Orkney (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Orkney is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Orkney. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. 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.

Orkney
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Orkney shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	22,190 (2019)[1][2]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Liberal Democrats
MSP	Liam McArthur
Council area	Orkney Islands

Orkney has been held by the Liberal Democrats at all elections since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with the current MSP being Liam McArthur, who won the seat at the 2007 Scottish Parliament election. The former Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace represented the constituency from 1999 to 2007.

Electoral region

See also: Highlands and Islands (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

Orkney 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, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Shetland 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 Orkney constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, to cover the Orkney Islands council area. The constituency is protected in law due to its geographical separation from other parts of Scotland, and therefore its boundaries are not subject to review.^[3]

In the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster), the council area is covered by the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which also covers the Shetland Islands council area.^[4]

It contains all six of the Orkney Council wards: East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray; Kirkwall East; Kirkwall West and Orphir; North Isles; Stromness and South Isles; West Mainland.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Jim Wallace	Liberal Democrat
	2007	Liam McArthur

Election results

Orkney election results 1999-2021

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney^[5][6]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur[a]	7,238	62.4	4.9	3,616	31.2	2.1
	SNP	Robert Leslie	3,369	29.1	4.7	3,384	29.2	5.6
	Conservative	Sam Bown	699	6.0	1.9	2,202	19.0	7.7
	Scottish Green					1,104	9.5	2.9
	Labour	Coilla Drake	290	2.5	0.4	725	6.3	1.5
	Scottish Family					127	1.1	New
	Alba					98	0.8	New
	Independent	Andy Wightman[b]				87	0.8	New
	All for Unity					63	0.5	New
	Scottish Libertarian					32	0.3	New
	Reform UK					31	0.3	New
	UKIP					30	0.3	2.2
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					28	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					22	0.2	New
	Restore Scotland					18	0.2	New
	TUSC					15	0.1	New
	Independent	Hazel Mansfield				4	0.0	New
Majority			3,869	33.3	9.7
Valid Votes			11,596			11,586
Invalid Votes			25			27
Turnout			11,621	65.6	3.4	11,613	65.5	3.4
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		4.9
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency Incumbent member on the list for Lothian region, having been elected as a member of the Scottish Greens in 2016

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney^[7]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur[a]	7,096	67.4	31.7	3,515	33.4	8.0
	SNP	Donna Heddle	2,562	24.3	0.8	2,491	23.6	12.2
	Independent	James Stockan				1,775	16.8	New
	Conservative	Jamie Halcro Johnston	435	4.1	4.3	1,193	11.3	0.5
	Scottish Green					696	6.6	0.4
	Labour	Gerard McGarvey	304	2.9	2.7	506	4.8	4.2
	UKIP					255	2.4	1.5
	Independent	Paul Dawson	137	1.3	New
	Scottish Christian					49	0.5	1.0
	Solidarity					30	0.3	0.1
	RISE					27	0.3	New
Majority			4,534	43.1	32.6
Valid Votes			10,534			10,537
Invalid Votes			28			19
Turnout			10,562	62.1	12.2	10,556	62.1	12.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		16.3
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney^[8]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur[a]	2,912	35.7	11.8	2,062	25.4
	Independent	James Stockan	2,052	25.2	New
	SNP	Donna Heddle	2,044	25.1	6.2	2,906	35.8
	Conservative	Jamie Halcro Johnston	686	8.4	10.5	875	10.8
	Labour	William Sharkey	458	5.6	7.5	730	9.0
	Scottish Green					501	6.2
	UKIP					316	3.9
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					128	1.6
	Scottish Christian					123	1.5
	BNP					63	0.8
	Socialist Labour					59	0.7
	Scottish Socialist					30	0.4
	Solidarity					18	0.2
	Others					316	3.9
Majority			860	10.5	17.9
Valid Votes			8,152			8,127
Invalid Votes			29			51
Turnout			8,181	49.9	3.5	8,178	49.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		9.0
Notes Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Liam McArthur	4,113	47.5	+1.8
	SNP	John Mowat	1,637	18.9	+5.7
	Conservative	Helen Gardiner	1,632	18.9	−4.9
	Labour	Iain MacDonald	1,134	13.1	+7.2
	Independent	Barrie Johnson	137	1.6	New
Majority			2,476	28.6	+6.7
Turnout			8,653	53.4	+1.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	+3.4

Scottish Parliament election 2003: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Wallace	3,659	45.7	−21.7
	Conservative	Christopher Zawadski	1,904	23.8	+8.2
	SNP	John Mowat	1,056	13.2	+2.9
	Scottish Socialist	John Aberdein	914	11.42	New
	Labour	Richard Meade	471	5.9	−0.9
Majority			1,755	21.9	−29.9
Turnout			8,004	51.7	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	-15.0

1990s

Scottish Parliament election 1999: Orkney

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Wallace	6,010	67.4
	Conservative	Christopher Zawadski	1,391	15.6
	SNP	John Mowat	917	10.3
	Labour	Angus Macleod	600	6.7
Majority			4,619	51.8
Turnout			8,918	57.0
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)