Na h-Eileanan an Iar (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Scottish Parliament constituency
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Na h-Eileanan an Iar (/nə ˈhɪlənən ənˈjɪər/; Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [nəˈhelanən əˈɲiəɾ]), formerly the Western Isles, is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament 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. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, 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.[3]
| Na h-Eileanan an Iar | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
| |
 Na h-Eileanan an Iar shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region, and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Electoral region | Highlands and Islands |
| Population | 26,020 (2024)[1] |
| Electorate | 21,808 (2026)[2] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1999 |
| Party | Scottish Labour |
| MSP | Donald MacKinnon |
| Council area | Na h-Eileanan Siar |
The seat has been held by Donald MacKinnon of Scottish Labour since 2026.
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 Islands, Shetland Islands 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 the existing Western Isles constituency of the UK Parliament. 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.[4]
Politics
The seat had been a two-way marginal between the Scottish Labour and the Scottish National Party for many years. In recent years it had become increasingly safe for the Scottish National Party, but returned to Labour in the 2026 election. In 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%[5]
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Alasdair Morrison | Labour | |
| 2007 | Alasdair Allan | SNP | |
| 2026 | Donald MacKinnon | Labour | |
Election results
2020s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Labour | Donald MacKinnon | 4,665 | 37.7 |  10.0 |
3,242 | 26.2 | 4.9 | |
| SNP | Alasdair Allan[a] | 4,511 | 36.5 |  14.9 |
3,618 | 29.2 | 13.9 | |
| Reform | Malcolm McTaggart | 1,625 | 13.1 | New | 1,654 | 13.4 | 13.4 | |
| Green | 929 | 7.5 | 1.8 | |||||
| Conservative | George MacPherson | 594 | 4.8 | 9.8 |
909 | 7.3 | 10.5 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Jamie Dobson | 812 | 6.6 | 4.2 |
733 | 5.9 | 3.7 | |
| Scottish Christian | 342 | 2.8 | 2.8 | |||||
| Scottish Family | 275 | 2.2 | 1.2 | |||||
| AtLS | 174 | 1.4 | 1.4 | |||||
| Independent | Duncan MacPherson | 139 | 1.1 | 1.1 | ||||
| ISP | 113 | 0.9 | 0.9 | |||||
| Independent Green Voice | 78 | 0.6 | 0.6 | |||||
| Workers Party | 46 | 0.4 | 0.4 | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | 43 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |||||
| Advance UK | 37 | 0.3 | 0.3 | |||||
| Scottish Rural Party | 20 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 13 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |||||
| Independent | Mick Rice | 12 | 0.1 | 0.1 | ||||
| Sovereignty | Kenny MacKenzie[b] | 159 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
||||
| Majority | 154 | 1.2 | 22.5 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 12,366 | 12,377 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 67 | 41 | ||||||
| Turnout | 12,366 | 56.7 | 9.3 |
12,418 | 56.9 | 9.4 | ||
| Labour gain from SNP | Swing | 12.5 |
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Alasdair Allan[a] | 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 | |
| Green | 850 | 5.85 | 1.1 | |||||
| Independent | Callum MacMillan | 571 | 3.9 | New | ||||
| Scottish Family | 501 | 3.45 | New | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Neil Mitchison | 353 | 2.4 | 0.2 |
324 | 2.23 | 0.1 | |
| Alba | 316 | 2.17 | New | |||||
| Independent | Andy Wightman[b] | 262 | 1.80 | New | ||||
| All for Unity | 102 | 0.70 | New | |||||
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 39 | 0.27 | New | |||||
| Reform | 32 | 0.22 | New | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | 31 | 0.21 | New | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 27 | 0.19 | New | |||||
| Independent | Hazel Mansfield | 27 | 0.19 | New | ||||
| TUSC | 24 | 0.17 | New | |||||
| UKIP | 24 | 0.17 | 1.8 | |||||
| Restore Scotland | 23 | 0.16 | New | |||||
| Majority | 3,441 | 23.7 | 2.8 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 14,507 | 14,534 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 86 | 55 | ||||||
| Turnout | 14,593 | 66.4 | 5.3 |
14,589 | 66.3 | 5.1 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 1.5 |
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Alasdair Allan[a] | 6,874 | 52.1 | 13.2 |
6,024 | 45.5 | 11.0 | |
| Labour | Rhoda Grant[b] | 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 | |
| Green | 624 | 4.7 | 2.0 | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Ken MacLeod | 293 | 2.2 | 0.4 |
280 | 2.1 | 0.5 | |
| UKIP | 260 | 2.0 | 1.2 | |||||
| Independent | James Stockan | 113 | 0.9 | New | ||||
| Solidarity | 57 | 0.4 | 0.3 | |||||
| RISE | 54 | 0.4 | New | |||||
| Majority | 3,496 | 26.5 | 10.2 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 13,206 | 13,233 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 59 | 39 | ||||||
| Turnout | 13,265 | 61.1 | 1.2 |
13,272 | 61.2 | 1.2 | ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 8.1 |
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Alasdair Allan[a] | 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 | 842 | 6.5 | ||||||
| Conservative | Charlie McGrigor | 563 | 4.3 | 1.2 |
616 | 4.7 | ||
| Green | 349 | 2.7 | ||||||
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Morrison | 228 | 1.8 | 4.5 |
214 | 1.6 | ||
| All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 158 | 1.2 | ||||||
| Socialist Labour | 120 | 0.9 | ||||||
| UKIP | 98 | 0.8 | ||||||
| BNP | 77 | 0.6 | ||||||
| Scottish Socialist | 37 | 0.3 | ||||||
| Solidarity | 16 | 0.1 | ||||||
| Others | 92 | 0.7 | ||||||
| Majority | 4,772 | 36.7 | 31.7 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 13,011 | 13,034 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 68 | 59 | ||||||
| Turnout | 13,079 | 59.9 | 1.9 |
13,093 | 60.0 | |||
| SNP hold | Swing | 15.9 |
||||||
2000s
| 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 | 687 | 5.0 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 13,625 | 61.8 | +3.4 | ||
| SNP gain from Labour | Swing | +5.4 | |||
| 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 | −2.7 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Conor Snowden | 498 | 4.0 | +0.8 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Joanne Telfer | 347 | 2.8 | +0.4 | |
| Majority | 720 | 5.8 | −8.9 | ||
| Turnout | 12,387 | 58.4 | −3.3 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
1990s
| 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 | 2,093 | 14.7 | |||
| Turnout | 14,301 | 61.7 | |||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||