 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 Argyll and Bute 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, the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was enlarged slightly.

The Holyrood constituency covers most of the Argyll and Bute council area. The rest of the council area (which includes the town of Helensburgh) is covered by the Dumbarton constituency in the West Scotland electoral region. The Argyll and Bute Westminster constituency has covered the whole of the council area since 2005.

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, boundary changes altered the existing Argyll and Bute constituency. All but three electoral wards of the Argyll and Bute council area were used in the creation of the new seat, namely:

* Cowal, Dunoon, Isle of Bute, Kintyre and the Islands, Mid Argyll, Oban North and Lorn, Oban South and the Isles, South Kintyre.

As of 2019, Argyll and Bute's population (60,394) was the lowest among the 70 Holyrood mainland constituencies, barely two-thirds of the total of those at the top of the list, headed by Linlithgow which had over 95,000 within its boundaries.

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| - | - | - |
| 1999 | George Lyon | Liberal Democrats |
| 2007 | Jim Mather | Scottish National Party |
| 2011 | Michael Russell | Scottish National Party |
| 2021 | Jenni Minto | Scottish National Party |

## Election results

### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Argyll and Bute :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Jenni Minto | 16,608 | 49.5 | 3.5 | 13,966 | 41.5 | 0.2 |
| | Conservative | Donald Cameron | 7,645 | 22.8 | 3.0 | 8,563 | 25.5 | 1.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Reid | 6,874 | 20.5 | 5.2 | 3,659 | 10.9 | 2.1 |
| | Labour | Lewis Whyte | 2,436 | 7.3 | 1.2 | 2,829 | 8.4 | 0.9 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,661 | 7.9 | 0.4 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 589 | 1.8 | New |
| | Independent | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | 423 | 1.3 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 290 | 0.9 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 189 | 0.6 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 113 | 0.3 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 67 | 0.2 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 63 | 0.2 | New |
| | Libertarian | Libertarian | Libertarian | Libertarian | Libertarian | 60 | 0.2 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 59 | 0.2 | 2.1 |
| | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | 36 | 0.1 | New |
| | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | 32 | 0.1 | New |
| | Independent | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | 29 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,963 | 26.7 | 6.4 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 33,563 | | | 33,628 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 165 | | | 84 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,728 | 67.8 | 6.8 | 33,712 | 67.8 | 6.8 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 0.3 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member on the party list↑ Re-elected via list↑ Incumbent member on the list for Lothian region, having been elected as a member of the Scottish Greens in 2016 |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Argyll and Bute :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Michael Russell | 13,561 | 46.0 | 4.6 | 12,327 | 41.7 | 7.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan Reid | 7,583 | 25.7 | 13.5 | 3,856 | 13.0 | 4.9 |
| | Conservative | Donald Cameron | 5,840 | 19.8 | 1.5 | 7,151 | 24.2 | 8.6 |
| | Labour | Mick Rice | 2,492 | 8.5 | 6.8 | 2,739 | 9.3 | 5.0 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,213 | 7.5 | 2.6 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 679 | 2.3 | 0.9 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 193 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 162 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| | Independent | James Stockan | James Stockan | James Stockan | James Stockan | 153 | 0.5 | New |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 86 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,978 | 20.3 | 12.0 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 29,476 | | | 29,559 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 116 | | | 36 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,592 | 61.0 | 6.6 | 29,295 | 61.0 | 6.5 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 9.1 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Argyll and Bute :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Michael Russell | 13,390 | 50.6 | N/A | 13,172 | 49.5 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Jamie McGrigor | 4,847 | 18.3 | N/A | 4,156 | 15.6 | N/A |
| | Labour | Mick Rice | 4,041 | 15.3 | N/A | 3,804 | 14.3 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alison Hay | 3,220 | 12.2 | N/A | 2,155 | 8.1 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,304 | 4.9 | N/A |
| | Independent | George Doyle | 542 | 2.0 | N/A | | | |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 436 | 1.6 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 362 | 1.4 | N/A |
| | Liberal | George White | 436 | 1.6 | N/A | 247 | 0.9 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 231 | 0.9 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 204 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Ban Bankers Bonuses | Ban Bankers Bonuses | Ban Bankers Bonuses | Ban Bankers Bonuses | Ban Bankers Bonuses | 198 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 183 | 0.9 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 95 | 0.4 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 50 | 0.2 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,543 | 32.3 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 26,476 | | | 26,597 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 120 | | | 61 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,596 | 54.4 | N/A | 26,658 | 54.5 | N/A |
| | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) |
| Notes 1 2 Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||

### 2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Argyll and Bute :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | SNP | Jim Mather | 9,944 | 34.5 | +14.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Lyon | 9,129 | 31.7 | -3.4 |
| | Conservative | Jamie McGrigor | 5,571 | 19.4 | -0.7 |
| | Labour | Mary Galbraith | 4,148 | 14.4 | -3.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 815 | 2.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,792 | 58.9 | +1.1 |
| | SNP gain from Liberal Democrats | SNP gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | +9.2 | |

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Argyll and Bute :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Lyon | 9,817 | 35.1 | +0.2 |
| | Conservative | Dave Petrie | 5,621 | 20.1 | +3.6 |
| | SNP | Jim Mather | 5,485 | 19.6 | −8.9 |
| | Labour | Hugh Raven | 5,107 | 18.3 | −1.8 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Des Divers | 1,667 | 5.9 | New |
| | Scottish People's | David Walker | 251 | 0.9 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,196 | 15.0 | +8.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,948 | 57.8 | −7.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | | |

### 1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Argyll and Bute :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Lyon | 11,226 | 34.9 |
| | SNP | Duncan Hamilton | 9,169 | 28.5 |
| | Labour | Hugh Raven | 6,470 | 20.1 |
| | Conservative | David Petrie | 5,312 | 16.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,057 | 6.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,177 | 64.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) |
