# Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the Highland council area. 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, as well as eight constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The seat was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and replaced most of the former constituency of Ross, Skye and Inverness West and part of the former Inverness East, Nairn & Lochaber constituency. The remaining portions of the two former seats (consisting mostly of the less rural area surrounding and including Inverness) was moved into a new seat called Inverness and Nairn.
The seat has been held by Kate Forbes of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch 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; Na h-Eileanan an Iar; Orkney; Shetland. The Highlands and Islands electoral 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 Highland (council area) is represented in the Scottish Parliament by three constituencies: Caithness, Sutherland and Ross; Inverness and Nairn; Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch.
The electoral wards used in the newly created constituency of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch are;
* In full: Dingwall and Seaforth; Black Isle; Eilean a’ Cheò; Caol and Mallaig; Aird and Loch Ness; Fort William and Ardnamurchan
* In part: Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh; Badenoch and Strathspey

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 2011 | Dave Thompson | Scottish National Party |
| | 2016 | Kate Forbes | Scottish National Party |

## Election results
### Elections in the 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Kate Forbes | 24,192 | 56.1 | 8.5 | 18,220 | 42.0 | 1.2 |
| | Conservative | Jamie Halcro Johnston | 8,331 | 19.3 | 3.2 | 9,718 | 22.4 | 2.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Denis Rixson | 6,778 | 15.7 | 7.1 | 4,244 | 9.8 | 5.0 |
| | Labour | John Erskine | 3,855 | 8.9 | 1.6 | 4,001 | 9.2 | 0.6 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 3,985 | 9.2 | 0.0 |
| | Independent | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | Andy Wightman | 1,199 | 2.8 | New |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 789 | 1.8 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 305 | 0.7 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 281 | 0.6 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 117 | 0.3 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 95 | 0.2 | 2.3 |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 80 | 0.2 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 78 | 0.2 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 72 | 0.2 | New |
| | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | 71 | 0.2 | New |
| | Independent | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | Hazel Mansfield | 68 | 0.2 | New |
| | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | TUSC | 49 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,861 | 36.8 | 12.0 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 43,156 | | | 43,372 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 218 | | | 64 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 43,374 | 68.7 | 7.2 | 43,436 | 68.8 | 7.2 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 5.9 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency ↑ Incumbent member on the list for Lothian region, having been elected as a member of the Scottish Greens in 2016 |||||||||
This was the largest numerical majority at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Kate Forbes | 17,362 | 47.6 | 1.4 | 14,964 | 40.8 | 5.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Angela MacLean | 8,319 | 22.8 | 7.7 | 5,405 | 14.8 | 3.7 |
| | Conservative | Robbie Munro | 5,887 | 16.1 | 7.2 | 7,327 | 20.0 | 10.7 |
| | Labour | Linda Stewart | 3,821 | 10.5 | 2.4 | 3,580 | 9.8 | 1.4 |
| | Independent | Ronnie Campbell | 1,116 | 3.1 | 1.6 | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 3,362 | 9.2 | 2.7 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 922 | 2.5 | 0.7 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 548 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| | Independent | James Stockan | James Stockan | James Stockan | James Stockan | 229 | 0.6 | New |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 179 | 0.5 | New |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 123 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,043 | 24.8 | 9.1 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 36,505 | | | 36,639 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 139 | | | 46 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,644 | 61.5 | 5.3 | 36,685 | 61.6 | 5.3 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 4.6 | | | |
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | David Thompson | 14,737 | 46.2 | N/A | 14,680 | 45.9 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alan MacRae | 9,742 | 30.5 | N/A | 5,909 | 18.5 | N/A |
| | Labour | Linda Stewart | 4,112 | 12.9 | N/A | 3,584 | 11.2 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Kerensa Carr | 2,834 | 8.9 | N/A | 2,968 | 9.3 | N/A |
| | Independent | Ronnie Campbell | 490 | 1.5 | N/A | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,064 | 6.5 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 689 | 2.2 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 585 | 1.8 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 378 | 1.2 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 253 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 175 | 0.5 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 70 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 19 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Others | Others | Others | Others | Others | 613 | 1.9 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,995 | 15.7 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 31,915 | | | 31,987 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 154 | | | 116 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 32,069 | 56.2 | N/A | 32,103 | 56.3 | N/A |
| | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||