Shetland (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Shetland
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Shetland shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	22,990 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Liberal Democrat
MSP	Beatrice Wishart
Local council	Shetland Islands

Shetland is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Shetland. 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.

Shetland has been held by the Liberal Democrats at all elections since the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, with the current MSP being Beatrice Wishart, who won the seat at a 2019 by-election held following the resignation of former party leader Tavish Scott.

Electoral region[edit]

Shetland 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, Orkney 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[edit]

The Shetland constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, to cover the Shetland Isles 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.^[2] In the House of Commons of the British Parliament at (Westminster), the council area is covered by the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which also covers the Orkney Islands council area.^[3]

It contains all seven of the Shetland Council wards: North Isles; Shetland North; Shetland West; Shetland Central; Shetland South; Lerwick North; Lerwick South.

Member of the Scottish Parliament[edit]

The seat was represented by Tavish Scott, former Scottish Liberal Democrats leader, from the 1999 election until he stood down in June 2019.^[4] The subsequent by-election was won by Beatrice Wishart, who held the seat for the Liberal Democrats.^[5]

Election results[edit]

2020s[edit]

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Shetland^[6][a]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Beatrice Wishart[b]	5,803	48.6	18.8	3,157	26.5	9.1
	SNP	Tom Wills	4,997	41.9	18.8	4,108	34.5	7.9
	Conservative	Nick Tulloch	503	4.2	0.5	1,865	15.7	4.8
	Scottish Green					1,154	9.7	3.0
	Labour	Martin Kerr	424	3.6	2.3	1,003	8.4	0.7
	Independent	Peter Tait	116	1.0	New
	Alba					104	0.9	New
	Scottish Family					93	0.8	New
	Independent	Andy Wightman[c]				70	0.6	New
	All for Unity					60	0.5	New
	Reform UK					57	0.5	New
	Restore Scotland	Brian Nugent	90	0.8	New	53	0.4	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					49	0.4	New
	Libertarian					48	0.4	New
	UKIP					38	0.3	2.4
	TUSC					25	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					13	0.1	New
	Independent	Hazel Mansfield				9	0.1	New
Majority			806	6.7	37.6
Valid Votes			11,933			11,906
Invalid Votes			35			30
Turnout			11,968	66.0	3.7	11,936	65.8	3.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		18.8
Notes ^ Showing changes from 2016 general election. ^ 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[edit]

2019 Shetland by-election^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Beatrice Wishart	5,659	47.9	19.5
	SNP	Tom Wills	3,822	32.3	9.2
	Independent	Ryan Thomson	1,286	10.9	New
	Conservative	Brydon Goodlad	425	3.6	0.1
	Scottish Green	Debra Nicolson	189	1.6	New
	Labour	Johan Adamson	152	1.3	4.6
	Independent	Michael Stout	134	1.1	New
	Independent	Ian Scott	66	0.6	New
	UKIP	Stuart Martin	60	0.5	New
	Independent	Peter Tait	31	0.3	New
Majority			1,837	15.6	28.7
Total valid votes			11,824
Rejected ballots			11
Turnout			11,835	66.5	4.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing	14.4

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Shetland^[8][9]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tavish Scott[a]	7,440	67.4	19.9	3,937	35.7	3.8
	SNP	Danus Skene	2,545	23.1	11.0	2,932	26.6	2.2
	Labour	Robina Barton	651	5.9	0.7	1,003	9.1	1.4
	Conservative	Cameron Smith	405	3.7	0.2	1,197	10.8	4.5
	Scottish Green					736	6.7	0.8
	Independent	James Stockan				701	6.3	New
	UKIP					301	2.7	1.2
	Scottish Christian					116	1.1	1.0
	RISE					85	0.8	New
	Solidarity					33	0.3	0.1
Majority			4,895	44.3	27.1
Valid Votes			11,041			11,041
Invalid Votes			46			46
Turnout			11,087	62.3	8.5	11,087	62.3	8.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		15.5
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Shetland^[10]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Tavish Scott[a]	4,462	47.5	19.2	2,975	31.9
	Independent	Billy Fox	2,845	30.3	New
	SNP	Jean Urquhart	1,134	12.1	4.5	2,688	28.8
	Labour	Jamie Kerr	620	6.6	0.2	974	10.4
	Conservative	Sandy Cross	330	3.5	6.4	595	6.4
	Scottish Green					699	7.5
	UKIP					362	3.9
	Liberal					319	3.4
	Scottish Christian					196	2.1
	All Scotland Pensioners Party					170	1.8
	Ban Bankers Bonuses					153	1.6
	BNP					66	0.7
	Socialist Labour					65	0.7
	Scottish Socialist					57	0.6
	Solidarity					15	0.2
Majority			1,617	17.2	32.9
Valid Votes			9,391			9,334
Invalid Votes			37			83
Turnout			9,428	53.9		9,417	53.9
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing		7.4
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s[edit]

1990s[edit]

Notes[edit]

External links[edit]

• "Shetland Islands constituency map" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 7 July 2021.