Argyll & Bute to welcome Lochaber communities to fold in boundary change
The Boundary Commission for Scotland has submitted its final recommendations to the UK Parliament, following three consultations, and objections from Highland Council.
Scotland is losing two seats in the Highlands at the next general election. Lochaber will be cut in half, adding its south to Argyll, and its north to Inverness.
“Scotland has been allocated 57 constituencies for the 2023 review, two less than at present,” the commission explained. “Each constituency that we recommend must contain no less than 69,724 electors, and no more than 77,062 (except two ‘protected’ constituencies of Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles) and Orkney and Shetland). No constituency can be larger than 13,000 square kilometres.”
The current Ross, Skye, and Lochaber constituency, the UK’s largest at 12,768 sq km, would be cut in size to 9,688 sq km, losing land to the north and south, but expanding eastwards to absorb all of Loch Ness from Fort Augustus to Inverness, down to Tomatin and Corrour.
Lochaber would be split in two, adding its southern half to Argyll and Bute, and its northern half to the new constituency, named Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire.
Territory north of Poolewe, Loch Maree, Achnasheen and Beauly are absorbed by Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which would become the UK’s largest constituency, at 11,798 sq km.
To the south, the Argyll and Bute constituency absorbs Duror, Kentallen, Ballachulish, Onich, Kinlochleven, Glencoe and Rannoch, plus Ardgour, Morvern, Ardnamurchan, Sunart and Moidart, up to the A830.
This expanded constituency would be renamed Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber, following Argyll and Bute Council’s objection to just calling it ‘Argyll’.
The Boundary Commission consulted on three draft proposals, in winter 2021, spring 2022, and winter 2022. The final proposals are similar to the third draft, except in the north, where Ullapool switched to Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross.
Argyll and Bute Council welcomed the constituency’s new name and border last winter. However, Highland Council unanimously denounced the changes, arguing it would lead to split communities and confusion.
The final recommendations are now set to become law.
The Boundary Commission for Scotland said on June 28: “Within a four-month period the UK Government must submit to the Privy Council an Order that gives effect to the recommendations.” The change also pit two SNP MPs against each other at the next general election: Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP Ian Blackford, the former SNP leader at Westminster, and Drew Hendry, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, the SNP International Trade spokesperson.
In June Mr Blackford announced he would stand down as an MP at the next general election. Mr Hendry, a former leader of Highland Council, confirmed on June 28 that he will be seeking the new Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire seat.
Mr Hendry, who was elected in 2015, 2017, and 2019, said: “The changes announced by the Boundary Commission mean that at next year’s General Election, our region will only be represented by two constituencies, reduced from the current three, and that is bad news for us all.
“I look forward to the opportunity to continue serving the City of Inverness, Aird and Loch Ness and other neighbouring communities, and to establishing new friendships with the residents of Skye, Fort William and Wester Ross communities as I seek to represent their distinct needs.
“It is, however, of personal sadness that I will no longer represent Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey – communities I hold dear to my heart.”