The Highlands and Islands is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament, 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. In creating the region Boundaries Scotland considered that special geographical considerations applied due to the area's low population density, large physical size and poor transport links. It has boundaries with the North East Scotland, Mid Scotland and Fife and the West Scotland electoral regions.

Constituencies and council areas

2026–present

Following the Second Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries, boundaries for Scotland's electoral regions and constituencies were redrawn ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. The Highlands and Islands saw a very minor change in its boundary with North East Scotland, as result of changes to the boundary between the Moray and Banffshire and Buchan Coast constituencies, but was otherwise left unchanged. They covered all of four council areas, the Highland council area, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles council area),

the Orkney Isles council area and the Shetland Isles council area, and most of two others, the Argyll and Bute council area and the Moray council area:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!bgcolor="#ff9999"|Map

!bgcolor="#ff9999"|Constituency

|-

| center|350px

| valign="top"|

  1. Argyll and Bute <br />covers most of the Argyll and Bute council area.
  2. Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross<br />covers a northern portion of the Highland council area.
  3. Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber<br /> covers a southern portion of the Highland council area.
  4. Moray<br /> covers most of the Moray council area.
  5. Orkney Islands<br /> covers the Orkney Isles council area.
  6. Ross, Skye and Inverness West<br /> covers a central portion of the Highland council area.
  7. Shetland Islands <br />covers the Shetland Isles council area.
  8. Western Isles <br />covers Na h-Eileanan Siar.

|}

A south-eastern portion of the Argyll and Bute area is covered by the Dumbarton constituency, which is in the West of Scotland region. An eastern portion of the Moray area is covered by the Gordon constituency, in the North East Scotland region.

Boundary changes

The Boundary Commission also recommended changes to the electoral regions used to elect "list" members of the Scottish Parliament. Highlands and Islands was amended so as to contain the newly redrawn constituencies of Argyll and Bute; Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Inverness and Nairn; Moray; Na h-Eileanan an Iar; Orkney Islands; Shetland Islands; and Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.

List of MSPs

Constituency MSPs

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Term

! Election

!colspan="2"|Argyll and Bute

!colspan="2"|Caithness, Sutherland <br /> and Easter Ross

!colspan="2"|Inverness East, <br /> Nairn and Lochaber

!colspan="2"|Moray

!colspan="2"|Ross, Skye <br /> and Inverness West

!colspan="2"|Western Isles

!colspan="2"|Orkney Islands

!colspan="2"|Shetland Islands

|-

|1st

|1999

| bgcolor="" rowspan="3" |

| rowspan="3"| George Lyon<br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="4"| Jamie Stone<br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="4"|Fergus Ewing<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="2" |

|rowspan="2"|Margaret Ewing <br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="4"|John Farquhar Munro<br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="3" |

|rowspan="3"|Alasdair Morrison<br />(Labour)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="3"|Jim Wallace<br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="4"|Tavish Scott<br />(Lib Dem)

|-

|rowspan="2"|2nd

|2003

|-

|2006 by

| bgcolor="" rowspan="2" |

|rowspan="2"|Richard Lochhead<br />

|-

| 3rd

|2007

| bgcolor="" |

|Jim Mather<br />

| bgcolor="" |

|Alasdair Allan<br />

|Liam McArthur<br />

|-

! Term

! Election

!colspan="2"|Argyll and Bute

!colspan="2"|Caithness, <br /> Sutherland and Ross

!colspan="2"|Inverness and Nairn

!colspan="2"|Moray

!colspan="2"|Skye, Lochaber <br />and Badenoch

!colspan="2"|Na h-Eileanan an Iar

!colspan="2"|Orkney Islands

!colspan="2"|Shetland Islands

|-

|4th

|2011

| bgcolor="" rowspan="5" |

|rowspan="3"|Michael Russell<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor=""|

|Rob Gibson<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="5" |

|rowspan="4"|Fergus Ewing<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="5" |

|rowspan="4"|Richard Lochhead<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" |

|David Thompson<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="4"|Alasdair Allan<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="5"|Liam McArthur<br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="2" |

|rowspan="2"|Tavish Scott <br />(Lib Dem)

|-

| rowspan=2|5th

|2016

| bgcolor="" rowspan="2" |

|rowspan="2"|Gail Ross<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="3" |

|rowspan="3"|Kate Forbes<br />(SNP)

|-

|2019 by

| bgcolor="" rowspan="2" |

|rowspan="2"|Beatrice Wishart<br />(Lib Dem)

|-

|6th

|2021

|rowspan=2|Jenni Minto<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" |

|Maree Todd<br />(SNP)

|-

|7th

|2026

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

|rowspan="1"|David Green <br />(Lib Dem)

|Emma Roddick<br />(SNP)

|Laura Mitchell<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

|rowspan="1"|Andrew Baxter <br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

|rowspan="1"|Donald MacKinnon<br />(Labour)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

| bgcolor="" |

|Hannah Mary Goodlad<br />

|}

Regional list MSPs

N.B. This table is for presentation purposes only

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|-

! Term

! Election

!colspan="2"| MSP

!colspan="2"| MSP

!colspan="2"| MSP

!colspan="2"| MSP

!colspan="2"| MSP

!colspan="2"| MSP

!colspan="2"| MSP

|-

|1st

|1999

| bgcolor="" rowspan="5" |

|Winnie Ewing <br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="11" |

|Duncan Hamilton<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" |

|Rhoda Grant<br />(Labour)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="8" |

|rowspan="3"|Maureen Macmillan<br />(Labour)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|rowspan="4"|Peter Peacock<br />(Labour)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="10" |

|rowspan="6"|Jamie McGrigor<br />(Conservative)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="9" |

|rowspan="2"|<br />(Conservative)

|-

|rowspan="2"|2nd

|2003

|rowspan="3"|Rob Gibson<br />(SNP)

|rowspan="2"|Jim Mather<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="2" |

|rowspan="2"|Eleanor Scott<br />(Green)

|-

|2006 by

|Dave Petrie<br />(Conservative)

|-

|3rd

|2007

|David Thompson<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="7" |

| rowspan="7" |Rhoda Grant<br />(Labour)

| rowspan="5" |David Stewart<br />(Labour)

|rowspan="3"|<br />(Conservative)

|-

|rowspan="2"|4th

|2011

|rowspan="2"|John Finnie<br />(SNP)<br /><small>(later Independent)</small>

|rowspan="2"|Mike MacKenzie<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" |

|rowspan="2"|Jean Urquhart<br />(SNP)<br /><small>(later Independent)</small>

|-

|2012

| bgcolor="" |

| bgcolor="" |

|-

| rowspan="2" |5th

|2016

| bgcolor="" rowspan="5" |

| rowspan="2" |John Finnie<br />(Green)

| rowspan="2" |Maree Todd<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="4" |

|<br />(Conservative)

| rowspan="4" |<br />(Conservative)

| rowspan="3" |<br />(Conservative)

|-

|2017

|rowspan="3"|Jamie Halcro Johnston<br />(Conservative)

|-

| rowspan="2" |6th

|2021

|rowspan="3"|Ariane Burgess<br />(Green)

|rowspan="2"|Emma Roddick<br />(SNP)

|rowspan="2" bgcolor="" |

|rowspan="2"|Douglas Ross<br />(Conservative)

|-

|2024

|bgcolor="" rowspan="2"|

|rowspan="2"| Tim Eagle<br>(Conservative)

|-

| rowspan="1" |7th

| 2026

| rowspan="1" |Maree Todd<br />(SNP)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

| rowspan="1" |Kristopher Leask<br />(Green)

|bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

|rowspan="1"|Morven-May MacCallum<br />(Lib Dem)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

|rowspan="1"|Vic Currie<br />(Reform)

| bgcolor="" rowspan="1" |

|rowspan="1"|Max Bannerman<br />(Reform)

|}

Election results

center|thumb|739x739px|Election results since 1999 (parties who never got >5% counted as others)

2026 Scottish Parliament election

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2026 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Additional Member results

2021 Scottish Parliament election

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2021 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Additional Member results

2016 election

In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

  • 7 Scottish National Party MSPs (six constituency members and one additional member)
  • 3 Conservative MSPs (all additional members)
  • 2 Liberal Democrat MSPs (both constituency members)
  • 2 Labour MSPs (both additional members)
  • 1 Green MSP (additional member)

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2016 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Additional member results

Elected candidates are highlighted in bold.

2011 election

In the 2011 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

  • 9 Scottish National Party MSPs (six constituency members and three additional members)
  • 2 Liberal Democrat MSPs (both constituency members)
  • 2 Labour MSPs (both additional members)
  • 2 Conservative MSPs (both additional members)

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2011 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Additional member results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2011 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan="2" style="width: 150px"|Party

! Elected candidates

! style="width: 40px"|Seats

! style="width: 40px"|+/−

! style="width: 50px"|Votes

! style="width: 40px"|%

! style="width: 40px"|+/−%

|-

2007 election

In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

  • 6 Scottish National Party MSPs (four constituency MSPs and two additional members)
  • 4 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency MSPs)
  • 3 Labour MSPs (all additional members)
  • 2 Conservative MSPs (both additional members)

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2007 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Additional member results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2007 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan="2" style="width: 150px"|Party

! Elected candidates

! style="width: 40px"|Seats

! style="width: 40px"|+/−

! style="width: 50px"|Votes

! style="width: 40px"|%

! style="width: 40px"|+/−%

|-

2003 election

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

  • 5 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency MSPs)
  • 4 Scottish National Party MSPs (two constituency MSPs and two additional members)
  • 3 Labour MSPs (one constituency MSP and two additional members)
  • 2 Conservative MSPs (both additional members)
  • 1 Green MSP (additional member)

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2003 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Changes:

  • Margaret Ewing, Scottish National Party MSP for Moray, died on 21 March 2006. The by-election was won by Richard Lochhead of the SNP.

Additional member results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|2003 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan="2" style="width: 150px"|Party

! Elected candidates

! style="width: 40px"|Seats

! style="width: 40px"|+/−

! style="width: 50px"|Votes

! style="width: 40px"|%

! style="width: 40px"|+/−%

|-

Changes:

  • Dave Petrie replaced Mary Scanlon. Scanlon resigned as an MSP in April 2006 to contest the Moray by-election following the death of Margaret Ewing. Petrie was next on the Conservative list.

1999 election

In the 1999 Scottish Parliament election the region elected MSPs as follows:

  • 5 Liberal Democrat MSPs (all constituency members)
  • 4 Scottish National Party MSPs (two constituency and two additional members)
  • 4 Labour MSPs (one constituency and three additional members)
  • 2 Conservative MSP (both additional members)

Constituency results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=4 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|1999 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency

! style="width: 150px"|Elected member

! style="width: 300px"|Result

Additional member results

{| class=wikitable

!colspan=8 style=background-color:#f2f2f2|1999 Scottish Parliament election: Highlands and Islands

|-

! colspan="2" style="width: 150px"|Party

! Elected candidates

! style="width: 40px"|Seats

! style="width: 40px"|+/−

! style="width: 50px"|Votes

! style="width: 40px"|%

! style="width: 40px"|+/−%

|-

Footnotes