Highlands And Islands (Scottish Parliament Electoral Region)
The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament which were created in 1999. Eight of the parliament's first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region and it elects seven of the 56 additional-member Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs).
The name Highlands and Islands is much older than the electoral region. The Highlands and Islands area has a large area of overlap with the Scottish Highlands, and the two names are often regarded as representing the same area.
The Highlands and Islands region is the largest of the eight electoral regions in terms of area, but the smallest in terms of population and electorate. It has boundaries with the North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife and West of Scotland electoral regions.
The most high-profile MSP for the region has been Winnie Ewing, the matriarch of the Ewing political family.
Read more about Highlands And Islands (Scottish Parliament Electoral Region): Boundary Changes, 2011 Scottish Parliament Election, 2007 Scottish Parliament Election, 2003 Scottish Parliament Election, 1999 Scottish Parliament Election
Famous quotes containing the words highlands, islands, parliament and/or electoral:
“Ye Highlands and ye Lawlands.
Oh! where hae ye been?
They hae slain the Earl of Murray,
And hae laid him on the green.”
—Unknown. The Bonny Earl of Murray (l. 1–4)
“we are so many
and many within themselves
travel to far islands but no one
asks for their story....”
—Denise Levertov (b. 1923)
“A Parliament is that to the Commonwealth which the soul is to the body.... It behoves us therefore to keep the facility of that soul from distemper.”
—John Pym (1584–1643)
“Nothing is more unreliable than the populace, nothing more obscure than human intentions, nothing more deceptive than the whole electoral system.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)