# Aberdeen Central (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Aberdeen Central (Gaelic: Obar Dheathain Meadhain) is a burgh constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the Aberdeen City council area. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. It is one of the ten constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The seat has been held by Kevin Stewart of the Scottish National Party since the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The other nine constituencies of the North East Scotland region are: Aberdeen Donside, Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Aberdeenshire East, 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, the Aberdeenshire council area, the Angus council area, the Dundee City council area and part of the Moray council area.

## Constituency boundaries and council area

The Aberdeen Central 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 Westminster constituency was abolished.
Following their First Periodic review of parliamentary constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland created three newly shaped seats for the Aberdeen City council area. The current constituency is within the Aberdeen City council area, which is divided between three constituencies: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside and Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. Central and Donside are entirely within the city area, while South and North Kincardine also takes in North Kincardine in the Aberdeenshire council area.
In forming the new Aberdeen Central, the electoral wards used are:
* In full:
** Tillydrone/Seaton/Old Aberdeen
** Midstocket/Rosemount
** George Street/Harbour
* In part:
** Hilton/Woodside/Stockethill (shared with Aberdeen Donside)
** Hazlehead/Ashley/Queens Cross
** Airyhall/Broomhill/Garthdee
** Torry/Ferryhill (shared with Aberdeen South and North Kincardine)

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Election | Member | Party |
| | 1999 2003 2007 | Lewis Macdonald | Labour |
| | 2011 2016 2021 | Kevin Stewart | SNP |

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Kevin Stewart | 14,217 | 44.9 | 1.3 | 12,333 | 38.96 | 0.7 |
| | Conservative | Douglas Lumsden | 7,623 | 24.1 | 1.5 | 7,660 | 24.20 | 0.1 |
| | Labour | Barry Black | 6,294 | 19.9 | 7.4 | 5,214 | 16.47 | 3.6 |
| | Scottish Green | Guy Ingerson | 2,087 | 6.6 | New | 3,121 | 9.86 | 1.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Desmond Bouse | 1,417 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 1,549 | 4.89 | 0.3 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 597 | 1.89 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 231 | 0.73 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 221 | 0.70 | New |
| | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | 178 | 0.56 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 133 | 0.42 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 100 | 0.32 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 100 | 0.32 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 81 | 0.26 | 0.0 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 54 | 0.17 | 1.6 |
| | Independent | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | 34 | 0.11 | New |
| | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | 33 | 0.10 | New |
| | Independent | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | 11 | 0.03 | New |
| | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | 6 | 0.02 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 6,594 | 20.8 | 4.5 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 31,638 | | | 31,656 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 139 | | | 76 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,777 | 55.9 | 9.0 | 37,732 | 55.8 | 8.8 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 0.1 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Kevin Stewart | 11,648 | 43.6 | 3.6 | 10,269 | 38.3 | 2.7 |
| | Labour | Lewis Macdonald | 7,299 | 27.3 | 10.2 | 5,381 | 20.0 | 7.3 |
| | Conservative | Tom Mason | 6,022 | 22.6 | 10.2 | 6,466 | 24.0 | 11.8 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,282 | 8.5 | 1.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Kevin McLeod | 1,735 | 6.5 | 2.8 | 1,401 | 5.2 | 2.0 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 478 | 1.7 | 1.0 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 208 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 88 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 75 | 0.3 | New |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 65 | 0.2 | New |
| | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | 60 | 0.2 | New |
| | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | 60 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,349 | 16.3 | 13.8 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 26,704 | | | 26,833 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 137 | | | 58 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,841 | 46.9 | 2.9 | 26,891 | 47.0 | 3.0 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 6.9 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list |||||||||
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Kevin Stewart | 10,058 | 40.0 | N/A | 10,307 | 41.0 | N/A |
| | Labour | Lewis MacDonald | 9,441 | 37.5 | N/A | 6,890 | 27.4 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Sandy Wallace | 3,100 | 12.3 | N/A | 3,102 | 12.3 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sheila Thomson | 2,349 | 9.3 | N/A | 1,813 | 7.2 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,754 | 7.0 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 301 | 1.2 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 210 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 186 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 159 | 0.6 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 139 | 0.6 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 133 | 0.5 | N/A |
| | National Front | Mike Phillips | 201 | 0.8 | N/A | 63 | 0.3 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 29 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | 2 | 0.0 | N/A |
| | Others | Others | Others | Others | Others | 69 | 0.3 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 617 | 2.5 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 25,149 | | | 25,157 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 136 | | | 86 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 25,285 | 44.1 | N/A | 25,243 | 44.0 | N/A |
| | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||

### 2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Lewis Macdonald | 7,232 | 34.2 | +1.6 |
| | SNP | Karen Shirron | 6,850 | 32.4 | +5.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | John Stewart | 4,693 | 22.2 | −0.4 |
| | Conservative | Andrew Jones | 2,345 | 11.1 | −1.4 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 382 | 1.8 | −4.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 21,120 | 45.3 | +2.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Lewis Macdonald | 6,835 | 32.6 | −6.3 |
| | SNP | Richard Lochhead | 5,593 | 26.7 | −2.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eleanor Anderson | 4,744 | 22.6 | +6.0 |
| | Conservative | Alan Butler | 2,616 | 12.5 | −1.3 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Andy Cumbers | 1,176 | 5.6 | +3.6 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,242 | 5.9 | −4.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,964 | 42.4 | |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### 1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Central :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Lewis Macdonald | 10,305 | 38.9 | N/A |
| | SNP | Richard Lochhead | 7,609 | 28.7 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Eleanor Anderson | 4,403 | 16.6 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Tom Mason | 3,655 | 13.8 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Andy Cumbers | 523 | 2.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,696 | 10.2 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,495 | | N/A |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |