# Gordon (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Gordon was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It was one of nine constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

## Electoral region

At the time of this constituency the other eight constituencies of the North East Scotland region were; Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen North, Aberdeen South, Angus, Banff and Buchan, Dundee East, Dundee West and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
The electoral region covered Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Dundee City; part of Angus; and small parts of Moray and Perth and Kinross.

## Constituency boundaries

The Gordon constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, the boundaries of the Westminster (House of Commons) constituency were subject to some alteration.

### Council areas

The Scottish Parliament constituency of Gordon covered a central portion of the Aberdeenshire council area and a small eastern portion of the Moray council area. The rest of the Aberdeenshire area was covered by two other constituencies, both also in the North East Scotland electoral region: Banff and Buchan to the north of the Gordon constituency, and West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine to the south. The rest of the Moray area was covered by the Moray constituency, which is in the Highlands and Islands region.

## Boundary Review

Following their First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland replaced Gordon with the seat called Aberdeenshire East.

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

The seat was represented since the 2007 election by Alex Salmond, the First Minister. He was previously MSP for Banff and Buchan from 1999 until resigning in 2001; he also represented the Westminster seat of Banff and Buchan from 1987 until retiring from the UK Parliament in 2010.
| Election | Member | Party |
| 1999 | Nora Radcliffe | Liberal Democrats |
| 2007 | Alex Salmond | SNP |
| 2011 | constituency abolished: see Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire West and Moray | constituency abolished: see Aberdeenshire East Aberdeenshire West and Moray |

## Election results

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Gordon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Alex Salmond | 14,650 | 41.4 | +18.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nora Radcliffe | 12,588 | 35.6 | −2.5 |
| | Conservative | Nanette Milne | 5,348 | 15.1 | −8.8 |
| | Labour | Neil Cardwell | 2,276 | 6.4 | −3.9 |
| | Independent | Donald Marr | 199 | 0.6 | New |
| | Independent | Dave Mathers | 185 | 0.5 | New |
| | Scottish Enterprise | Bob Ingram | 117 | 0.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,062 | 5.8 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 35,363 | 54.1 | +6.6 |
| | SNP gain from Liberal Democrats | SNP gain from Liberal Democrats | Swing | +10.7 | |
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Gordon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nora Radcliffe | 10,963 | 38.1 | +1.4 |
| | Conservative | Nanette Milne | 6,892 | 24.0 | +4.4 |
| | SNP | Alasdair Allan | 6,501 | 22.6 | −1.7 |
| | Labour | Ellis Thorpe | 2,973 | 10.3 | −1.4 |
| | Scottish Socialist | John Sangster | 730 | 2.5 | New |
| | Independent | Steven Mathers | 689 | 2.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4071 | 14.1 | +1.7 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,748 | 47.5 | |
| | Liberal Democrats hold | Liberal Democrats hold | Swing | -1.5 | |
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Gordon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal Democrats | Nora Radcliffe | 12,353 | 36.7 | N/A |
| | SNP | Sandy Stronach | 8,158 | 24.3 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Alex Johnstone | 6,602 | 19.6 | N/A |
| | Labour | Gillian Carlin-Kulwicki | 3,950 | 11.7 | N/A |
| | Independent | Hamish Watt | 2,559 | 7.6 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,195 | 12.4 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,622 | | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) | Liberal Democrats win (new seat) |