Banffshire and Buchan Coast (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Banffshire and Buchan Coast (Gaelic: Siorrachd Bhanbh agus Oirthir Bhùchainn) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Moray. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is one also of ten constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Banffshire and Buchan Coast
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Banffshire and Buchan Coast shown within the North East Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	75,612 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	SNP
MSP	Karen Adam
Council area	Aberdeenshire Moray
Created from	Banff and Buchan, Moray

The seat was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and covers areas that were formerly in the seats of Banff and Buchan, Gordon and Moray.^[2] It has been held by Karen Adam of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

See also: North East Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other nine constituencies of the North East Scotland region are: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Aberdeenshire East, Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns, Angus South, Dundee City East and Dundee City West.

The region covers all of the Aberdeen City council area, Aberdeenshire, Angus, the Dundee City council area and part of Moray.

Constituency boundaries and council area

Map of boundaries from 2011

The constituency covers parts of both Aberdeenshire and Moray. It is one of the five constituencies covering Aberdeenshire in the Scottish Parliament, alongside Aberdeenshire East, Aberdeenshire West, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine and Angus North and Mearns. The rest of Moray is represented by the Moray constituency.

The seat was created following the First Periodic review of constituencies for the Scottish Parliament, and first contested at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. It largely replaced the seat of Banff and Buchan which was abolished, and also includes areas that were formerly in the Gordon and Moray constituencies.^[2]

The electoral wards used in the creation of Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituency are:

• In full: Banff and District, Troup, Fraserburgh and District, Peterhead North and Rattray, Buckie
• In part: Peterhead South and Cruden (shared with Aberdeenshire East), Keith and Cullen (shared with Moray)

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	2011	Stewart Stevenson	SNP
	2021	Karen Adam

Election results

Banffshire & Buchan Coast election results 1999-2021

2020s

Next Scottish Parliament election: Banffshire & Buchan Coast

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Karen Adam[3]
	Conservative	James Adams [4]
	Alba	Christina Hendry [5]
	Sovereignty	David McHutchon[6]

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Banffshire and Buchan Coast^[7][8][9]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Karen Adam	14,920	45.2	9.9	12,919	39.1	12.3
	Conservative	Mark Findlater	14,148	42.9	10.8	13,130	39.7	10.5
	Labour	Georgia Strachan	2,169	6.6	1.7	2,225	6.7	0.4
	Green					1,167	3.5	0.5
	Alba					1,135	3.4	New
	Liberal Democrats	Alison Simpson	1,071	3.2	1.3	924	2.8	0.2
	Scottish Family					286	0.9	New
	All for Unity					231	0.7	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)	Jason Duncan	347	1.1	New	189	0.6	New
	Reform UK					170	0.5	New
	Independent Green Voice					147	0.4	New
	Restore Scotland	David McHutchon	331	1.0	New	145	0.4	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					139	0.4	New
	UKIP					86	0.3	3.5
	Scottish Libertarian					47	0.1	0.0
	Independent	Laura Marshall				35	0.1	New
	Independent	Geoffrey Farquharson				12	0.0	New
	Renew					12	0.0	New
Majority			772	2.3	20.7
Valid Votes			32,986			32,999
Invalid Votes			89			74
Turnout			33,075	56.2	7.5	33,073	56.2	7.4
	SNP hold		Swing		10.4

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Banffshire and Buchan Coast^[10][11]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Stewart Stevenson[a]	15,802	55.1	12.1	14,809	51.4	13.3
	Conservative	Peter Chapman	9,219	32.1	13.8	8,419	29.2	15.3
	Labour	Nathan Morrison	2,372	8.3	2.3	2,052	7.1	1.4
	UKIP					1,070	3.7	2.4
	Liberal Democrats	David Evans	1,290	4.5	0.7	868	3.0	0.6
	Green					858	3.0	1.0
	Scottish Christian					429	1.5	0.2
	Solidarity					113	0.4	0.3
	National Front					57	0.2	0.1
	Scottish Libertarian					52	0.2	New
	Communist					50	0.2	New
	RISE					31	0.1	New
Majority			6,583	23.0	29.8
Valid Votes			28,683			28,808
Invalid Votes			135			42
Turnout			28,818	48.7	2.5	28,850	48.8	2.1
	SNP hold		Swing		13.0
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Banffshire and Buchan Coast^[12][13][14]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Stewart Stevenson[a]	16,812	67.2	N/A	16,185	64.7	N/A
	Conservative	Michael Watt	4,592	18.4	N/A	3,482	13.9	N/A
	Labour	Alan Duffill	2,642	10.6	N/A	2,115	8.5	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Galen Milne	958	3.8	N/A	606	2.4	N/A
	Green					509	2.0	N/A
	Scottish Christian					435	1.7	N/A
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					431	1.7	N/A
	UKIP					331	1.3	N/A
	BNP					269	1.1	N/A
	Socialist Labour					116	0.5	N/A
	Scottish Socialist					80	0.3	N/A
	National Front					68	0.3	N/A
	Solidarity					18	0.1	N/A
	Angus Independents					6	0.0	N/A
	Others					363	1.5	N/A
Majority			12,220	48.8	N/A
Valid Votes			25,004			25,014
Invalid Votes			95			83
Turnout			25,099	46.17	N/A	25,097	46.7	N/A
	SNP win (new seat)
Notes Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency