BBC Profile:
In 1964 Alasdair Mackenzie won what was then Ross and Cromarty for the Liberals. In 1970 Hamish Gray gained the seat for the Conservatives. Boundary changes in 1983 added the island of Skye and in that year Charles Kennedy - a 23 year-old Glasgow University graduate standing for the SDP - defeated Gray, becoming the youngest MP of that intake.
Boundary changes in 1995 replaced parts of Easter Ross with western Inverness. Kennedy held the new seat in 1997. By 2001 he had tripled his previous majority to nearly 13,000.
The most recent boundary review stripped the Inverness wards from Kennedy's seat, adding Lochaber instead. Kennedy increased his share of the vote to almost 60% in 2005, giving him a majority of 43.8% over Labour.
There are no boundary changes affecting this seat.
This is the UK's largest constituency, covering two million acres of Highlands and Islands.
The seat includes the west coast holiday town of Fort William and the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis.
Inland, numerous lochs combine with villages such as Kinlochleven and the historic Glencoe, scene of the massacre of the MacDonalds by the Campbells in 1692.
Many residents are self-employed crofters living in tiny coastal farming communities, two-thirds of the population are owner occupiers and the seat has twice as many workers employed in agriculture than the national average. The area is noted for salmon and whisky (it is home to three distilleries).
Tourism is
[More...]BBC Profile:
In 1964 Alasdair Mackenzie won what was then Ross and Cromarty for the Liberals. In 1970 Hamish Gray gained the seat for the Conservatives. Boundary changes in 1983 added the island of Skye and in that year Charles Kennedy - a 23 year-old Glasgow University graduate standing for the SDP - defeated Gray, becoming the youngest MP of that intake.
Boundary changes in 1995 replaced parts of Easter Ross with western Inverness. Kennedy held the new seat in 1997. By 2001 he had tripled his previous majority to nearly 13,000.
The most recent boundary review stripped the Inverness wards from Kennedy's seat, adding Lochaber instead. Kennedy increased his share of the vote to almost 60% in 2005, giving him a majority of 43.8% over Labour.
There are no boundary changes affecting this seat.
This is the UK's largest constituency, covering two million acres of Highlands and Islands.
The seat includes the west coast holiday town of Fort William and the highest mountain in the UK, Ben Nevis.
Inland, numerous lochs combine with villages such as Kinlochleven and the historic Glencoe, scene of the massacre of the MacDonalds by the Campbells in 1692.
Many residents are self-employed crofters living in tiny coastal farming communities, two-thirds of the population are owner occupiers and the seat has twice as many workers employed in agriculture than the national average. The area is noted for salmon and whisky (it is home to three distilleries).
Tourism is increasingly important. As the farm margins have declined, other means of revenue-raising have become important and VisitScotland has successfully raised the profile of the Highlands as a holiday destination. Tourism is already a major industry, assisted by the stark and spectacular scenery which includes the Mallaig to Fort William railway (which has attracted even more attention since featuring in the Harry Potter films).
Rallings & Thrasher Notional:
No Boundary Changes
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