Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency)
| Caithness, Sutherland and Ross | |
|---|---|
| County constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
.svg) | |
.svg) Caithness, Sutherland and Ross shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Electorate | 56,532 (2022)[1] |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 2011 |
| Party | Scottish National Party |
| MSP | Maree Todd |
| Council area | Highland |
| Created from | Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross, Ross, Skye & Inverness West |
Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Gaelic: Gallaibh, Cataibh agus Ros) is a county constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering the northern part of the Highland council area.[2] It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, 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.[3]
The constituency was formed for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and replaced Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross and part of Ross, Skye and Inverness West. It was retained unchanged following the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025.[4]
The seat has been held by Maree Todd of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
Electoral region
[edit]The Caithness, Sutherland and Ross constituency is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region. The other seven constituencies in this region are Argyll and Bute, Inverness and Nairn, Moray, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney, Shetland and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.[3] 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.[5]
Constituency boundaries and council area
[edit]The Highland council area is represented in the Scottish Parliament by three constituencies. These are: Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Inverness and Nairn and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
The following electoral wards of the Highland Council electoral wards were used to redefine the seat at the second review of Scottish Parliament boundaries:[2]
- North, West and Central Sutherland (entire ward)
- Thurso and North West Caithness (entire ward)
- Wick and East Caithness (entire ward)
- East Sutherland and Edderton (entire ward)
- Cromarty Firth (entire ward)
- Tain and Easter Ross (entire ward)
- Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh (shared with Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch)
Member of the Scottish Parliament
[edit]| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Rob Gibson | SNP | |
| 2016 | Gail Ross | ||
| 2021 | Maree Todd | ||
Election results
[edit]
2020s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Maree Todd[a] | 15,889 | 43.1 |  0.2
|
14,201 | 38.5 | 1.3
| |
| Liberal Democrats | Molly Nolan | 13,298 | 36.1 |  5.0
|
7,818 | 21.2 | 4.2
| |
| Conservative | Struan Mackie | 5,170 | 14.0 | 1.3
|
7,905 | 21.4 | 1.7
| |
| Labour | Marion Donaldson | 2,016 | 5.5 | 4.9
|
2,745 | 7.4 | 3.3
| |
| Green | 2,052 | 5.6 | 0.4
| |||||
| Alba | 640 | 1.7 | New | |||||
| Independent | Andy Wightman[b] | 461 | 1.2 | New | ||||
| Scottish Family | 235 | 0.6 | New | |||||
| All for Unity | 227 | 0.6 | New | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | Tina McCaffery | 289 | 0.8 | New | 115 | 0.3 | New | |
| Scottish Libertarian | Harry Christian | 222 | 0.6 | New | 131 | 0.4 | New | |
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 121 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| Reform | 103 | 0.3 | New | |||||
| UKIP | 67 | 0.2 | 2.9
| |||||
| TUSC | 54 | 0.1 | New | |||||
| Restore Scotland | 39 | 0.1 | New | |||||
| Independent | Hazel Mansfield | 17 | 0.0 | New | ||||
| Majority | 2,591 | 7.0 | 5.2
|
|||||
| Valid Votes | 36,884 | 36,931 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 101 | 63 | ||||||
| Turnout | 36,985 | 64.8 | 6.2
|
36,994 | 64.9 | 6.2
| ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 2.6
|
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2010s
[edit]| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Gail Ross | 13,937 | 43.3 | 5.1
|
12,853 | 39.8 | 6.3
| |
| Liberal Democrats | Jamie Stone | 10,024 | 31.1 | 8.8
|
5,499 | 17.0 | 2.7
| |
| Conservative | Struan Mackie | 4,912 | 15.3 | 5.0
|
6,361 | 19.7 | 10.5
| |
| Labour | Leah Franchetti | 3,334 | 10.4 | 8.6
|
3,467 | 10.7 | 5.1
| |
| Green | 1,951 | 6.0 | 1.4
| |||||
| UKIP | 1,005 | 3.1 | 1.5
| |||||
| Scottish Christian | 494 | 1.5 | 0.5
| |||||
| Independent | James Stockan | 380 | 1.2 | New | ||||
| RISE | 182 | 0.6 | New | |||||
| Solidarity | 110 | 0.3 | 0.2
| |||||
| Majority | 3,913 | 12.2 | 17.2
|
|||||
| Valid Votes | 32,207 | 32,302 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 137 | 59 | ||||||
| Turnout | 32,344 | 58.6 | 6.5
|
32,361 | 58.7 | 6.6
| ||
| SNP hold | Swing | 7.0
|
||||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Rob Gibson[a] | 13,843 | 48.4 | N/A | 13,185 | 46.1 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Robbie Rowantree | 6,385 | 22.3 | N/A | 4,081 | 14.3 | N/A | |
| Labour | John MacKay | 5,438 | 19.0 | N/A | 4,523 | 15.8 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Edward Mountain | 2,934 | 10.3 | N/A | 2,647 | 9.2 | N/A | |
| Green | 1,327 | 4.6 | N/A | |||||
| All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 650 | 2.3 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Christian | 583 | 2.0 | N/A | |||||
| UKIP | 469 | 1.6 | N/A | |||||
| Socialist Labour | 253 | 0.9 | N/A | |||||
| BNP | 179 | 0.6 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | 77 | 0.3 | N/A | |||||
| Solidarity | 20 | 0.1 | N/A | |||||
| Others | 623 | 2.2 | N/A | |||||
| Majority | 7,458 | 29.4 | N/A | |||||
| Valid Votes | 28,600 | 28,617 | ||||||
| Invalid Votes | 142 | 126 | ||||||
| Turnout | 28,742 | 52.1 | N/A | 28,743 | 52.1 | N/A | ||
| SNP win (new seat) | ||||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
Footnotes
[edit]Citations
[edit]- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 27.
- ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 140.
- ^ a b Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 28.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 116.
- ^ Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers, p 143.
- ^ Butlin, Heather. "Scottish Parliamentary Elections". www.highland.gov.uk.
- ^ "Scottish Parliamentary Elections: 2021 Results". The Highland Council. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
- ^ Council, The Highland. "The Highland Council download - Scottish Parliamentary election 2016 | Council and government | Politicians, elections and democracy | Elections and voting". www.highland.gov.uk.
- ^ "Results and turnout at the 2016 Scottish Parliament election". The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
Bibliography
[edit]- "Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. April 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
External links
[edit]- "Caithness, Sutherland and Ross constituency map" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 11 November 2025.