Na h-Eileanan an Iar

[YL]

The Gaelic name translates roughly as "the islands of the west", and the constituency covers the group of islands most often known in English as the Western Isles or Outer Hebrides. These islands form a chain which is separated from the rest of Scotland by the Minch, separating the north from the northern mainland, and the Little Minch, separating the south from the Inner Hebrides such as Skye. It is this isolation which leads to the acceptance of this constituency's continued existence in spite of its very low electorate, which is comparable with that of some wards in large cities elsewhere in the UK. The isolation has also helped lead to a history which includes a fair amount of poverty and emigration, and to a cultural distinctiveness which includes the relative strength of the Gaelic language compared with the mainland Highlands or the Inner Hebrides, as well as the strength of Christianity in the islands.

Historically crofting and farming have been the basis of the local economy here. In recent years tourism has become more important, attracted by some impressive scenery including some of the best beaches in the UK and by neolithic sites such as the stone circle at Calanais on Lewis. Much of the land is rocky and not very fertile, but along much of the west side is the fertile coastal terrain known as machair; in the Clearances period much of the crofting population which remained was left on the less fertile east.

In the north we have Lewis (Leodhas) and Harris (Na Hearadh). These are in fact one island, the third largest by area of the British Isles, but are traditionally referred to as if they were separate islands; the communities are divided by a barren mountainous area which would have meant that until fairly recently travel between them would have been by sea, although there is now a reasonable road connection. Lewis has the great majority of the population of the constituency, including the largest town, Stornoway (Steòrnobhagh), and is mostly relatively low lying compared with mountainous Harris. Fishing is particularly important in the north of Lewis. Both Lewis and Harris are known for their adherence to a traditional form of Presbyterian Christianity which includes a strict observance of the Sabbath: you will struggle to find a business open on a Sunday here, and the introduction of Sunday ferry services caused considerable controversy.

South of Harris is a group of originally separate islands connected by artificial causeways, including North Uist (Uibhist a Tuath), Benbecula (Beinn na Faoghla) and South Uist (Uibhist a Deas), and further south still lies the separate island of Barra (Barraigh). The largest settlement here is Balivanich (Baile a' Mhanaich) on Benbecula, which is close to a former radar station. Barra and South Uist are far enough south to be served by ferries from Oban rather than Ullapool or Skye, and in contrast to the northern islands are firmly Catholic.

Modern deprivation statistics show the islands to be in the middle of the Scottish figures, with parts of Stornoway being most deprived, followed by some other parts of Lewis and South Uist. The constituency shows relatively high proportions of those with no qualifications and with low level qualifications only; however the proportion with degree level qualifications is around average, perhaps reflecting the demographics of recent incomers. In terms of occupation, there are high proportions in skilled trades and in "caring, leisure and other service occupations".

Before 1918 constituency boundaries followed the historic counties and placed Lewis in a Ross & Cromarty constituency and the other islands (including Harris) in Invernessshire, but the current constituency has existed since 1918, with the official name changing from the English "Western Isles" to the current name in 2005. Since 1935 the constituency's representation has been SNP or Labour, without the Liberal Democrat strength found in the mainland Highland and Inner Hebridean constituencies, and since 2005 it has been represented by Angus MacNeil of the SNP, a Catholic from Barra, though Labour remain competitive. The Scottish Christian Party saved their deposit in both 2015 and 2017, reflecting the relative strength of conservative Christianity in, but did not stand in 2019. The Conservative Party's share has risen in recent elections from negligible to respectable, but they are still third and not really in contention to win.

Local elections are dominated by Independents, but there are some SNP councillors and a single Conservative, and there have been some Labour councillors in the past.

A note on pronunciation: "na HELL-anan an EER" or "na HELL-anan an YEER" will get fairly close, noting that all the vowels represented there by "a" are neutral vowels similar to the second vowel in the English name "Helen".

[YL]

No doubt some more local input could improve this a bit.

[European Lefty]

The pronunciation is [nəˈhelanən əˈɲiəɾ]. I had a profile of this that I was just about to post so might do that later today.

[YL]

Jul 18, 2020 10:49:42 GMT European Lefty said:

The pronunciation is [nəˈhelanən əˈɲiəɾ]. I had a profile of this that I was just about to post so might do that later today.

Yes, I was giving an approximation for non-IPA-literate English speakers. I've seen other approximations given, in particular for the first stressed vowel, but the "e" of "Helen" is what it sounds most like to me.

I'll be interested to compare our takes.

[owainsutton]

All I can add: the constituency includes Rockall.

[J.G.Harston]

Jul 18, 2020 11:24:30 GMT owainsutton said:

All I can add: the constituency includes Rockall.

I can sell you a polling district map:

[YL]

Jul 18, 2020 11:24:30 GMT owainsutton said:

All I can add: the constituency includes Rockall.

St Kilda too. The draft I had in my head at one point mentioned both, but I forgot to include those bits when writing up. I probably should also have mentioned Harris Tweed, so I'll add bits on those at some point. (Although it's already quite long.)

[European Lefty]

Also North Rona, the most remote British island ever to have been permanently inhabited.

[European Lefty]

I said I would post it, so here it is. Not to take anything away from YL 's fantastic effort above, it's just that I finished mine at about the same time.

Na h-Eileanan an Iar

Na h-Eileanan an Iar, pronounced [nəˈhelanən əˈɲiəɾ] or (very, very roughly) nuh HEY-lah-nuhn uh-NYI-ur, is a unique constituency in many ways. For one thing, it is the only UK constituency with a Scottish Gaelic name, although until 2005 its official name was the English name for the area, the Western Isles. With around 21,000 voters, it has the smallest electorate of any UK constituency, around 12,000 fewer than Orkney & Shetland and slightly under 20,000 behind Arfon in North Wales. It is one of two constituencies protected by law, the other being Orkney and Shetland, which means its boundaries can never be changed, despite the numerical imbalance. It has a higher percentage of Gaelic speakers* than any other UK constituency, at 52% as of the 2011 census: only one civil parish outside the area has a percentage even as high as 40%, and no civil parish in mainland Scotland is more that 20% Gaelic speaking. 42.5% of the population said they spoke a language other than English at home in the 2011 census.

The Na h-Eileanan Siar council area, and therefore this constituency, contains both North Rona, the most remote British island ever to have been permanently inhabited, and the far more famous St Kilda Archipelago. St Kilda, or Hiort (pronounced ([hirˠʃt̪]) in Scottish Gaelic, had been continuously inhabited by the same population since the Neolithic era before it was abandoned by all 36 inhabitants on the 29th August 1930. The islands had been increasingly opened to the tourist trade at the end of the nineteenth century and many tourists came to view the islanders as curiosities. More seriously, young people increasingly left the island for better lives elsewhere, while more intense farming practices led to a succession of crop failures. The final straw came in January 1930 when a young woman fell ill with appendicitis but had to wait two weeks while a trawler was summoned to take her to a mainland hospital. She died in hospital, and the last of the islanders were convinced of the need for evacuation from the isolated island. A nurse employed by the Department of Health drew up a petition for government help with the evacuation and they left the island later that year.

Although not isolated to the extremes of St Kilda or North Rona, isolation is an important aspect of life in the Outer Hebrides, especially outside Stornoway. This is the main reason why these islands have their own, legally protected constituencies and why attempts to include some of the inner Hebridean islands have been overturned after protests from the local population, who cited the difficulty of representing the area. It is also partly what makes the Western Isles one of the most socially conservative parts of Scotland. It also has the lowest percentage of the population claiming no religious affiliation of any constituency in Scotland, at just 18.1% of the population, less than half the Scottish average. In general, the northern half of the area is more heavily Presbyterian, while the southern half is more catholic.

The constituency was created in 1918 from parts of Inverness-shire and Ross & Cromarty. At its first election, it elected Liberal Donald Murray, although he lost his seat to National Liberal William Cotts after just one term. He stood as a Unionist in 1923, losing by 233 votes or 2.7% to Liberal Alexander Livingstone. Livingstone handed the seat onto fellow Liberal Thomas Ramsay in 1929, and he then held on as a National Liberal in 1931. In 1935, Malcolm MacMillan gained it for the Labour Party, and held on until 1970, mostly on reasonably narrow majorities, although they increased as the anti-Labour vote became increasingly divided between Liberal and Conservative candidates. In 1970, the SNP reappeared and gained the seat with 43.1% of the vote. Although the Liberal vote had been declining for years, this was the final death blow to the Liberal challenge and the start of the seat’s period as an SNP-Labour contest. Labour regained it on a 23.3% swing in 1987 and held it until 2005, again mostly on narrow margins. It stayed marginal until 2015, although even then the 6.5% Lab-SNP swing was lower than in much of Scotland. In 2017 the SNP dropped by 13.7% to the benefit of everyone except the LibDems, and Labour came within 6.8% of winning it. It snapped back towards the SNP in 2019, with Angus MacNeil winning a 2,438 or 16.8% majority. It is still closer for Labour than many other Scottish seats, although that possibly says more about the position of Labour in Scotland than it does about this seat. Another feature of this seat is strong performances for the Scottish Christian Party, who won 7.6% of the vote in 2005, 6.6% in 2015 and 7.5% in 2017, although this is not a surprise for the most religious constituency in Scotland. The Conservatives had been relatively weak for a long time, having not hit 20% since 1966 before last year and losing their deposit in both 2005 and 2010. However, a couple of sharp increases in recent years took them to 22.2% in 2019, almost catching Labour for second place.

Like most of Scotland, this seat voted against both Brexit and Scottish independence, although it was more supportive of both than Scotland as a whole. Only two wards, Barraigh, Bhartasaigh, Eirisgeigh agus Uibhist a Deas (Barra, Vatersay, Eriskay and South Uist) and Beinn na Folgha agus Uibhist a Tuath (Benbecula and North Uist) voted more heavily remain than the Scottish average; An Taobh Siar agus Nis (West Side and Ness) on the north west of Lewis voted leave, albeit by only 20 votes or 1.45%.

Owner occupation is significantly above both the national and Scottish averages at 72.9% of households while social and private renting are both below at 17.6% and 12.4% respectively. However, this is not the indicator of affluence that it might be elsewhere, as incomes are comparatively low when compared to both Scotland and the UK, and the job market is skewed towards more working-class job categories. Much of its economy is based on traditional industries, such as farming, fishing, and the manufacture of Harris tweed. Highlands and Islands Enterprise defines the islands, including Stornoway, as an “economically” fragile area. There is some development, especially in the tourist industry, but by and large the area is still reliant on these fragile industries, which also helps to explain why incomes are quite so low in the area. According to the 2011 census, public administration and defence and human health and social work are the most over-represented industries by employee number, which also suggests a reliance on the public sector.

Identifying areas of strength for any party is difficult to say the least. Local elections, dominated as they are by independents, provide very few clues. Census statistics for National identity might provide some clues, on the basis that support for independence and therefore the SNP would be expected to be higher amongst people who identify as Scottish only rather than British only or Scottish and British. However, every ward is above the Scottish average for the percentage identifying as Scottish only, with the constituency average being 69.22% compared to 62.43% across Scotland. Gaelic speaking is not necessarily an indicator of SNP support in the same way that Welsh speaking might be indicative of Plaid support in Wales; if anything the age profile of Gaelic speakers, which is heavily skewed towards older people, is more likely to coincide with support for the Scottish Christian Party or even the Conservatives, especially as the language survives best in isolated and conservative areas and communities, which means this is also of limited use as a clue to voting patterns. There is some evidence to suggest that Catholics were more likely to vote in favour of independence and Protestants against, which might suggest that the Protestant north favours Labour while the Catholic south supports the SNP.

Of course, this is, in effect, a small community seat, comprising several such communities. Local politics is particularly important and will undoubtedly have an impact on general election voting patterns. The present incumbent is from the southern, heavily catholic island of Barra, so it is likely that his main base of support is here and the surrounding islands, as well as catholic voters in other areas. The 2019 Labour candidate was from the heavily Presbyterian North Uist, which might suggest a more northern and Presbyterian support base. Even this analysis has its issues, because a strict religious divide would deliver a win for the party of the Presbyterian majority, or in other words, Labour, which has not happened since 2005. Perhaps slightly counter-intuitively, the proportion of the population born in England is higher than the Scottish average, at 11.2% compared to 8.7% These are not spread evenly throughout the islands, with both Stornoway wards being below the Scottish average ad well below the constituency average at under 7% each, while Sgir’uige agus Ceann a Tuath nan Loch (Uig & North Locks) covering a large rural section of Mid Lewis is well above average at 16.65%. It is also possible, given the scepticism of voters born outside Scotland towards independence, that this also correlates with support for Labour and/or the Conservatives, although it could easily be an anti-SNP rather than a pro-Labour vote.

The real answer to the conundrum of voter patterns is likely to be a combination of all these factors, with an added factor of local personalities, issues and reputations that are not only difficult to pin down and write up, but that also change from election-to-elections.

Overall, this is a constituency know for breaking many of the normal rules of British and Scottish politics, and for bucking trends as easily as it follows them. It is an economically self-sufficient, but struggling and relatively deprived constituency, as well as a religious and conservative one, that divides itself between two major left-of-centre parties along an unusual mixture of demographic and ideological lines as well as the independence issue that is coming to define Scottish politics.

*A note on language terminology: there is a tendency to treat the names “Irish” and “Gaelic” as though they are interchangeable. They are not. Both belong to the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages, and both developed from Old Irish in the early Middle Ages. However, they diverged into two distinct languages, both members of the Goidelic or Gaelic branch of Celtic. The language spoken in Ireland is known as Irish and never Gaelic, while the language of Scotland can be known as Gaelic, or as Scottish Gaelic to differentiate it from the Gaelic language family, which also includes Irish and Manx.

[matureleft]

I seem to recall that the Western Isles (as it was then) voted No in the 1975 referendum presumably on the basis of then dominant fishing interests.

[owainsutton]

Jul 18, 2020 20:48:27 GMT YL said:

Jul 18, 2020 11:24:30 GMT owainsutton said:

All I can add: the constituency includes Rockall.

St Kilda too. The draft I had in my head at one point mentioned both, but I forgot to include those bits when writing up. I probably should also have mentioned Harris Tweed, so I'll add bits on those at some point. (Although it's already quite long.)

St Kilda must have been an interesting one for the logistics of postal voting!

[hullenedge]

Jul 19, 2020 8:01:07 GMT matureleft said:

I seem to recall that the Western Isles (as it was then) voted No in the 1975 referendum presumably on the basis of then dominant fishing interests.

The sitting MP campaigned for a No vote like most SNP members/supporters.

[European Lefty]

Jul 19, 2020 9:54:58 GMT owainsutton said:

Jul 18, 2020 20:48:27 GMT YL said:

St Kilda too. The draft I had in my head at one point mentioned both, but I forgot to include those bits when writing up. I probably should also have mentioned Harris Tweed, so I'll add bits on those at some point. (Although it's already quite long.)

St Kilda must have been an interesting one for the logistics of postal voting!

Especially as most of the population spoke little to no English. I wonder if they would have been allowed ballots etc. in Gaelic? 

[owainsutton]

Jul 19, 2020 10:12:32 GMT European Lefty said:

Jul 19, 2020 9:54:58 GMT owainsutton said:

St Kilda must have been an interesting one for the logistics of postal voting!

Especially as most of the population spoke little to no English. I wonder if they would have been allowed ballots etc. in Gaelic? 

Ballots back then were basically candidate names only, anyway, I think?

If anyone knows what form postal ballots and accompanying instructions etc. took back in the 1930s or earlier, I'd love to know.

[greenhert]

Other interesting psephological facts about Na h-Eileanan an Iar:

The aforementioned Malcolm Macmillan stood as an Independent in February 1974 having failed to secure renomination; he came last polling only 1,031 votes (6.8%).
This constituency recorded the lowest SDP/Alliance vote in the United Kingdom in 1983.
The 67.1% vote share for the SNP achieved by Donald Stewart here in February 1974 still has not been bettered by any SNP candidate more than 46 years on, and nor has his majority of 47.9% for an SNP MP.
Presbyterianism came into the islands' politics in 1992 as well when the Conservatives refused to endorse Presbyterian fundamentalist Andrew Price, who subsequently stood as an Independent (he came last and lost his deposit).

[finsobruce]

Jul 19, 2020 13:54:33 GMT owainsutton said:

Jul 19, 2020 10:12:32 GMT European Lefty said:

Especially as most of the population spoke little to no English. I wonder if they would have been allowed ballots etc. in Gaelic? 

Ballots back then were basically candidate names only, anyway, I think?

If anyone knows what form postal ballots and accompanying instructions etc. took back in the 1930s or earlier, I'd love to know.

As far as I can tell the only people allowed postal ballots before 1948 were those serving in the Armed Forces, and even this was only introduced in 1918.

[European Lefty]

Apparently postal voting was only extended to civilians in 1948, 18 years after St Kilda was abandoned

[European Lefty]

However, during research for a play about "Hebridean suffrage", a playwright discovered four St Kildan women on the electoral roll for 1918, although it is not known if they actually travelled to Lewis to vote - possible, given their obvious engagement, although unlikely given that making the journey in December was almost impossible.

[owainsutton]

Jul 19, 2020 14:23:11 GMT European Lefty said:

Apparently postal voting was only extended to civilians in 1948, 18 years after St Kilda was abandoned

My mistake, I thought it was earlier.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

The Representation of the People Act 1918 created an "Absent voters list"; to get on it, voters had to satisfy the registration officer that they may be debarred from voting "by reason of the nature of his occupation, service, or employment" so merely living on an island wasn't enough.