Aberdeenshire West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Aberdeenshire West (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain an Iar) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Aberdeenshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Aberdeenshire West
County constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Aberdeenshire West shown within the North East Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population76,516 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created2011
PartyConservative
MSPAlexander Burnett
Council areaAberdeenshire
Created fromGordon,
West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

The seat has been held by Alexander Burnett of the Scottish Conservatives since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region
See also: North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other nine constituencies of the North East Scotland region are: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Aberdeenshire East, Angus North and Mearns, Angus South, Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Dundee City East and Dundee City West.

The region covers all of the Aberdeen City council area, Aberdeenshire, Angus, the Dundee City council area and part of Moray.

Constituency boundaries and council area

Aberdeenshire is represented by five constituencies in the Scottish Parliament: Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Aberdeenshire East, Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns and Banffshire and Buchan Coast.

The electoral wards used in the creation of Aberdeenshire West are:

Constituency profile and voting patterns

Constituency profile

The Aberdeenshire West constituency is an affluent rural constituency located along the western side of the Aberdeenshire council area. To the south of the constituency is Royal Deeside, located along the Valleys of the River Dee, which includes the affluent towns of Aboyne and Banchory and their surrounding rural areas. Along the western end of Royal Deeside is the Cairngorms National Park, covering Queen Elizabeth II's estate of Balmoral Castle. North-east of Deeside is the town of Westhill, which functions as a suburb to the city of Aberdeen. North of here, along the Valleys of the River Don in the area known as "Gordon", is Huntly, home to the Gordon Highlanders, and the former Royal Burgh of Kintore, which has developed into an Aberdonian suburb, with a near doubling of the town's population throughout the 2000s. The constituency is among the least deprived parts of Scotland, with slight deprivation in the south-west of Huntly, and high rates of affluence elsewhere.[2]

Oil and agriculture form a significant part of the local economy, with tourist interests around Royal Deeside. The constituency also covers the Royal Lochnagar distillery located to the west of Royal Deeside.

Voting patterns

The Aberdeenshire West constituency was formed in 2011 from parts of the former constituencies of Gordon and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. From the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until 2007 these constituencies were both represented by the Liberal Democrats. In 2007, Gordon was gained by the SNP's Alex Salmond, who served as the First Minister of Scotland from 2007 until 2014.

In the 2012 local council election, the Conservative vote in areas covered by the Aberdeenshire West constituency tended to be strongest around Royal Deeside, covering the villages of Aboyne, Ballater and Banchory, and to a lesser extent around Westhill and its surrounding areas. The rural region of Garioch, situated along the River Don and its tributary streams, tended to be better for the SNP and Liberal Democrats.

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
2011 Dennis Robertson SNP
2016 Alexander Burnett Conservative

Election results
Aberdeenshire West election results 1999-2021

2020s
2021 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeenshire West[3][4][5]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Conservative Alexander Burnett[lower-alpha 1] 19,709 47.2 Increase9.1 17,700 42.4 Increase3.7
SNP Fergus Mutch 16,319 39.1 Increase3.6 13,379 32.0 Decrease1.5
Liberal Democrats Rosemary Bruce 3,363 8.1 Decrease12.5 3,375 8.1 Decrease5.6
Labour Andy Brown 2,382 5.7 Decrease0.1 2,856 6.8 Increase0.6
Scottish Green 2,569 6.2 Increase1.3
Alba 668 1.6 New
All for Unity 214 0.5 New
Independent Green Voice 212 0.5 New
Scottish Family 205 0.5 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 140 0.3 New
Reform UK 119 0.3 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) 108 0.3 New
Libertarian 101 0.2 Increase0.1
UKIP 57 0.1 Decrease1.6
Restore Scotland 54 0.1 New
Independent Laura Marshall 31 0.1 New
Independent Geoffrey Farquharson 16 0.0 New
Renew 10 0.0 New
Majority 3,390 8.1 Increase5.6
Valid Votes 41,773 40,761
Invalid Votes 116 79
Turnout 41,889 69.7 Increase10.5 41,893 69.7 Increase10.5
Conservative hold Swing Increase10.8
Notes
  1. Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s
2016 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeenshire West[6][7]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Conservative Alexander Burnett 13,400 38.1 Increase17.0 13,606 38.6 Increase18.9
SNP Dennis Robertson[lower-alpha 1] 12,500 35.5 Decrease7.0 11,807 33.5 Decrease13.7
Liberal Democrats Mike Rumbles 7,262 20.6 Decrease7.6 4,804 13.6 Decrease1.6
Labour Sarah Duncan 2,036 5.8 Decrease2.4 2,184 6.2 Decrease1.7
Scottish Green 1,719 4.9 Decrease0.3
UKIP 613 1.7 Increase0.6
Scottish Christian 214 0.6 Decrease0.1
National Front 78 0.2 Steady0.0
Solidarity 70 0.2 Increase0.2
RISE 49 0.1 New
Libertarian 48 0.1 New
Communist 41 0.1 New
Majority 900 2.6 N/A
Valid Votes 35,198 35,233
Invalid Votes 83 51
Turnout 35,281 59.2 Increase5.8 35,284 59.2 Increase5.8
Conservative gain from SNP Swing Increase12.0
Notes
  1. Incumbent member for this constituency
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeenshire West[8][9]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Dennis Robertson 12,186 42.6 N/A 13,528 47.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats Mike Rumbles[lower-alpha 1] 8,074 28.2 N/A 4,375 15.3 N/A
Conservative Nanette Milne[lower-alpha 1] 6,027 21.1 N/A 5,666 19.8 N/A
Labour Jean Morrison 2,349 8.2 N/A 2,267 7.9 N/A
Scottish Green 1,494 5.2 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 358 1.2 N/A
UKIP 324 1.1 N/A
Scottish Christian 202 0.7 N/A
BNP 151 0.5 N/A
Independent John Cox 70 0.2 N/A
National Front 63 0.2 N/A
Scottish Socialist 59 0.2 N/A
Socialist Labour 53 0.2 N/A
Independent David Henderson 31 0.1 N/A
Independent Andrew McBride 14 0.0 N/A
Solidarity 8 0.0 N/A
Angus Independents 6 0.0 N/A
Majority 4,112 14.4 N/A
Valid Votes 28,636 28,669
Invalid Votes 113 77
Turnout 28,749 53.5 N/A 28,746 53.5 N/A
SNP win (new seat)
Notes
  1. Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

References
  1. Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. "SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) 2016".
  3. "Declaration of regional votes cast in a constituency: Aberdeenshire West" (PDF). Aberdeenshire Council. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  4. "Declaration of constituency result: Aberdeenshire West" (PDF). Aberdeenshire Council. 8 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  5. Constituencies A-Z | Aberdeenshire West, BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  6. "Aberdeenshire West: Declaration of constituency result & Declaration of regional votes cast in a constituency" (PDF). Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  7. "Aberdeenshire West - Scottish Parliament constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  8. "Scottish Parliamentary Elections and Voting System Referendum 2011". Aberdeenshire Council. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  9. "Declaration of regional votes cast in a constituency: Aberdeenshire West" (PDF). Aberdeenshire Council. 6 May 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.