Aberdeen North is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and it elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It was first used in the 1885 general election, but has undergone various boundary changes since that date. The seat has been held by Kirsty Blackman of the Scottish National Party since 2015.
At the 2019 general election, the constituency had the largest SNP vote share and relative majority, effectively making it the safest SNP seat, although this majority was heavily reduced at the subsequent 2024 election.
There was also an Aberdeen North constituency of the Scottish Parliament, created in 1999 with the boundaries of the Westminster seat of that time. This constituency was abolished in 2011, its area thereafter being covered by the new constituencies of Aberdeen Donside and Aberdeen Central. (See also Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions.)
Constituency profile
The seat covers much of the northern half of the Aberdeen Council Area. It includes affluent suburbs like Kingswells and Bridge of Don, alongside areas with significant social housing within the city proper such as Tillydrone, Northfield, Mastrick and Bucksburn.
Boundaries
Historic
1885 to 1918
From 1832 to 1885 there was a single Aberdeen constituency. Prior to 1832, the burgh of Aberdeen had been represented as a component of the Aberdeen Burghs constituency.
When Aberdeen North was created by the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 and first used in the 1885 general election, so was Aberdeen South. Aberdeen North then consisted of the municipal wards of St Clement, St Andrew, St Machar and Greyfriars, and the 10th and 11th Parliamentary Polling Districts. The rest of the county of Aberdeen was covered by the county constituencies of Eastern Aberdeenshire and Western Aberdeenshire.
The same boundaries were used in the 1886 general election, the 1892 general election, the 1895 general election, the 1900 general election, the 1906 general election, the January 1910 general election and the December 1910 general election.
1918 to 1950
In 1918 constituency boundaries were redefined by the Representation of the People Act 1918. By then the county of city of Aberdeen had been created and, together with Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South became one of two constituencies covering the city (which was one of four counties of cities in Scotland) and entirely within the city. The new boundaries were first used in the 1918 general election, and Aberdeen North then consisted of the wards of Greyfriars, St Andrew, St Clement, St Machar, Torry and Woodside.
As redefined for the 1997 general election, Aberdeen North was one of three constituencies covering and entirely within the Aberdeen City area, the other two being Aberdeen South and Aberdeen Central. Aberdeen South shared boundaries with both of the other two constituencies.
2005 to 2024
As redefined by the Fifth Review of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, and subsequently first used in the 2005 general election, Aberdeen North was entirely within the Aberdeen City council area and one of five constituencies covering that council area and the Aberdeenshire council area.
In this period the constituency was made up of the Aberdeen City Council wards of Auchmill, Berryden, Castlehill, Cummings Park, Donmouth, Hilton, Kittybrewster, Mastrick, Midstocket, Newhills, Pittodrie, St Machar, Seaton, Sheddocksley, Springhill, Stockethill, Summerhill, Sunnybank, and Woodside, as provided for by the Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 2005.
Fifth Review changes included the transfer of Bridge of Don, Dyce and Danestone areas from Aberdeen North to Gordon, and the new Aberdeen North has boundaries which are very different from those of the earlier constituency. The northern boundary of the earlier constituency coincided with the northern boundary of the Aberdeen City council area. At that time, Aberdeen Central and Aberdeen South covered the rest of the Aberdeen City council area, and all three Aberdeen constituencies were entirely within the council area.
Current
Following the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the newly redrawn Aberdeen North consists of the following:
- In full: the Aberdeen City Council wards of Dyce/Bucksburn/Danestone, Bridge of Don, Kingswells/Sheddocksley/Summerhill, Northfield/Mastrick North, Hilton/Woodside/Stockethill, Tillydrone/Seaton/Old Aberdeen;
- In part: the Aberdeen City Council ward of Midstocket/Rosemount (excluding a small area in the southeast of the ward).
The Bridge of Don, Dyce and Danestone areas were transferred back from the now abolished constituency of Gordon. To partly compensate, the city centre and harbour areas (George Street/Harbour ward) were transferred to Aberdeen South.
Members of Parliament
{|class="wikitable"
!colspan=2|Year!!Member!!Party
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1885
| William Hunter
| Liberal
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1895
| Duncan Pirie
| Liberal
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1918
| Frank Rose
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1928 by-election
| William Wedgwood Benn
| Labour
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1931
| John George Burnett
| Unionist
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1935
| George Garro-Jones
| Labour
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1945
| Hector Hughes
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1970
| Robert Hughes
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1997
| Malcolm Savidge || Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2005
| Frank Doran
| Labour
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 2015
| Kirsty Blackman
| SNP
|}
Election results
thumb|Graph showing Aberdeen North Election Results 1900–2024
Elections in the 2020s
Elections in the 2010s
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="4" | 2019 notional result
|-
!bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
!bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
!bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
|SNP ||align=right| 26,516 ||align=right| 52.9
|-
|
|Conservative ||align=right| 12,306 ||align=right| 24.5
|-
|
|Labour ||align=right| 6,005 ||align=right| 12.0
|-
|
|Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 3,875 ||align=right| 7.7
|-
|
|Brexit Party ||align=right| 813 ||align=right| 1.6
|-
|
|Scottish Greens ||align=right| 612 ||align=right| 1.2
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2" |Majority
|align="right" |14,210
|align="right" |28.3
|-
|colspan="2" |Turnout
|align="right" |50,122
|align="right" |65.2
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|75,655
|
|}
Elections in the 2000s
Elections in the 1990s
Elections in the 1980s
Elections in the 1970s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1940s
Elections in the 1930s
Elections in the 1920s
Pirie was endorsed by the Coalition Government but refused to give it his support.
Notes
References
;Specific
;General
External links
- Aberdeen North UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2005 – May 2024) at MapIt UK
- Aberdeen North UK Parliament constituency (boundaries from June 2024) at MapIt UK