Na h-Eileanan an Iar
County constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Na h-Eileanan an Iar shown within the Highlands and Islands electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	26,830 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Alasdair Allan
Council area	Na h-Eileanan Siar

Na h-Eileanan an Iar (/nə ˈhɪlənən ənˈjɪər/; Scottish Gaelic pronunciation: [nəˈhelanən əˈɲiəɾ]), formerly the Western Isles, is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering the council area of Na h-Eileanan Siar. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of eight constituencies in the Highlands and Islands electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

The seat has been held by Alasdair Allan of the Scottish National Party since the 2007 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

The Na h-Eileanan an Iar constituency is part of the Highlands and Islands electoral region; the other seven constituencies are Argyll and Bute, Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, Inverness and Nairn, Moray, Orkney, Shetland and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

The region covers most of Argyll and Bute council area, all of the Highland council area, most of the Moray council area, all of the Orkney Islands council area, all of the Shetland Islands council area and all of Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Western Isles constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. It voted for the first time in the 1999 Scottish Parliament election. From the 2005 United Kingdom general election, however, the name of the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency was changed to Na h-Eileanan an Iar.

The Holyrood constituency covers Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Western Isles council area), comprising its nine wards: Barraigh, Bhatarsaigh, Eirisgeigh agus Uibhist a Deas; Beinn Na Foghla agus Uibhist a Tuath; Na Hearadh agus Ceann a Deas Nan Loch; Sgir’ Uige agus Ceann a Tuath Nan Loch; Sgire an Rubha; Steòrnabhagh a Deas; Steòrnabhagh a Tuath; Loch a Tuath; An Taobh Siar agus Nis.

Geographically, the constituency consists of the Outer Hebridean islands. The major islands are Barra, Benbecula, Lewis and Harris, North Uist and South Uist. On the grounds of the remoteness of the constituency from the rest of Scotland, and the difficulties involved in getting from island to island, there is a significantly smaller electorate than in the mainland Scottish Parliament constituencies.^[2]

Politics

The seat had been a two-way marginal between the Scottish Labour and the Scottish National Party for many years. In recent years, however, it has become increasingly safe for the Scottish National Party. Despite that, during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum the constituency voted against independence by a margin of 53.42% (10,544) to 46.58% (9,195) in favour on a turnout of 86.2%^[3]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Na h-Eileanan an Iar^[4]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alasdair Allan[a]	7,454	51.4	0.7	6,266	43.11	2.4
	Labour	Shaun Fraser	4,013	27.7	2.1	3,095	21.29	1.8
	Conservative	Gavin Berkenheger	2,116	14.6	3.2	2,591	17.83	6.3
	Scottish Green					850	5.85	1.1
	Independent	Callum MacMillan	571	3.9	New
	Scottish Family					501	3.45	New
	Liberal Democrats	Neil Mitchison	353	2.4	0.2	324	2.23	0.1
	Alba					316	2.17	New
	Independent	Andy Wightman[b]				262	1.80	New
	All for Unity					102	0.70	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					39	0.27	New
	Reform UK					32	0.22	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					31	0.21	New
	Libertarian					27	0.19	New
	Independent	Hazel Mansfield				27	0.19	New
	TUSC					24	0.17	New
	UKIP					24	0.17	1.8
	Restore Scotland					23	0.16	New
Majority			3,441	23.7	2.8
Valid Votes			14,507			14,534
Invalid Votes			86			55
Turnout			14,593	66.4	5.3	14,589	66.3	5.1
	SNP hold		Swing		1.5
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency ^ Incumbent member on the list for Lothian region, having been elected as a member of the Scottish Greens in 2016

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Na h-Eileanan an Iar^[5]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alasdair Allan[a]	6,874	52.1	13.2	6,024	45.5	11.0
	Labour	Rhoda Grant[b]	3,378	25.6	3.0	3,061	23.1	0.3
	Conservative	Ranald Fraser	1,499	11.4	7.1	1,522	11.5	6.8
	Scottish Christian	John Cormack	1,162	8.8	New	1,238	9.4	2.9
	Scottish Green					624	4.7	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Ken MacLeod	293	2.2	0.4	280	2.1	0.5
	UKIP					260	2.0	1.2
	Independent	James Stockan				113	0.9	New
	Solidarity					57	0.4	0.3
	RISE					54	0.4	New
Majority			3,496	26.5	10.2
Valid Votes			13,206			13,233
Invalid Votes			59			39
Turnout			13,265	61.1	1.2	13,272	61.2	1.2
	SNP hold		Swing		8.1
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

2011 Scottish Parliament election: Na h-Eileanan an Iar^[6]

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alasdair Allan[a]	8,496	65.3	18.7	7,366	56.5
	Labour	Donald Crichton	3,724	28.6	13.0	3,049	23.4
	Scottish Christian					842	6.5
	Conservative	Charlie McGrigor	563	4.3	1.2	616	4.7
	Scottish Green					349	2.7
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Morrison	228	1.8	4.5	214	1.6
	All-Scotland Pensioners Party					158	1.2
	Socialist Labour					120	0.9
	UKIP					98	0.8
	BNP					77	0.6
	Scottish Socialist					37	0.3
	Solidarity					16	0.1
	Others					92	0.7
Majority			4,772	36.7	31.7
Valid Votes			13,011			13,034
Invalid Votes			68			59
Turnout			13,079	59.9	1.9	13,093	60.0
	SNP hold		Swing		15.9
Notes ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2000s

1990s