# Aberdeenshire East (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Aberdeenshire East (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain an Ear) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Aberdeenshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is also one of ten constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The seat was created for the 2011 election, and largely consists of areas that were in the former constituency of Gordon. It has been held by Gillian Martin of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the North East Scotland region are: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns, Angus South, Banffshire and Buchan Coast, Dundee City East and Dundee City West.
The region covers all of the Aberdeen City council area, Aberdeenshire, Angus, the Dundee City council area and part of Moray.

## Constituency boundaries and council area

Aberdeenshire is represented by four constituencies in the Scottish Parliament: Aberdeenshire East, Aberdeenshire West, Angus North and Mearns and Banffshire and Buchan Coast.
The electoral wards used in the creation of Aberdeenshire East are:
* In full: Central Buchan, Turriff and District, Mid-Formartine, Ellon and District, Inverurie and District
* In part: Peterhead South and Cruden (shared with Banffshire and Buchan Coast), East Garioch (shared with Aberdeenshire West)
It was created for the 2011 election, mostly replacing Gordon.

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

First contested in the 2011 election, the seat was won by Alex Salmond, who was then First Minister, and had previously held the Gordon seat, from which Aberdeenshire East was largely formed. Salmond had also previously been MSP for Banff and Buchan from 1999 until resigning in 2001, as well as representing the Westminster seat of Banff and Buchan from 1987 until retiring from the British Parliament in 2010.
| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 2011 | Alex Salmond | SNP |
| | 2016 | Gillian Martin | SNP |

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeenshire East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Gillian Martin | 18,307 | 44.6 | 1.2 | 14,873 | 36.1 | 7.4 |
| | Conservative | Stewart Whyte | 16,418 | 40.0 | 11.0 | 15,112 | 36.7 | 6.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Conrad Wood | 3,396 | 8.3 | 10.7 | 3,007 | 7.3 | 4.4 |
| | Labour | Graeme Downie | 2,900 | 7.1 | 0.9 | 3,092 | 7.3 | 1.1 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,326 | 5.7 | 1.6 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 1,235 | 3.0 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 301 | 0.7 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 284 | 0.7 | New |
| | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | 218 | 0.5 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 151 | 0.4 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 103 | 0.3 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 101 | 0.3 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 75 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | 70 | 0.2 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 52 | 0.1 | 1.9 |
| | Independent | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | 45 | 0.1 | New |
| | Independent | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | 18 | 0.0 | New |
| | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | 9 | 0.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,889 | 4.6 | 12.2 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 41,021 | | | 41,072 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 134 | | | 103 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,155 | 64.3 | 9.8 | 41,175 | 64.3 | 8.7 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 6.1 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||
This was the largest Conservative vote share increase at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeenshire East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Gillian Martin | 15,912 | 45.8 | 18.7 | 15,204 | 43.6 | 15.1 |
| | Conservative | Colin Clark | 10,075 | 29.0 | 15.1 | 10,706 | 30.7 | 16.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christine Jardine | 6,611 | 19.0 | 5.0 | 4,079 | 11.7 | 1.2 |
| | Labour | Sarah Flavell | 2,155 | 6.2 | 1.4 | 2,244 | 6.4 | 0.9 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,410 | 4.0 | 0.5 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 720 | 2.1 | 1.2 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 214 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 84 | 0.2 | New |
| | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | 65 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | 58 | 0.2 | New |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 58 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 39 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5837 | 16.8 | 33.7 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 34,753 | | | 34,881 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 107 | | | 39 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,860 | 55.5 | 2.8 | 34,920 | 55.6 | 2.9 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 16.9 | | | |
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeenshire East :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Alex Salmond | 19,533 | 64.5 | N/A | 17,795 | 58.7 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Alison McInnes | 4,238 | 14.0 | N/A | 3,169 | 10.5 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Geordie Stuart | 4,211 | 13.9 | N/A | 4,225 | 14.0 | N/A |
| | Labour | Peter Smyth | 2,304 | 7.6 | N/A | 2,209 | 7.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,374 | 4.5 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 407 | 1.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 192 | 0.6 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 263 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 101 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 235 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 84 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | 62 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 12 | 0.0 | N/A |
| | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | 5 | 0.0 | N/A |
| | Independent | John Cox | John Cox | John Cox | John Cox | 124 | 0.4 | N/A |
| | Independent | David Henderson | David Henderson | David Henderson | David Henderson | 28 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Independent | Andrew McBride | Andrew McBride | Andrew McBride | Andrew McBride | 12 | 0.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 15,295 | 50.5 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 30,286 | | | 30,297 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 81 | | | 77 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,367 | 52.7 | N/A | 30,374 | 52.7 | 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 1 2 Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||