Gordon (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Gordon was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It was one of nine constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Gordon
Former county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Gordon shown within the North East Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created1999; 25 years ago (1999)
Abolished2011; 13 years ago (2011)
Council areaAberdeenshire (part)
Moray (part)
Replaced byAberdeenshire East,
Aberdeenshire West,
Moray

Electoral region

At the time of this constituency the other eight constituencies of the North East Scotland region were; Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South, Angus, Banff and Buchan, Dundee East, Dundee West and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine

The electoral region covered Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Dundee City; part of Angus; and small parts of Moray and Perth and Kinross.

Constituency boundaries

The Gordon 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, the boundaries of the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency were subject to some alteration.

Council areas

The Scottish Parliament constituency of Gordon covered a central portion of the Aberdeenshire council area and a small eastern portion of the Moray council area. The rest of the Aberdeenshire area was covered by two other constituencies, both also in the North East Scotland electoral region: Banff and Buchan to the north of the Gordon constituency, and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine to the south. The rest of the Moray area was covered by the Moray constituency, which is in the Highlands and Islands region.

Boundary Review

Following their First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland replaced Gordon with the seat called Aberdeenshire East.[1]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

The seat was represented since the 2007 election by Alex Salmond, the First Minister. He was previously MSP for Banff and Buchan from 1999 until resigning in 2001; he also represented the Westminster seat of Banff and Buchan from 1987 until retiring from the UK Parliament in 2010.

ElectionMemberParty
1999Nora RadcliffeLiberal Democrats
2007Alex SalmondSNP
2011constituency abolished: see Aberdeenshire East
Aberdeenshire West and Moray

Election results

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Gordon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
SNPAlex Salmond 14,650 41.4 +18.8
Liberal DemocratsNora Radcliffe12,58835.6-2.5
ConservativeNanette Milne5,34815.1-8.8
LabourNeil Cardwell2,2766.4-3.9
IndependentDonald Marr1990.6New
IndependentDave Mathers1850.5New
Scottish EnterpriseBob Ingram1170.3New
Majority2,0625.8N/A
Turnout35,36354.1+6.6
SNP gain from Liberal DemocratsSwing+10.7
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Gordon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal DemocratsNora Radcliffe 10,963 38.1 +1.4
ConservativeNanette Milne6,89224.0+4.4
SNPAlasdair Allan6,50122.6-1.7
LabourEllis Thorpe2,97310.3-1.4
Scottish SocialistJohn Sangster7302.5New
IndependentSteven Mathers6892.4New
Majority407114.1+1.7
Turnout28,74847.5
Liberal Democrats holdSwing-1.5
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Gordon
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal DemocratsNora Radcliffe 12,353 36.7 N/A
SNPSandy Stronach8,15824.3N/A
ConservativeAlex Johnstone6,60219.6N/A
LabourGillian Carlin-Kulwicki3,95011.7N/A
IndependentHamish Watt2,5597.6N/A
Majority4,19512.4N/A
Turnout33,622N/A
Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

References

Preceded by Constituency represented by the First Minister
2007 – 2011
Succeeded by