Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scottish Parliament constituency)
# Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (/nə ˈhɪlənən ənˈjɪər/; Scottish Gaelic pronunciation:), formerly the Western Isles, is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Na h-Eileanan Siar. 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 Alasdair Allan of the Scottish National Party since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Moray, 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 Western Isles constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. It voted for the first time in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. From the 2005 United Kingdom general election, however, the name of the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was changed to Na h-Eileanan an Iar.

The Holyrood constituency covers Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Western Isles council area), comprising its nine wards: Barraigh, Bhatarsaigh, Eirisgeigh agus Uibhist a Deas; Beinn Na Foghla agus Uibhist a Tuath; Na Hearadh agus Ceann a Deas Nan Loch; Sgir’ Uige agus Ceann a Tuath Nan Loch; Sgire an Rubha; Steòrnabhagh a Deas; Steòrnabhagh a Tuath; Loch a Tuath; An Taobh Siar agus Nis.

Geographically, the constituency consists of the Outer Hebridean islands. The major islands are Barra, Benbecula, Lewis and Harris, North Uist and South Uist. On the grounds of the remoteness of the constituency from the rest of Scotland, and the difficulties involved in getting from island to island, there is a significantly smaller electorate than in the mainland Scottish Parliament constituencies.

## Politics

The seat had been a two-way marginal between the Scottish Labour and the Scottish National Party for many years. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly safe for the Scottish National Party. Despite that, during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum the constituency voted against independence by a margin of 53.42% (10,544) to 46.58% (9,195) in favour on a turnout of 86.2%

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| - | - | - | - |
| | 1999 | Alasdair Morrison | Labour |
| | 2007 | Alasdair Allan | SNP |

## Election results

### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Na h-Eileanan an Iar :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Alasdair Allan | 7,454 | 51.4 | 0.7 | 6,266 | 43.11 | 2.4 |
| | Labour | Shaun Fraser | 4,013 | 27.7 | 2.1 | 3,095 | 21.29 | 1.8 |
| | Conservative | Gavin Berkenheger | 2,116 | 14.6 | 3.2 | 2,591 | 17.83 | 6.3 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 850 | 5.85 | 1.1 |
| | Independent | Callum MacMillan | 571 | 3.9 | New | | | |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 501 | 3.45 | New |
| | Liberal Democrats | Neil Mitchison | 353 | 2.4 | 0.2 | 324 | 2.23 | 0.1 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 316 | 2.17 | New |
| | Independent | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | 262 | 1.80 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 102 | 0.70 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 39 | 0.27 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 32 | 0.22 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 31 | 0.21 | New |
| | Libertarian | Libertarian | Libertarian | Libertarian | Libertarian | 27 | 0.19 | New |
| | Independent | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | 27 | 0.19 | New |
| | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | 24 | 0.17 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 24 | 0.17 | 1.8 |
| | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | 23 | 0.16 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,441 | 23.7 | 2.8 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 14,507 | | | 14,534 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 86 | | | 55 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,593 | 66.4 | 5.3 | 14,589 | 66.3 | 5.1 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 1.5 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency↑ 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: Na h-Eileanan an Iar :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Alasdair Allan | 6,874 | 52.1 | 13.2 | 6,024 | 45.5 | 11.0 |
| | Labour | Rhoda Grant | 3,378 | 25.6 | 3.0 | 3,061 | 23.1 | 0.3 |
| | Conservative | Ranald Fraser | 1,499 | 11.4 | 7.1 | 1,522 | 11.5 | 6.8 |
| | Scottish Christian | John Cormack | 1,162 | 8.8 | New | 1,238 | 9.4 | 2.9 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 624 | 4.7 | 2.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ken MacLeod | 293 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 280 | 2.1 | 0.5 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 260 | 2.0 | 1.2 |
| | Independent | James Stockan | James Stockan | James Stockan | James Stockan | 113 | 0.9 | New |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 57 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 54 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,496 | 26.5 | 10.2 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 13,206 | | | 13,233 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 59 | | | 39 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,265 | 61.1 | 1.2 | 13,272 | 61.2 | 1.2 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 8.1 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Na h-Eileanan an Iar :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Alasdair Allan | 8,496 | 65.3 | 18.7 | 7,366 | 56.5 | |
| | Labour | Donald Crichton | 3,724 | 28.6 | 13.0 | 3,049 | 23.4 | |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 842 | 6.5 | |
| | Conservative | Charlie McGrigor | 563 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 616 | 4.7 | |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 349 | 2.7 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Peter Morrison | 228 | 1.8 | 4.5 | 214 | 1.6 | |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 158 | 1.2 | |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 120 | 0.9 | |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 98 | 0.8 | |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 77 | 0.6 | |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 37 | 0.3 | |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 16 | 0.1 | |
| | Others | Others | Others | Others | Others | 92 | 0.7 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,772 | 36.7 | 31.7 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 13,011 | | | 13,034 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 68 | | | 59 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,079 | 59.9 | 1.9 | 13,093 | 60.0 | |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 15.9 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||

### 2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Western Isles :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | SNP | Alasdair Allan | 6,354 | 46.6 | +5.4 |
| | Labour | Alasdair Morrison | 5,667 | 41.6 | -5.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ruaraidh Ferguson | 852 | 6.3 | +2.3 |
| | Conservative | Dave Petrie | 752 | 5.5 | +0.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 687 | 5.0 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 13,625 | 61.8 | +3.4 |
| | SNP gain from Labour | SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +5.4 | |

Scottish Parliament Election 2003: Western Isles :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Alasdair Morrison | 5,825 | 47.0 | -3.7 |
| | SNP | Alasdair Nicholson | 5,105 | 41.2 | +5.2 |
| | Conservative | Frank Warren | 612 | 4.9 | -3.3 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Conor Snowden | 498 | 4.0 | +0.8 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Joanne Telfer | 347 | 2.8 | +0.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 720 | 5.8 | -8.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,387 | 58.4 | -3.3 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### 1990s

Scottish Parliament Election 1999: Western Isles :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Alasdair Morrison | 7,248 | 50.7 |
| | SNP | Alasdair Nicholson | 5,155 | 36.0 |
| | Conservative | Jamie McGrigor | 1,095 | 7.6 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Horne | 456 | 3.2 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Joanne Telfer | 347 | 2.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,093 | 14.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 14,301 | 61.7 |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
