| This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
| Politics of Scotland |
|---|
 |
| Overview |
| 1999 to 2011 |
| 2011-2026 (Review) |
| 2026– (Review) |
The Scottish Parliament (Holyrood), created by the Scotland Act 1998, has used a system of constituencies and electoral regions since the first general election in 1999.
The parliament has 73 constituencies, each electing one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first-past-the-post) system of voting, and eight additional member regions, each electing seven additional MSPs. Each region is a group of constituencies, and the D'Hondt method of allocating additional member seats from party lists is used to produce a form of proportional representation for each region. The total number of parliamentary seats is 129.[1]
Boundaries of Holyrood and House of Commons (Westminster) constituencies are subject to review by the Boundaries Scotland, and prior to the Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 reviews of Scottish Westminster constituencies would have been also reviews of Holyrood constituencies. The Arbuthnott Commission, in its final report, January 2006, recommended that council area boundaries and Holyrood and Scottish Westminster constituency boundaries should all be reviewed together. This recommendation has not been implemented.
Boundaries
1999–2011
Until the 2005 general election the first-past-the-post constituencies were the same as for the House of Commons (United Kingdom Parliament, Westminster), except for Orkney and Shetland, which were separate constituencies at Holyrood, but not at Westminster. The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 enabled a new set of House of Commons constituencies to be formed in Scotland in 2005,[2] reducing their number and, therefore, the number of Scottish Members of Parliament (MPs) to 59, without change to the Holyrood constituencies and the number of MSPs.
1999 boundaries were used also for the 2003 and 2007 elections.
2011–2026
The first periodical review of boundaries of Scottish Parliament constituencies[3] was announced on 3 July 2007,[4] and the commission's final recommendations were implemented for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.
Total numbers of constituencies, regions, and MSPs remain at, respectively, 73, 8, and 129.
from 2026
New constituencies and regions were created by the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries.[5]
Historical representation by party
Central Scotland (1999–2026) / Central Scotland and Lothians West (2026–)
Conservative Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Scottish Socialist
Glasgow
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party Scottish Socialist Solidarity
| Constituency | Members | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2011 | 2011–2026 | 2026– | 1999 | 00 | 02 | 2003 | 05 | 06 | 2007 | 09 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | 2026 | |
| Glasgow Anniesland | Dewar | Butler | Kidd | Merrick | |||||||||||
| Glasgow Cathcart | Glasgow Cathcart and Pollok | Watson | Gordon | Dornan | Ghani | ||||||||||
| Glasgow Govan | Glasgow Southside | Jackson | Sturgeon | Bruce | |||||||||||
| Glasgow Kelvin | Glasgow Central | McNeill | White | Stewart | Thewliss | ||||||||||
| Glasgow Rutherglen | Rutherglen | Rutherglen and Cambuslang | Hughes | Kelly | Haughey | ||||||||||
| Glasgow Shettleston | Glasgow Baillieston and Shettleston | McAveety | Mason | Linden | |||||||||||
| Glasgow Maryhill | Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn | Glasgow Kelvin and Maryhill | Ferguson | Doris | |||||||||||
| Glasgow Springburn | Glasgow Provan | Glasgow Easterhouse and Springburn | Martin | McKee | |||||||||||
| Glasgow Pollok | Lamont | Yousaf | abolished | ||||||||||||
| Glasgow Baillieston | Curran | abolished | |||||||||||||
| Glasgow (list seats) | Gibson | P. Harvie | |||||||||||||
| Sturgeon | Doris | Sarwar | |||||||||||||
| White | Yousaf | Lamont | Sweeney | ||||||||||||
| Elder | --> | Kane | Ahmad | McLaughlin | Malik | Kelly | Glancy | Duane | |||||||
| Sheridan | --> | Kidd | D. Smith | McNeill | |||||||||||
| R. Brown | McTaggart | Tomkins | Gulhane | Schmulian | |||||||||||
| Aitken | R. Davidson | Wells | Kerr | ||||||||||||
Highlands and Islands
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party
| Constituency | Members | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2011 | 2011–2026 | 2026– | 1999 | 2003 | 06 | 2007 | 2011 | 12 | 2016 | 17 | 19 | 2021 | 2026 | |
| Argyll and Bute | Lyon | Mather | Russell | Minto | ||||||||||
| Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | Caithness, Sutherland and Ross | Stone | Gibson | G. Ross | Todd | Green | ||||||||
| Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber | Inverness and Nairn | F. Ewing | Roddick | |||||||||||
| Moray | M. Ewing | Lochhead | Mitchell | |||||||||||
| Ross, Skye and Inverness West | Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch | Munro | Thompson | Forbes | Baxter | |||||||||
| Western Isles | Na h-Eileanan an Iar | Morrison | Allan | MacKinnon | ||||||||||
| Orkney Islands | J. Wallace | McArthur | ||||||||||||
| Shetland Islands | T. Scott | Wishart | Goodlad | |||||||||||
| Highlands and Islands (list seats) | W. Ewing | Gibson | J. Finnie | --> | --> | D.Ross | MacCallum | |||||||
| Hamilton | Mather | Hamilton | MacKenzie | Todd | Roddick | Todd | ||||||||
| Macmillan | D. Stewart | Burgess | ||||||||||||
| Grant | E. Scott | Grant | Leask | |||||||||||
| Peacock | Urquhart | --> | D. Ross | Johnston | Eagle | |||||||||
| McGrigor | Mountain | Currie | ||||||||||||
| Scanlon | Petrie | Scanlon | Cameron | Bannerman | ||||||||||
Lothians (1999–2011) / Lothian (2011–2026) / Edinburgh and Lothians East (2026–)
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party Scottish Socialist
Mid Scotland and Fife
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party
| Constituency | Members | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2011 | 2011–2026 | 2026– | 1999 | 2003 | 05 | 2007 | 2011 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 2016 | 2021 | 2026 | |
| Dunfermline East | Cowdenbeath | Eadie | Rowley | A. Ewing | Barratt | |||||||||
| Dunfermline West | Dunfermline | Barrie | Tolson | Walker | --> | Hilton | Somerville | |||||||
| Ochil | Clackmannanshire and Dunblane | R. Simpson | Reid | K. Brown | ||||||||||
| Fife Central | Mid Fife and Glenrothes | McLeish | May | Marwick | Gilruth | |||||||||
| Kirkcaldy | Livingstone | Torrance | ||||||||||||
| North East Fife | Fife North East | I. Smith | R. Campbell | Rennie | ||||||||||
| North Tayside | Perthshire North | Swinney | ||||||||||||
| Perth | Perthshire South and Kinross-shire | Cunningham | Fairlie | |||||||||||
| Stirling | Jackson | Crawford | Tweed | Smith | ||||||||||
| Mid Scotland and Fife | Crawford | C. Harvie | A. Ewing | Ruskell | ||||||||||
| Marwick | Park | Baxter | Rowley | Long | ||||||||||
| Reid | Ruskell | Baker | ||||||||||||
| Raffan | Arbuckle | R. Simpson | Lockhart | McDade | ||||||||||
| Harding | Brocklebank | Rennie | A. Stewart | MacDougall | ||||||||||
| Johnston | Fraser | |||||||||||||
| Monteith | L. Smith | Kerr | ||||||||||||
North East Scotland
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party
South of Scotland (1999–2011) / South Scotland (2011–)
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party Scottish Socialist Solidarity
West of Scotland (1999–2011) / West Scotland (2011–)
Conservative Green Independent Labour Liberal Democrats Reform UK Scottish National Party Scottish Socialist
| Constituency | Members | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2011 | 2011–2026 | 2026– | 1999 | 01 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2016 | 20 | 2021 | 25 | 2026 | |
| Strathkelvin and Bearsden | Galbraith | Fitzpatrick | Turner | Whitton | McLeod | R. Mackay | Harley | ||||||
| Clydebank and Milngavie | McNulty | Paterson | McNair | ||||||||||
| Dumbarton | Baillie | ||||||||||||
| Eastwood | Macintosh | Carlaw | Oswald | ||||||||||
| Paisley South | Renfrewshire South | Renfrewshire West and Levern Valley | Henry | Arthur | |||||||||
| Paisley North | Paisley | Alexander | G. Adam | ||||||||||
| West Renfrewshire | Renfrewshire North and West | Renfrewshire North and Cardonald | Godman | D. Mackay | --> | Don | Campbell | ||||||
| Greenock and Inverclyde | Inverclyde | McNeil | McMillan | ||||||||||
| Cunninghame North | A. Wilson | K. Gibson | |||||||||||
| Cunninghame South | in South of Scotland region | Burgess | Maguire | P. Gibson | |||||||||
| West of Scotland (list seats) | West Scotland (list seats) | C. Campbell | Maxwell | Greer | |||||||||
| Ullrich | Martin | McMillan | Macintosh | O'Kane | McKee | ||||||||
| Quinan | McFee | W. Wilson | Fee | Clark | |||||||||
| McLeod | F. Curran | Paterson | Bibby | ||||||||||
| R. Finnie | McDougall | Greene | --> | Offord | |||||||||
| Goldie | Golden | Gosal | Smith | ||||||||||
| Young | Tosh | Carlaw | Corry | Findlay | |||||||||
See also
References
- For lists of MSPs, see Member of the Scottish Parliament.
- See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- "First Periodical Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries, Boundary Commission for Scotland website, accessed 20 December 2008". Archived from the original on 17 February 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2008.
- "Review of Constituencies at the Scottish Parliament, news release, Boundary Commission for Scotland website" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
- Sim, Phil (1 May 2025). "What would Scotland's new electoral map look like?". BBC News. Retrieved 9 July 2025.