Inverness, Skye and Wester Ross-shire
Sept 20, 2023 18:28:06 GMT
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Post by ntyuk1707 on Sept 20, 2023 18:28:06 GMT
Inverness, Skye and Wester Ross-shire is a county constituency of the House of Commons covering the south-western portion of the Highland Council area. Within the constituency are various iconic touristic attractions including Inverness Castle, Loch Ness, the Jacobite Express running from Fort William to Mallaig, Glenfinnan Viaduct, Glen Coe, Ben Nevis and the Isle of Skye.
The constituency is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a total land area of 3,741 square miles. It contains the remotest and most sparsely populated areas of the United Kingdom, including the rocky Glens of Wester Ross and Lochaber and the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides.
The reason why this constituency is the second largest in the UK and not the largest is because it contains the City of Inverness and its surrounding suburbs, which houses more than 60% of the seat's electorate. Inverness is one of Europe's fastest growing cities and functions as the de facto capital of the Scottish Highlands and a major rail hub for eastern and northern parts of the Highlands. Politically, constituencies based around Inverness mostly returned Liberal, and subsequently Liberal Democrat MPs to the House of Commons until 2015, with Danny Alexander serving as the MP for the area from 2005-2015. Before that, Labour's David Stewart represented Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber from 1997 until 2005 with a respectable majority of 2,339, a majority which he more than doubled at the 2001 UK general election.
In the Scottish Parliament, the Inverness & Nairn constituency has been represented by right-leaning SNP MSP Fergus Ewing since the opening of the Parliament in 1999, while in the UK Parliament, the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey seat has been represented by SNP MP Drew Hendry since 2015.
Voting behaviour in Inverness is fairly irregular when compared to other parts of the country, with a strong SNP vote in council estates and tenements throughout the north, west, centre and south-east of the city, in addition to newer suburban housing developments in the east and south-eastern periphery of the city, contrasting a stronger vote for the Liberal Democrats in older townhouses and suburbs in the south and north-west of Inverness. Reflecting this, at the 2022 council elections the SNP were ahead by double their nearest competitor in the four wards covering central and eastern areas of the city, with the two remaining wards covering western and south-western Inverness having voted Liberal Democrat.
At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, despite reports that the city had voted Yes to independence - being dubbed "Inveryes" by pro-independence campaigners - more than likely the city and its environs actually rejected Scottish independence with a 51% No vote, but Culloden, Inverness South and Inverness Central more likely voted Yes to independence, countered by No votes in Inverness West, Inverness Ness-side and Inverness Millburn wards.
Following the River Ness out of the city to Loch Dochfour and Loch Ness and along the Great Glen fault-line, the remote tourist towns of Drumnadrochit and Fort Augustus lead down into the Lochaber area. On the eastern side of Loch Ness are more remote communities like Inverfarigaig and Whitebridge. These communities and their surrounding rocky hills and wooded glens form part of the Aird & Loch Ness ward, which voted 31% Independent, 26% SNP, 21% Conservative, 10% Green, 7% Lib Dem and 5% Labour at the 2022 local council elections. The slightly more SNP-leaning areas around Beauly are removed from the ward to join Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, leaving the remaining area to have likely voted No to Scottish independence by approximately 53% No. Politically, this area is reasonable for the SNP, with the Conservatives forming the main opposition.
South-west along the Great Glen, the district of Lochaber is known for its rocky and wooded hills, including Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the British Isles. The region is largely desolate with small villages and hamlets dotting its coastline, lochs and rivers. At the centre of the district is Fort William and the adjoining town of Corpach. Despite being relatively isolated, Fort William is mostly working-class and mainly used as a basecamp for skiiers and mountain-climbers travelling into the surrounding mountains of Lochaber. From here, it is possible to take the 'Jacobite Express' steam train west towards the fishing village of Mallaig on the Atlantic coast. The Jacobite Express is famous for its role in the Harry Potter film series as the Hogwarts Express train which takes wizards and witches from JK Rowling's fantasy series to the mythical Hogwarts school. Parts of the filming for the movie series took place in Lochaber, including at the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct and at Loch Shiel. In 1745, the Jacobite Uprising started at the hamlet of Glenfinnan. The rising favoured installing the Catholic Prince Charles Edward Stuart ('Bonnie Prince Charlie') as King of Great Britain and Ireland. Fitting with this, Catholicism is notably stronger in Lochaber than elsewhere in the Scottish Highlands, and this connection to the Jacobites alongside social deprivation in Fort William might explain why the area is estimated to have voted Yes to Scottish independence at the 2014 independence referendum with a 52% Yes vote.
While support for the SNP is normally fairly strong in the area at UK and Scottish Parliamentary elections here, it should be noted that the Fort William & Ardnamurchan ward voted for Angus MacDonald of the Liberal Democrats at the 2022 Council election, with the Lib Dems receiving 37.5% of the vote to the SNP's 33.5%, 10% for the Conservatives and Greens and 9% for an Independent candidate.
North-west of Lochaber and across the Atlantic, the Isle of Skye is known for its beautiful scenery and role as a filming location for various movies. The Isle is connected to the mainland by a road bridge built in 1992, and has the highest number of Gaelic speakers outside of the Western Isles. Like other parts of the Scottish Highlands, there is a strong history of voting for Independent politicians in this area, with Independent candidates receiving 56% of the vote at the 2022 local council election to 23% for the SNP, 11% for the Conservatives and 3.5% each for Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Despite this, at UK and Scottish Parliamentary elections, this area has become a stronghold for the SNP in recent years, with the area estimated to have voted 57% in favour of Scottish independence in 2014, the best ward for the Yes campaign in the Highland local authority area.
The final ward within the constituency is the western half of the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh ward. Lochalsh is a district on the opposite side of the Loch Alsh inlet between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. Within the region are villages like Plockton, Achmore and Kyle of Lochalsh. Like Skye, tourism forms a key part of the local economy, including boat trips and hiking. Much like the Isle of Skye, there are a high proportion of Gaelic speakers in this area compared to elsewhere in Scotland.
Moving north along the rocky coastline and glens of Wester Ross, support for the SNP and Scottish independence increases as you approach Kinlochewe and Gairloch, before dropping substantially in the Aird district, whose population is mostly clustered around Loch Ewe. The northern Aird polling district was, in fact, one of only four polling districts in Highland which had the Conservatives first at the 2022 local election, with a 37% Conservative vote to 30% for the SNP, 21% for the Independent and 12% for the Liberal Democrats.
The result at the independence referendum in the Wester Ross section of this constituency was mixed, but generally better for the Yes campaign, with a more decisive 57% Yes vote in Lochalsh and 56% Yes vote in Gairloch countered by a 55% No vote in remaining rural and inland polling districts.
Politically, this area formed part of the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency within the UK Parliament which was represented by Charles Kennedy of the SDP and subsequently Liberal Democrats between 1983-2015. Since 2015, the area has been represented by SNP MP Ian Blackford, who previously served as the party's Westminster leader. In the Scottish Parliament, Ross, Skye and Inverness West was represented by John Farquhar Munro of the Liberal Democrats from 1999-2011. The Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch constituency has been represented by the SNP's Kate Forbes since 2016, who unsuccessfully stood for leadership earlier this year winning 48% of party members' second preference votes to Humza Yousaf's 52%.
Inverness, Skye & Wester Ross-shire is made up of some of the SNP's strongest areas in the Highland Council area, and opposition to the SNP in the constituency is fairly divided, with the Conservatives being the main opposition to the SNP in Wester Ross and Aird & Loch Ness, and the Liberal Democrats forming the main opposition party in Inverness and Lochaber. Historically, like neighbouring Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, this area was a reasonably strong seat for the Liberal Democrats before the independence referendum, with Labour performing reasonably well in working-class areas within Inverness and Lochaber.
At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the seat is estimated to have voted 50% Yes to independence.
The division of opposition parties in the seat coupled with support for Scottish independence in this constituency marks the seat as one of the SNP's safest in the whole of Scotland. To lose it, the Liberal Democrats would need to see a strong anti-SNP tactical vote coalesce around them. Previous attempts of this in the seat's predecessor of Ross, Skye & Lochaber have been largely unsuccessful, with Ian Blackford of the SNP winning the constituency with a 9,443 vote majority ahead of the Liberal Democrats in 2019, representing 24% of the vote.
The constituency is the second largest in the United Kingdom with a total land area of 3,741 square miles. It contains the remotest and most sparsely populated areas of the United Kingdom, including the rocky Glens of Wester Ross and Lochaber and the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides.
The reason why this constituency is the second largest in the UK and not the largest is because it contains the City of Inverness and its surrounding suburbs, which houses more than 60% of the seat's electorate. Inverness is one of Europe's fastest growing cities and functions as the de facto capital of the Scottish Highlands and a major rail hub for eastern and northern parts of the Highlands. Politically, constituencies based around Inverness mostly returned Liberal, and subsequently Liberal Democrat MPs to the House of Commons until 2015, with Danny Alexander serving as the MP for the area from 2005-2015. Before that, Labour's David Stewart represented Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber from 1997 until 2005 with a respectable majority of 2,339, a majority which he more than doubled at the 2001 UK general election.
In the Scottish Parliament, the Inverness & Nairn constituency has been represented by right-leaning SNP MSP Fergus Ewing since the opening of the Parliament in 1999, while in the UK Parliament, the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey seat has been represented by SNP MP Drew Hendry since 2015.
Voting behaviour in Inverness is fairly irregular when compared to other parts of the country, with a strong SNP vote in council estates and tenements throughout the north, west, centre and south-east of the city, in addition to newer suburban housing developments in the east and south-eastern periphery of the city, contrasting a stronger vote for the Liberal Democrats in older townhouses and suburbs in the south and north-west of Inverness. Reflecting this, at the 2022 council elections the SNP were ahead by double their nearest competitor in the four wards covering central and eastern areas of the city, with the two remaining wards covering western and south-western Inverness having voted Liberal Democrat.
At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, despite reports that the city had voted Yes to independence - being dubbed "Inveryes" by pro-independence campaigners - more than likely the city and its environs actually rejected Scottish independence with a 51% No vote, but Culloden, Inverness South and Inverness Central more likely voted Yes to independence, countered by No votes in Inverness West, Inverness Ness-side and Inverness Millburn wards.
Following the River Ness out of the city to Loch Dochfour and Loch Ness and along the Great Glen fault-line, the remote tourist towns of Drumnadrochit and Fort Augustus lead down into the Lochaber area. On the eastern side of Loch Ness are more remote communities like Inverfarigaig and Whitebridge. These communities and their surrounding rocky hills and wooded glens form part of the Aird & Loch Ness ward, which voted 31% Independent, 26% SNP, 21% Conservative, 10% Green, 7% Lib Dem and 5% Labour at the 2022 local council elections. The slightly more SNP-leaning areas around Beauly are removed from the ward to join Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, leaving the remaining area to have likely voted No to Scottish independence by approximately 53% No. Politically, this area is reasonable for the SNP, with the Conservatives forming the main opposition.
South-west along the Great Glen, the district of Lochaber is known for its rocky and wooded hills, including Ben Nevis, the tallest mountain in the British Isles. The region is largely desolate with small villages and hamlets dotting its coastline, lochs and rivers. At the centre of the district is Fort William and the adjoining town of Corpach. Despite being relatively isolated, Fort William is mostly working-class and mainly used as a basecamp for skiiers and mountain-climbers travelling into the surrounding mountains of Lochaber. From here, it is possible to take the 'Jacobite Express' steam train west towards the fishing village of Mallaig on the Atlantic coast. The Jacobite Express is famous for its role in the Harry Potter film series as the Hogwarts Express train which takes wizards and witches from JK Rowling's fantasy series to the mythical Hogwarts school. Parts of the filming for the movie series took place in Lochaber, including at the iconic Glenfinnan Viaduct and at Loch Shiel. In 1745, the Jacobite Uprising started at the hamlet of Glenfinnan. The rising favoured installing the Catholic Prince Charles Edward Stuart ('Bonnie Prince Charlie') as King of Great Britain and Ireland. Fitting with this, Catholicism is notably stronger in Lochaber than elsewhere in the Scottish Highlands, and this connection to the Jacobites alongside social deprivation in Fort William might explain why the area is estimated to have voted Yes to Scottish independence at the 2014 independence referendum with a 52% Yes vote.
While support for the SNP is normally fairly strong in the area at UK and Scottish Parliamentary elections here, it should be noted that the Fort William & Ardnamurchan ward voted for Angus MacDonald of the Liberal Democrats at the 2022 Council election, with the Lib Dems receiving 37.5% of the vote to the SNP's 33.5%, 10% for the Conservatives and Greens and 9% for an Independent candidate.
North-west of Lochaber and across the Atlantic, the Isle of Skye is known for its beautiful scenery and role as a filming location for various movies. The Isle is connected to the mainland by a road bridge built in 1992, and has the highest number of Gaelic speakers outside of the Western Isles. Like other parts of the Scottish Highlands, there is a strong history of voting for Independent politicians in this area, with Independent candidates receiving 56% of the vote at the 2022 local council election to 23% for the SNP, 11% for the Conservatives and 3.5% each for Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Despite this, at UK and Scottish Parliamentary elections, this area has become a stronghold for the SNP in recent years, with the area estimated to have voted 57% in favour of Scottish independence in 2014, the best ward for the Yes campaign in the Highland local authority area.
The final ward within the constituency is the western half of the Wester Ross, Strathpeffer & Lochalsh ward. Lochalsh is a district on the opposite side of the Loch Alsh inlet between the Isle of Skye and the Scottish mainland. Within the region are villages like Plockton, Achmore and Kyle of Lochalsh. Like Skye, tourism forms a key part of the local economy, including boat trips and hiking. Much like the Isle of Skye, there are a high proportion of Gaelic speakers in this area compared to elsewhere in Scotland.
Moving north along the rocky coastline and glens of Wester Ross, support for the SNP and Scottish independence increases as you approach Kinlochewe and Gairloch, before dropping substantially in the Aird district, whose population is mostly clustered around Loch Ewe. The northern Aird polling district was, in fact, one of only four polling districts in Highland which had the Conservatives first at the 2022 local election, with a 37% Conservative vote to 30% for the SNP, 21% for the Independent and 12% for the Liberal Democrats.
The result at the independence referendum in the Wester Ross section of this constituency was mixed, but generally better for the Yes campaign, with a more decisive 57% Yes vote in Lochalsh and 56% Yes vote in Gairloch countered by a 55% No vote in remaining rural and inland polling districts.
Politically, this area formed part of the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency within the UK Parliament which was represented by Charles Kennedy of the SDP and subsequently Liberal Democrats between 1983-2015. Since 2015, the area has been represented by SNP MP Ian Blackford, who previously served as the party's Westminster leader. In the Scottish Parliament, Ross, Skye and Inverness West was represented by John Farquhar Munro of the Liberal Democrats from 1999-2011. The Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch constituency has been represented by the SNP's Kate Forbes since 2016, who unsuccessfully stood for leadership earlier this year winning 48% of party members' second preference votes to Humza Yousaf's 52%.
Inverness, Skye & Wester Ross-shire is made up of some of the SNP's strongest areas in the Highland Council area, and opposition to the SNP in the constituency is fairly divided, with the Conservatives being the main opposition to the SNP in Wester Ross and Aird & Loch Ness, and the Liberal Democrats forming the main opposition party in Inverness and Lochaber. Historically, like neighbouring Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, this area was a reasonably strong seat for the Liberal Democrats before the independence referendum, with Labour performing reasonably well in working-class areas within Inverness and Lochaber.
At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the seat is estimated to have voted 50% Yes to independence.
The division of opposition parties in the seat coupled with support for Scottish independence in this constituency marks the seat as one of the SNP's safest in the whole of Scotland. To lose it, the Liberal Democrats would need to see a strong anti-SNP tactical vote coalesce around them. Previous attempts of this in the seat's predecessor of Ross, Skye & Lochaber have been largely unsuccessful, with Ian Blackford of the SNP winning the constituency with a 9,443 vote majority ahead of the Liberal Democrats in 2019, representing 24% of the vote.
