Election 97

Western Isles

Current MP Calum Macdonald
Conservative 97 1,071
Labour 97 8,955
LibDem 97 495
Nationalist 97 5,379
Other 97 0
Elected party
Western Isles

Robert Waller wrote
Old constituency Western Isles
Conservative 92 1,362
Labour 92 7,664
LibDem 92 552
Nationalist 92 5,961
Other 92 491
Elected party Labour

Scotland's far-flung western archipelago is quite different from any other constituency. The only part of the UK that almost universally observes or enforces the Sabbath, it has the smallest electorate of any seat (22,785 at the last election), the highest proportion of detached houses, and is the only seat in Scotland with a majority of Gaelic speakers (68 per cent). Individual loyalties are the key to electoral success in the islands. Labour's Malcolm Macmillan held the seat for held the seat from 1935 to 1970, when it passed to Donald Stewart of the Scottish Nationalists - at the time the only SNP MP. On Stewart's retirement in 1987, Labour's Calum MacDonald took it back and he is probably favourite ths time - although the only thing certain in the Western Isles is that the Tories will not get a look in.


Super Profiles

1,994 15.80 9.03 175
695 5.51 11.17 49
1,181 9.36 11.25 83
579 4.59 14.70 31
0 0.00 10.45 0
5,319 42.14 2.81 1497
356 2.82 8.01 35
1,430 11.33 15.25 74
683 5.41 7.13 76
386 3.06 10.17 30