Politics of the Highland council area
Encyclopedia
| Highland council area Shown as one of the council areas of Scotland |
Politics of the Highland council area in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
are evident in the deliberations and decisions of the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
Council, in elections to the council, and in elections to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
(Westminster) and the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
(Holyrood
Scottish Parliament Building
The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament held their first debate in the new building on 7...
). In the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
the area is within the Scotland constituency
Scotland (European Parliament constituency)
Scotland constitutes a single constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation.- Boundaries :...
, which covers all of the 32 council areas of Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Highland Council
| Council area Highland Highland (council area) Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and... |
|
| Administrative headquarters | Inverness Inverness Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland... |
|---|---|
| Control | Independent Group (Sandy Park group), Liberal Democrat and Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after... coalition |
| Convener: | Michael Foxley, leader of the Liberal Democrat Group |
| Council website http://www.highland.gov.uk/ |
|
The Highland Council (Comhairle na Gaidhealtachd in Gaelic) represents 22 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote
Single transferable vote
The single transferable vote is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through preferential voting. Under STV, an elector's vote is initially allocated to his or her most preferred candidate, and then, after candidates have been either elected or eliminated, any surplus or...
system, which creates a form of proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
. The total number of councillors is 80, and the main meeting place and main offices are in Glenurquhart Road, Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
.
Since August 2008, the council has been ruled by a coalition of the Independent Group and Liberal Democrat and Labour parties. This administration was established following the collapse of a ruling coalition of the Independent Group and Scottish National Party
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
(SNP) in June 2008.
The Independent Group, led by Nairn ward councillor Sandy Park, is effectively a party, complete with a party whip.
The Independent Group and SNP administration had been formed as a result of the fourth general election
The Highland Council election, 2007
Elections to the Highland Council were held on 3 May 2007; the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament and to the 31 other councils in Scotland. Previous elections to the Council had been conducted using the single member plurality system...
of the council, 3 May 2007, and collapsed when the SNP withdrew from the coalition. Also as a result of the collapse, a second independent group was formed, called the Independent Members Group.
In February 2010, a third independent group was formed, when four councillors left the Independent Group and created the Independent Alliance Group. Since then groups and parties have been represented as follows :
The Liberal Democrat Michael Foxley had become the new council Convener by 23 Dec 2010
The next general election of the council is scheduled for 2012.
Corporate and ward management areas
Since 2007, the 22 wards have been divided between three corporate management areas, and each of these is subdivided to create a total of 16 ward management areas. Some wards are grouped into larger areas for ward management purposes, and one ward is divided between two different ward management areas. Therefore the number of ward management areas is less than the number of wards.The corporate management areas are named as (1) Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, (2) Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch and Strathspey, and (3) Ross, Skye and Lochaber. Two of these names are also those of Westminster Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
(House of Commons) constituencies
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
, and one name is very similar to the name of another Westminster constituency, but constituency and corporate management area boundaries are different.
Corporate management areas are represented, for some purposes, by their own committees. Also, there is an Inverness city management area covering seven of the nine wards (and thus four of the six ward management areas) of the Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area, with the city area being represented by a city committee.
Public forums are held at ward level, and there are also private ward-level meetings of councillors.
The numbers of wards in each corporate management area, and the number of councillors representing them, are as follows:
| Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross | 7 wards electing 23 councillors |
| Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey | 9 wards electing 34 councillors |
| Ross, Skye and Lochaber | 6 wards electing 23 councillors |
For lists of wards and details of how they are grouped into corporate and ward management areas, see:
- Highland Council wards created in 2007
History
The first elections to the Highland Council were in 1995, when the unitary council was created under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994. Since then, there have been general elections of the council at four year intervals. Since 1999 these elections have coincided with general elections of the Scottish ParliamentScottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
, but the next council election has been delayed for a year, until 2012, to end this coincidence, making the current council term one of five years instead of four.
The new council was created to replace a regional
Regions and districts of Scotland
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
council and eight district
Regions and districts of Scotland
The local government areas of Scotland were redefined by the Local Government Act 1973 and redefined again by the Local Government etc Act 1994....
councils, which had been created under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government Act 1973 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, that reformed local government in Scotland, on May 16, 1975....
, and were abolished in 1996. Until 2007, the new council maintained decentralised management and committee structures which related to former district boundaries, except this arrangement was compromised by changes to ward boundaries in 1999, so that committees ceased to represent exactly the areas for which they were making decisions. Current management and committee structures, involving three corporate management areas and related committees, were created at the same time as the introduction of multi-member wards and single transferable vote elections in 2007.
The 1995 election
The Highland Council election, 1995
The first elections to the Highland Council were held on 6 April 1995; the same day as elections to the 31 other new councils in Scotland. 72 councillors were elected from 72 wards using the plurality system...
created a council of 72 members, each elected from a single-member ward by the first past the post system of election. Ward boundaries were redrawn for the 1999 election
The Highland Council election, 1999
Elections to the Highland Council were held on 6 May 1999; the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament and to the 31 other councils in Scotland. 80 councillors were elected from 80 wards using the plurality system...
, to create 80 single-member wards and, again, election was by the first past the post system. The same wards and the same system of election were used for the 2003 election
The Highland Council election, 2003
Elections to the Highland Council were held on 1 May 2003; the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament and to the 31 other councils in Scotland. 80 councillors were elected from 80 wards using the plurality system...
. For the 2007 election
The Highland Council election, 2007
Elections to the Highland Council were held on 3 May 2007; the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament and to the 31 other councils in Scotland. Previous elections to the Council had been conducted using the single member plurality system...
, ward boundaries were redrawn again, under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004
Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004
The Local Governance Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, inter alia, for the election of Councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the Single Transferable Vote system....
, to create the current 22 multi-member wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, but still electing a total of 80 councillors.
The eight older management areas, created in when district councils were abolished in 1996, were also groups of wards, and each management area had an area committee
Area committee
Many large local government councils in the United Kingdom have a system of area committees, with responsibility for services in a particular part of the area covered by the council....
of councillors elected from the wards in the area. Three of the older management areas, Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
, Nairn
Nairn
Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness...
and Sutherland
Sutherland
Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...
, were very similar to earlier local government counties
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
. Two others, Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
and Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
, had the names of earlier counties but have very different boundaries.
The management areas were:
| 1996 to 1999 | 1999 to 2007 | |
|---|---|---|
| Badenoch and Strathspey Badenoch and Strathspey Badenoch and Strathspey as a local government district 1975 to 1996Badenoch and Strathspey is a local government ward of the Highland council area and a ward management area of the Highland Council in Scotland... |
consisting of 5 wards | with 5 related wards |
| Caithness Caithness Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is... |
consisting of 8 wards | with 10 related wards |
| Inverness Inverness Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland... |
consisting of 20 wards | with 23 related wards |
| Lochaber Lochaber District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region... |
consisting of 8 wards | with 8 related wards |
| Nairn Nairn Nairn is a town and former burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness... |
consisting of 5 wards | with 4 related wards |
| Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use... |
consisting of 13 wards | with 18 related wards |
| Skye and Lochalsh Skye and Lochalsh Skye and Lochalsh is one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region of Scotland. The main offices of the Skye and Lochalsh district council were in Portree, on the Isle of Skye.-History:... |
consisting of 6 wards | with 6 related wards |
| Sutherland Sutherland Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh... |
consisting of 7 wards | with 6 related wards |
For lists of wards see:
- Highland Council wards 1995 to 1999Highland Council wards 1995 to 1999The first set of Highland Council wards was first used for Highland Council election purposes in 1995, for the first general election of the council...
- Highland Council wards 1999 to 2007Highland Council wards 1999 to 2007The second set of Highland Council wards, 80 in number, became effective for election purposes in 1999, for the second general election of the Highland Council, and were used also for the third general election in 2003...
Westminster and Holyrood
The council area is covered by three constituencies of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (Westminster) and three constituencies of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). The Scottish Parliament constituencies are also components of that parliament's Highlands and Islands electoral regionScottish Parliament constituencies and regions
Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions were first used in 1999, in the first general election of the Scottish Parliament , created by the Scotland Act 1998....
.
All the constituencies are entirely within the council area, but the Highlands and Islands electoral region includes also five other constituencies, covering the Orkney, Shetland and Western Isles (Na h-Eileanan Siar) council areas and most of the Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute
Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...
and Moray
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
council areas.
Since the creation of the unitary Highland council area, in 1996, the Westminster constituencies have been altered twice, in 1997 and 2005. Neither the Holyrood constituencies nor the Holyrood electoral region have been altered since their creation in 1999.
Westminster
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. Working solely on the basis of the size of its electorate, however, it would qualify for just 2.3 Westminster seats. Boundary reviews
Boundary Commission (United Kingdom)
Boundary Commissions in the UK are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the Westminster Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales. There are four boundary commissions in the United Kingdom: one...
have considered ways of addressing the area's apparent over representation, by reducing the number of constituencies to two, or by creating constituencies straddling boundaries with other council areas, but to date, for various geographic and cultural reasons, none of these proposals has been reflected in actual boundary changes.
1996 to 1997
The boundaries of one constituency had been established since the 1918 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1918
The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...
, the other two since the 1983 general election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
. There were no parliamentary elections during the 1996 to 1997 period.
List of constituencies:
- Caithness and SutherlandCaithness and Sutherland (UK Parliament constituency)Caithness and Sutherland was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1918 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
- Ross, Cromarty and SkyeRoss, Cromarty and Skye (UK Parliament constituency)Ross, Cromarty and Skye was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election....
- Inverness, Nairn and LochaberInverness, Nairn and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-History:...
1997 to 2005
All of the council area's constituencies were altered for the 1997 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. The same constituencies were used in the 2001 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
.
List of constituencies:
- Caithness, Sutherland and Easter RossCaithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency)Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
- Ross, Skye and Inverness WestRoss, Skye and Inverness West (UK Parliament constituency)Ross, Skye and Inverness West was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election....
- Inverness East, Nairn and LochaberInverness East, Nairn and Lochaber (UK Parliament constituency)Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005...
2005 to present
All of the council area's constituencies were altered for the 2005 general electionUnited Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
. One, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, carries forward the name of a constituency created in 1997. This new constituency is slightly larger than the earlier constituency.
List of constituencies and current MPs (members of parliament):
|
John Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso John Archibald Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso , known as John Thurso, is a Scottish businessman and Liberal Democrat politician... , Liberal Democrat Charles Kennedy Charles Peter Kennedy is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who led the Liberal Democrats from 9 August 1999 until 7 January 2006 and is currently a Member of Parliament for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency.... , Liberal Democrat Danny Alexander Daniel Grian Alexander is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Chief Secretary to the Treasury since 2010. He has been the Member of Parliament for the Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey constituency since 2005.... , Liberal Democrat |
Holyrood
The Holyrood constituencies were created for the 1999 Scottish Parliament electionScottish Parliament election, 1999
The Scottish Parliament election, 1999 was the first general election of the Scottish Parliament, with voting taking place on 6 May 1999 to elect 129 members...
, with the names and boundaries of then existing Westminster constituencies. The same Scottish Parliament constituencies were used in the 2003 Scottish Parliament election
Scottish Parliament election, 2003
The Scottish Parliament election, 2003, was the second general election of the Scottish Parliament. It was held on 1 May 2003 and it brought no change in terms of control of the Scottish Executive...
and the 2007 Scottish Parliament election
Scottish Parliament election, 2007
The 2007 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the third general election to the devolved Scottish Parliament since it was created in 1999...
.
List of constituencies and current MSPs (members of the Scottish Parliament):
|
Rob Gibson Rob Gibson MSP is a Scottish politician. A member of the Scottish National Party , he was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent Caithness, Sutherland and Ross in the 2011 election.... , Scottish National Party Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.... Dave Thompson Dave Thompson is a British stand-up comedian and actor, who hit the headlines in July 1997 after being removed from the role of Tinky Winky in the children's television series Teletubbies from a few episodes. The BBC said in a letter to Thompson that his "interpretation of the role was inappropriate"... , Scottish National Party Fergus Ewing Fergus Ewing is the Scottish Government's Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism and the Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament for Inverness and Nairn.- Background :... , Scottish National Party Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.... |
As a whole, including MSPs elected by constituencies in the Highland council area, the Highlands and Islands electoral region is represented by:
- 6 Scottish National PartyScottish National PartyThe Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
MSPs (four constituency MSPs and two additional members) - 4 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency MSPs)
- 3 LabourLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MSPs (all additional members) - 2 ConservativeConservative Party (UK)The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MSPs (both additional members)
External links
- "Independents in talks on joint election campaign", The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, 9 September 2006