Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Gaelic: Eadraig, Rosbrog agus Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Scottish Borders.[2] Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, it elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.[3]
| Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
| |
 Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire shown within the South Scotland electoral region, and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Electoral region | South Scotland |
| Electorate | 57,044 (2026)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2011 |
| Party | Conservative |
| MSP | Rachael Hamilton |
| Council area | Scottish Borders |
| Created from | Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale |
The constituency was established for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and covers parts of the former constituencies of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale and Roxburgh and Berwickshire. The remaining parts of the Scottish Borders form part of the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency.[4][5] The boundaries of the constituency remained unchanged following the Second Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries undertaken by Boundaries Scotland ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.[6]
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire is currently held by the Conservatives. The current MSP is Rachael Hamilton, who won the seat at a 2017 by-election following the resignation of previous member John Lamont in order to contest the 2017 UK general election.
Electoral region
Following the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025, the other nine constituencies of the South Scotland region are: Ayr; Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley; Clydesdale; Dumfriesshire; East Kilbride; Galloway and West Dumfries; Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse; Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley; and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.[3] The region covers the whole of the council areas of Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, and South Ayrshire council areas; and parts of the council areas of East Ayrshire, Midlothian, and South Lanarkshire.[7] By population it is now the largest of Scotland's eight electoral regions.[3]
Prior to the 2025 review, there were nine constituencies in the South Scotland region. Besides Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, the other eight constituencies were: Ayr; Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley; Dumfriesshire; East Lothian; Clydesdale; Galloway and West Dumfries; Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley; and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale. The region covered the Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, Scottish Borders and South Ayrshire council areas in full and parts of the East Lothian, Midlothian and South Lanarkshire council areas.
Constituency boundaries and council areas
The rest of the Scottish Borders is represented in the Scottish Parliament by the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency.[8] The electoral wards of Scottish Borders Council used in the current creation of Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire are:[9][5]
Members of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | John Lamont | Conservative | |
| 2017 by-election | Rachael Hamilton | ||
Election results
2026 parliamentary election
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Conservative | Rachael Hamilton[a] | 13,483 | 44.8 |  6.7 |
11,405 | 37.8 | 9.6 | |
| SNP | John Redpath | 8,206 | 27.3 | 5.2 |
6,403 | 21.2 | 8.9 | |
| Reform | Jamie Langan[b] | 3,569 | 11.9 | New | 4,449 | 14.8 |  14.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ray Georgeson | 2,358 | 7.8 | 1.3 |
2,596 | 8.6 | 1.9 | |
| Green | 2,403 | 8.0 | 3.4 | |||||
| Labour | Kaymarie Hughes | 1,577 | 5.2 | 0.5 |
1,854 | 6.2 | 0.6 | |
| Independent | James Anderson | 740 | 2.5 | New | ||||
| Independent Green Voice | 272 | 0.9 | 0.5 | |||||
| AtLS | Terry Howson | 165 | 0.5 | New | 242 | 0.8 | New | |
| Scottish Family | 218 | 0.7 | 0.2 | |||||
| Independent | Denise Sommerville | 54 | 0.2 | New | ||||
| Scottish Socialist | 49 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| UKIP | 48 | 0.2 |  0.0 | |||||
| Independent | Sean Davies | 47 | 0.2 | New | ||||
| Heritage | 31 | 0.1 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 29 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| ADF | 23 | 0.08 | New | |||||
| Scottish Common Party | 23 | 0.08 | New | |||||
| Majority | 5,277 | 17.5 | 1.5 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 30,098 | 30,146 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 109 | 98 | ||||||
| Turnout | 30,207 | 52.8 | 11.1 |
30,244 | 53.0 | 11.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2021 parliamentary election
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Conservative | Rachael Hamilton[b] | 18,564 | 51.5 | 3.7 |
17,075 | 47.4 | 0.7 | |
| SNP | Paul Wheelhouse[c] | 11,701 | 32.5 | 0.7 |
10,857 | 30.1 | 0.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jenny Marr | 2,352 | 6.5 | 1.2 |
2,426 | 6.7 | 1.9 | |
| Labour | Ian Davidson | 2,050 | 5.7 | 0.4 |
2,438 | 6.8 | 0.0 | |
| Green | Barbra Harvie | 1,084 | 3.0 | New | 1,665 | 4.6 | 0.1 | |
| All for Unity | 492 | 1.4 | New | |||||
| Alba | 317 | 0.9 | New | |||||
| Independent | Jesse Rae | 290 | 0.8 | New | ||||
| Scottish Family | 184 | 0.51 | New | |||||
| Independent Green Voice | 148 | 0.41 | New | |||||
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 134 | 0.37 | New | |||||
| Reform | 116 | 0.32 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 60 | 0.17 | New | |||||
| UKIP | 60 | 0.17 | 2.1 | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | 51 | 0.17 | New | |||||
| Vanguard | 11 | 0.03 | New | |||||
| Scotia Future | 10 | 0.03 | New | |||||
| Majority | 6,863 | 19.0 | 4.4 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 36,041 | 36,044 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 81 | 69 | ||||||
| Turnout | 36,122 | 64.0 | 3.1 |
36,113 | 64.0 | 3.1 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 2.2 |
||||||
2017 by-election
In April 2017, John Lamont announced his intention to resign his seat in the Scottish Parliament in order to contest the 2017 UK general election.[15]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Rachael Hamilton | 20,658 | 53.5 | 1.7 | |
| SNP | Gail Hendry | 11,320 | 29.3 | 2.5 | |
| Labour | Sally Prentice | 3,406 | 8.8 | 3.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Catriona Bhatia | 3,196 | 8.3 | 0.6 | |
| Majority | 9,338 | 24.2 | 0.8 | ||
| Total valid votes | 38,580 | ||||
| Rejected ballots | 73 | ||||
| Turnout | 38,653 | 70.9 | 10.0 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | 0.4 |
|||
2016 parliamentary election
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Conservative | John Lamont[a] | 18,257 | 55.2 | 10.3 |
15,452 | 46.7 | 15.2 | |
| SNP | Paul Wheelhouse[b] | 10,521 | 31.8 | 5.4 |
10,068 | 30.4 | 4.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jim Hume[b] | 2,551 | 7.7 | 9.6 |
2,851 | 8.6 | 6.2 | |
| Labour | Barrie Cunning | 1,766 | 5.3 | 5.1 |
2,251 | 6.8 | 3.2 | |
| Green | 1,481 | 4.5 | 1.1 | |||||
| UKIP | 771 | 2.3 | 0.6 | |||||
| Clydesdale and South Scotland Independent | 112 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| RISE | 68 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Solidarity | 67 | 0.2 | 0.1 | |||||
| Majority | 7,736 | 23.4 | 4.9 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 33,095 | 33,121 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 88 | 68 | ||||||
| Turnout | 33,183 | 60.9 | 7.7 |
33,189 | 60.9 | 7.7 | ||
| Conservative hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2011 parliamentary election
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Conservative | John Lamont[a] | 12,933 | 44.88 | N/A | 9,045 | 31.5 | N/A | |
| SNP | Paul Wheelhouse[b] | 7,599 | 26.37 | N/A | 10,009 | 34.8 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Euan Robson | 4,990 | 17.32 | N/A | 4,247 | 14.8 | N/A | |
| Labour | Rab Stewart | 2,986 | 10.36 | N/A | 2,881 | 10.0 | N/A | |
| Green | 965 | 3.4 | N/A | |||||
| UKIP | 481 | 1.7 | N/A | |||||
| All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 442 | 1.5 | N/A | |||||
| Independent | Jesse Rae | 308 | 1.07 | N/A | ||||
| Socialist Labour | 201 | 0.7 | N/A | |||||
| BNP | 183 | 0.6 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Christian | 178 | 0.6 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | 71 | 0.2 | N/A | |||||
| Solidarity | 21 | 0.1 | N/A | |||||
| Majority | 5,334 | 18.51 | N/A | |||||
| Valid votes | 28,816 | 28,724 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 102 | 166 | ||||||
| Turnout | 28,918 | 53.2 | N/A | 28,890 | 53.2 | N/A | ||
| Conservative win (new seat) | ||||||||
Notes
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