# Highlands and Islands (European Parliament constituency)

Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales. The European Parliament constituencies used under that system were smaller than the later regional constituencies and only had one Member of the European Parliament each.
Created for the 1979 European Parliament elections in 1979, Highlands and Islands was a single-member constituency formed from the grouping of numerous neighbouring Scottish constituencies of the UK Parliament.

## Boundaries

1979–1984: Argyll; Banff; Caithness and Sutherland; Inverness; Moray and Nairn; Orkney and Shetland; Ross and Cromarty; Western Isles
1984–1999: Argyll and Bute; Caithness and Sutherland; Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber; Moray; Orkney and Shetland; Ross, Cromarty and Skye; Western Isles

## Members of the European Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1979 | Winnie Ewing | SNP |
| 1984 | Winnie Ewing | SNP |
| 1989 | Winnie Ewing | SNP |
| 1994 | Winnie Ewing | SNP |

## Election results

European elections 1994: Highlands and Islands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Winnie Ewing | 74,872 | 58.4 | +6.9 |
| | Labour | Michael M. Macmillan | 19,956 | 15.6 | +1.7 |
| | Conservative | Mark E. Tennant | 15,767 | 12.3 | –4.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hamish R. Morrison | 12,919 | 10.1 | +1.8 |
| | Scottish Green | Eleanor Scott | 3,140 | 2.4 | –7.1 |
| | UKIP | Martin B.N. Carr | 1,096 | 0.8 | New |
| | Natural Law | Margaret F. Gilmour | 522 | 0.4 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 54,916 | 42.8 | +8.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 128,272 | 39.1 | –1.9 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | +2.6 | |
European elections 1989: Highlands and Islands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Winnie Ewing | 66,297 | 51.5 | +9.7 |
| | Conservative | Albert McQuarrie | 21,602 | 16.8 | +0.8 |
| | Labour | N.L. MacAskill | 17,848 | 13.9 | –0.2 |
| | Green | M.A.O. Gregson | 12,199 | 9.5 | New |
| | SLD | Neil Mitchison | 10,644 | 8.3 | −19.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 44,695 | 34.7 | +21.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 128,590 | 41.0 | +2.6 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | +4.5 | |
European elections 1984: Highlands and Islands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Winnie Ewing | 49,410 | 41.8 | +7.8 |
| | Liberal | D.R. Johnston | 33,133 | 28.1 | –2.6 |
| | Conservative | David Webster | 18,847 | 16.0 | –10.1 |
| | Labour | John M.M. MacArthur | 16,644 | 14.1 | +4.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 16,277 | 13.7 | +10.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 118,034 | 38.4 | –1.0 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | +5.2 | |
European elections 1979: Highlands and Islands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Winnie Ewing | 39,991 | 34.0 | |
| | Liberal | D.R. Johnston | 36,109 | 30.7 | |
| | Conservative | M. Joughin | 30,776 | 26.1 | |
| | Labour | J.G. Watson | 10,846 | 9.2 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,882 | 3.3 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 117,722 | 39.4 | |
| | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) | SNP win (new seat) |