Ross, Cromarty and Skye (UK Parliament constituency)
| Ross, Cromarty and Skye | |
|---|---|
|
Former County constituency for the House of Commons | |
| Subdivisions of Scotland | Highland |
| 1983–1997 | |
| Number of members | One |
| Replaced by |
Ross, Skye & Inverness West Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross |
| Created from |
Ross & Cromarty Inverness |
Ross, Cromarty and Skye was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
It was formed by merging the former Ross and Cromarty constituency with the Isle of Skye and the Isle of Raasay areas of the former Inverness constituency.
In 1997 most of the constituency became part of the then new Ross, Skye and Inverness West constituency. An Easter Ross area became part of the Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross constituency.
Boundaries
Ross and Cromarty District, Skye and Lochalsh District, and the Inverness District electoral divisions of Aird North, Aird South, and Charleston.
Local government areas
1983 to 1996
From 1983 to 1996 the constituency covered the Highland districts of Ross and Cromarty and Skye and Lochalsh.
1996 to 1997
Local government districts were abolished in 1996, and the constituency became an area within the Highland unitary council area. Throughout the remaining life of the constituency Highland Council maintained area committees named for the former districts, Ross and Cromarty and Skye and Lochalsh.
Members of Parliament
| Election | Member[1] | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Charles Kennedy | SDP | ||
| 1988 | Liberal Democrats | |||
| 1997 | constituency abolished: see Ross, Skye and Inverness West | |||
Elections results
Elections of the 1980s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic | Charles Kennedy | 13,528 | 38.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Hamish Hector Northey Gray | 11,824 | 33.7 | N/A | |
| Labour | Thomas Murray Elder | 4,901 | 14.0 | N/A | |
| SNP | Miss Katrine Bell Matheson | 4,863 | 13.9 | N/A | |
| Majority | 1,704 | 4.9 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 48,401 | 72.6 | N/A | ||
| Social Democratic win (new seat) | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic | Charles Kennedy | 18,809 | 49.4 | +10.9 | |
| Conservative | Christopher Frank Spencer Nairn | 7,490 | 19.7 | −14.0 | |
| Labour | Michael Muirdon MacMillan | 7,287 | 19.1 | +5.1 | |
| SNP | Robert McKay Gibson | 4,492 | 11.8 | +4.9 | |
| Majority | 11,319 | 29.7 | |||
| Turnout | 38,078 | 72.7 | +0.1 | ||
| Social Democratic hold | Swing | +12.5 | |||
Elections of the 1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal Democrat | Charles Kennedy | 17,066 | 41.6 | −7.8 | |
| Conservative | James Whiteside Gray | 9,436 | 23.0 | +3.3 | |
| SNP | Robert McKay Gibson | 7,618 | 18.5 | +6.7 | |
| Labour | James Tolmie MacDonald | 6,275 | 15.3 | −3.8 | |
| Scottish Green | David Malcolm Jardine | 642 | 1.6 | N/A | |
| Majority | 7,630 | 18.6 | |||
| Turnout | 41,037 | 73.6 | +0.9 | ||
| Liberal Democrat hold | Swing | −5.6 | |||