Aberdeenshire West (

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

: ''Siorrachd Obar Dheathain an Iar'') is a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

( Holyrood) covering part of the

council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

. It elects one

Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP; ; ) is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament. Electoral system The additional member system produces a form of proportional representation, where ...

by the

first past the post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...

method of election. Also, however, it is one 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 Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

for the region as a whole. The seat has been held by Alexander Burnett of the

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Ki ...

since the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the North East Scotland region are: Aberdeen Central,

Aberdeen Donside Aberdeen Donside (Gaelic: ''Obar Dheathain Oir Dheathain'') is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) covering part of the Aberdeen City council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the po ...

, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine,

Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire East (Gaelic: ''Siorrachd Obar Dheathain an Ear'') is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Aberdeenshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first p ...

, Angus North and Mearns, Angus South,

Banffshire and Buchan Coast Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been split ...

Dundee City East Dundee City East (Gaelic: ''Baile Dhùn Dè an Ear'') is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament ( Holyrood) covering part of the Dundee City council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post me ...

and Dundee City West. The region covers all of the

Aberdeen City council area Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

, the

Dundee City council area Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and part of

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

Constituency boundaries and council area

is represented by five constituencies in the

: Aberdeen South and North Kincardine,

, Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns and

. The electoral wards used in the creation of Aberdeenshire West are: *In full: West Garioch; Westhill and District; Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford; Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside; Banchory and Mid-Deeside *In part: East Garioch (shared with

), Stonehaven and Lower Deeside (shared with Angus North and Mearns)

Constituency profile and voting patterns

Constituency profile

The Aberdeenshire West constituency is an affluent rural constituency located along the western side of the Aberdeenshire council area. To the south of the constituency is

Royal Deeside The River Dee () is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It source (river), rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in ...

, located along the Valleys of the River Dee, which includes the affluent towns of

Aboyne Aboyne (, ) is a village on the edge of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee, approximately west of Aberdeen. It has a swimming pool at Aboyne Academy, all-weather tennis cou ...

and

Banchory Banchory (, , ) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, historically in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short ...

and their surrounding rural areas. Along the western end of Royal Deeside is the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park () is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of National parks of Scotland, two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ...

, covering Queen Elizabeth II's estate of

Balmoral Castle Balmoral Castle () is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, west of Ballater and west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought ...

. North-east of Deeside is the town of Westhill, which functions as a suburb to the city of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. North of here, along the Valleys of the River Don in the area known as "

Gordon Gordon may refer to: People * Gordon (given name), a masculine given name, including list of persons and fictional characters * Gordon (surname), the surname * Gordon (slave), escaped to a Union Army camp during the U.S. Civil War * Gordon Heuck ...

", is

Huntly Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith ...

, home to the

Gordon Highlanders The Gordon Highlanders was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed for 113 years, from 1881 until 1994, when it was amalgamated with The Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons) to form The Highlanders (Seaforth, Go ...

, and the former Royal Burgh of Kintore, which has developed into an Aberdonian suburb, with a near doubling of the town's population throughout the 2000s. The constituency is among the least deprived parts of Scotland, with slight deprivation in the south-west of Huntly, and high rates of affluence elsewhere. Oil and agriculture form a significant part of the local economy, with tourist interests around Royal Deeside. The constituency also covers the

Royal Lochnagar distillery Royal Lochnagar distillery is a single malt Scotch whisky distillery based on the Abergeldie Estate, near Balmoral Castle in Royal Deeside. It is close to the mountain Lochnagar. The distillery is in the Highland whisky-producing area of Scotland. ...

located to the west of Royal Deeside.

Voting patterns

The Aberdeenshire West constituency was formed in 2011 from parts of the former constituencies of

and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine. From the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until 2007 these constituencies were both represented by the Liberal Democrats. In 2007, Gordon was gained by the SNP's

Alex Salmond Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond ( ; 31 December 1954 – 12 October 2024) was a Scottish politician who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he was Leader of the Sc ...

, who served as the First Minister of Scotland from 2007 until 2014. In the 2012 local council election, the Conservative vote in areas covered by the Aberdeenshire West constituency tended to be strongest around Royal Deeside, covering the villages of Aboyne, Ballater and Banchory, and to a lesser extent around Westhill and its surrounding areas. The rural region of

Garioch Garioch (, , ) is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has a population of 46,254 (2006 estimate), which gives it the largest population of Aberdeenshire's six committee areas. The Garioch consists primarily of the distric ...

, situated along the River Don and its tributary streams, tended to be better for the SNP and Liberal Democrats.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2020s

2010s

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aberdeenshire West (Scottish Parliament Constituency) Politics of Aberdeenshire Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions from 2011 Constituencies established in 2011 Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament 2011 establishments in Scotland Huntly Ballater Banchory Kintore, Aberdeenshire