West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine (Scottish Parliament constituency).

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine is a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Westminster), which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was first used in the 1997 general election, but has undergone boundary changes since that date. The constituency was re-established in 1997, having previously existed as Kincardine and Western Aberdeenshire from 1918 to 1950.

West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine in Scotland
Electorate	73,364 (March 2020)[1]
Major settlements	Laurencekirk, Portlethen, Stonehaven, Banchory, Braemar
Current constituency
Created	1997
Member of Parliament	Andrew Bowie (Conservative)
Created from	Kincardine and Deeside
1918–1950
Created from	Aberdeenshire Western and Kincardineshire
Replaced by	West Aberdeenshire and North Angus and Mearns

The seat has been held since 2017 by Andrew Bowie of the Conservative Party.

There was also a Holyrood constituency of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine in the Scottish Parliament from 1999 to 2011 with the same boundaries as the Westminster constituency at that time.^[2]

Boundaries

Map of current boundaries

1918–1950

In 1868, the constituency of Aberdeenshire was divided into Aberdeenshire Eastern and Aberdeenshire Western divisions. These continued as constituencies until 1918, when the county of Aberdeenshire and the county of Kincardineshire were treated as if a single county for parliamentary representation purposes, with the area of the former Kincardineshire and Aberdeenshire constituencies being divided into three new constituencies, Aberdeen and Kincardine East, Aberdeen and Kincardine Central and Kincardine and Aberdeenshire West. In 1950 the Kincardineshire and Aberdeenshire counties were separated again, and a new boundary divided the Aberdeenshire area into East Aberdeenshire and West Aberdeenshire.

1997–2005

Kincardine and Deeside District, and the Gordon District electoral divisions of Donside and South Gordon.

2005–present

Under the Fifth Review of UK Parliament constituencies of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, the constituency was defined as comprising the area of the Aberdeenshire Council other than those parts in the Banff and Buchan County Constituency and the Gordon County Constituency.^[3] Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the boundaries were unchanged.^[4]

Further to reviews of local government ward boundaries which came into effect in 2007 and 2017, but did not affect the parliamentary boundaries, the contents of the constituency are now defined as comprising the following Aberdeenshire Council wards and part wards: ^[5]

• In full: Westhill and District, Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside, Banchory and Mid Deeside, North Kincardine, Stonehaven and Lower Deeside, Mearns.
• In part: West Garioch¹ (minority, including Kemnay), East Garioch¹ (minority, including Blackburn), Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford¹ (minority, including Alford).

¹ The boundary within these wards is equivalent to the boundary between the former Gordon constituency and the unchanged West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine constituency.

The constituency covers a southern portion of the Aberdeenshire council area and includes the towns of Stonehaven, Portlethen and Banchory, and stretches along the Dee river valley from Westhill to Braemar, and north to Kemnay in the Don river valley, which were part of the Gordon constituency until 2005.

To the northeast of West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine there are the constituencies of Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South, which are both entirely within the Aberdeen City area; to the north there is the new Gordon and Buchan constituency, which is entirely within the Aberdeenshire area; to the northeast lies the new Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey constituency; and to the south, the new Angus and Perthshire Glens constituency.

Members of Parliament

1918–1950

Election		Member[6]	Party
	1918	Arthur Murray	Coalition Liberal
	1922		Liberal
	1923	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	Unionist
	1929	James Scott	Liberal
	1931	Sir Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	Unionist
	1939 by-election	Colin Thornton-Kemsley	Unionist
1950		constituency abolished

1997–present

Election		Member[7]	Party
	1997	Sir Robert Smith	Liberal Democrats
	2015	Stuart Donaldson	SNP
	2017	Andrew Bowie	Conservative

Election results

Elections in the 2020s

General election 2024: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine ^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowie	17,428	35.6	−7.1
	SNP	Glen Reynolds	13,987	28.6	−12.5
	Labour	Kate Blake	6,397	13.1	+8.5
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Turvey	6,342	13.0	+1.3
	Reform UK	Brandon Innes	3,497	7.1	N/A
	Scottish Green	William Linegar	1,032	2.1	N/A
	Independent	Iris Leask	219	0.4	N/A
	Independent	David Neill	56	0.1	N/A
Majority			3,441	7.0	+5.4
Turnout			48,958	67.3	−6.1
Registered electors			72,994
	Conservative hold		Swing	+2.7

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine^[10][11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowie	22,752	42.7	−5.2
	SNP	Fergus Mutch	21,909	41.1	+8.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Waddell	6,253	11.7	+3.1
	Labour	Patrick Coffield	2,431	4.6	−6.5
Majority			843	1.6	−13.8
Turnout			53,345	73.4	+2.2
	Conservative hold		Swing	−6.9

General election 2017: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine ^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Andrew Bowie	24,704	47.9	+19.1
	SNP	Stuart Donaldson	16,754	32.5	−9.1
	Labour	Barry Black	5,706	11.1	+6.6
	Liberal Democrats	John Waddell	4,461	8.6	−12.8
Majority			7,950	15.4	N/A
Turnout			51,625	71.2	−4.0
	Conservative gain from SNP		Swing	+14.1

See also: Opinion polling in United Kingdom constituencies, 2010–15 § West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

General election 2015: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine^[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Stuart Donaldson	22,949	41.6	+25.9
	Conservative	Alexander Burnett	15,916	28.8	−1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Smith	11,812	21.4	−17.0
	Labour	Barry Black	2,487	4.5	−9.1
	UKIP	David Lansdell	1,006	1.8	+0.9
	Scottish Green	Richard Openshaw	885	1.6	N/A
	Independent	Graham Reid	141	0.3	N/A
Majority			7,033	12.8	N/A
Turnout			55,196	75.2	+6.8
	SNP gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing	+21.5

General election 2010: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine^[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Smith	17,362	38.4	−7.9
	Conservative	Alex Johnstone	13,678	30.3	+1.9
	SNP	Dennis Robertson	7,086	15.7	+4.4
	Labour	Greg Williams	6,159	13.6	+0.5
	BNP	Gary Raikes	513	1.1	N/A
	UKIP	Anthony Atkinson	397	0.9	N/A
Majority			3,684	8.1	−9.8
Turnout			45,195	68.4	+4.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	−4.9

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Smith	19,285	46.3
	Conservative	Alex Johnstone	11,814	28.4
	Labour	James Barrowman	5,470	13.1
	SNP	Caroline Little	4,700	11.3
	Scottish Socialist	Lorna Grant	379	0.9
Majority			7,471	17.9
Turnout			41,648	63.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

General election 2001: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Smith	16,507	43.5	+2.4
	Conservative	Thomas Kerr	11,686	30.8	−4.1
	Labour	Kevin Hutchens	4,669	12.3	+3.2
	SNP	John Green	4,634	12.2	−0.9
	Scottish Socialist	Alan Manley	418	1.1	N/A
Majority			4,821	12.7	+6.5
Turnout			37,914	62.0	−11.1
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.3

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine^[21][22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Smith	17,742	41.1	+6.4
	Conservative	George Kynoch	15,080	34.9	−10.2
	SNP	Joy Mowatt	5,649	13.1	+0.6
	Labour	Qaisra Khan	3,923	9.1	+2.3
	Referendum	Steve Ball	808	1.9	N/A
Majority			2,662	6.2	N/A
Turnout			43,202	73.1	N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

Elections in the 1940s

General election 1945: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Colin Thornton-Kemsley	10,932	51.5	−4.4
	Liberal	John Junor	10,290	48.5	+4.4
Majority			642	3.0	−8.8
Turnout			21,222	68.7	−6.9
	Unionist hold		Swing	-4.4

Elections in the 1930s

1939 Kincardineshire and Western Aberdeenshire by-election^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Colin Thornton-Kemsley	11,111	52.7	−3.2
	Liberal	Arthur Irvine	9,990	47.3	+3.2
Majority			1,121	5.4	−6.4
Turnout			21,101	71.4	−4.2
	Unionist hold		Swing	-3.2

Barclay-Harvey

General election 1935: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire ^[24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	12,477	55.9	−5.7
	Liberal	Arthur Irvine	9,841	44.1	+5.7
Majority			2,636	11.8	−11.4
Turnout			22,318	75.6	−5.0
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1931: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire^[25]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	14,266	61.6	+13.4
	Liberal	James Scott	8,890	38.4	−13.4
Majority			5,376	23.2	N/A
Turnout			23,156	80.6	+14.3
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1929: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire ^[26]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	James Scott	9,839	51.8	+6.3
	Unionist	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	9,171	48.2	−6.3
Majority			668	3.6	N/A
Turnout			19,010	66.3	−1.0
	Liberal gain from Unionist		Swing	+6.3

General election 1924: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire ^[27]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	8,260	54.5	+3.5
	Liberal	James Scott	6,889	45.5	−3.5
Majority			1,371	9.0	+7.0
Turnout			15,149	67.3	+5.5
	Unionist hold		Swing

General election 1923: Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine ^[28]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Malcolm Barclay-Harvey	6,639	51.0	New
	Liberal	Hon. Arthur Murray	6,369	49.0	−12.3
Majority			270	2.0	N/A
Turnout			13,008	57.8	+13.2
	Unionist gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A

Arthur Murray

General election 1922: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire ^[29]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Hon. Arthur Murray	6,224	62.3	N/A
	National Liberal	William Mitchell	3,767	37.7	N/A
Majority			2,457	24.6	N/A
Turnout			9,991	44.6	N/A
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Elections in the 1910s

Arthur Murray

General election 1918: Kincardine & Western Aberdeenshire

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
C	Liberal	Arthur Murray	Unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.