Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Roxburgh and Berwickshire (UK Parliament constituency).

Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Former county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Roxburgh and Berwickshire shown within the South of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created1999
Abolished2011
Council areaScottish Borders
Replaced byEttrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire

Roxburgh and Berwickshire was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament until 2011. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It was also one of nine constituencies in the South of Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

See also: South of Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region were: Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Cunninghame South, Dumfries, East Lothian, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

The region covered the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, part of the North Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[1]

The Holyrood constituency covered an eastern portion of the Scottish Borders council area. The rest of the council area was covered by the Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale constituency, which also covered a western portion of the Midlothian council area.

Boundary review

Following its First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended that the Roxburgh and Berwickshire seat be expanded to form the newly shaped Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency in time for the 2011 election.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Euan Robson Liberal Democrats
2007 John Lamont Conservative
2011 constituency abolished: replaced by Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire

Election results

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Roxburgh and Berwickshire[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative John Lamont 10,556 41.1 +10.9
Liberal Democrats Euan Robson 8,571 33.4 −7.8
SNP Aileen Orr 4,127 16.1 +3.6
Labour Mary Lockhart 2,108 8.2 −4.3
Independent Jesse Rae 318 1.2 New
Majority 1,985 7.7 N/A
Turnout 26,279
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Euan Robson 9,280 41.2 +0.6
Conservative Sandy Scott 6,790 30.2 +2.4
SNP Roderick Campbell 2,816 12.5 −4.4
Labour Sam Held 2,802 12.5 −2.2
Scottish Socialist Graeme McIver 823 3.7 New
Majority 2,490 11.0 −1.8
Turnout 22,511
Liberal Democrats hold Swing -0.9
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Roxburgh and Berwickshire
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Euan Robson 11,320 40.6 N/A
Conservative Alasdair Hutton 7,735 27.8 N/A
SNP Stuart Crawford 4,719 16.9 N/A
Labour Susan McLeod 2,802 14.7 N/A
Majority 3,585 12.8 N/A
Turnout 26,500 N/A
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

References

  1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Sub-constituency election results for the 2007 Scottish Parliament elections - data Archived 6 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine-Scotland Office, 30 April 2008 (retrieved 5 April 2011)