# Aberdeen Donside (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Aberdeen Donside (Gaelic: Obar Dheathain Oir Dheathain) is a 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 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 has been held by Jackie Dunbar of the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

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

## Constituency boundaries and council area

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 council area is now divided between three constituencies: Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Donside and Aberdeen South and North Kincardine. Central and Donside are entirely within the Aberdeen City council area, while South and North Kincardine also takes in North Kincardine in the Aberdeenshire council area.
Aberdeen Donside covers the northern part of the city council area, and comprises the following electoral wards:
* In full:
** Dyce/Bucksburn/Danestone
** Bridge of Don
** Kingswells/Sheddocksley/Summerhill
** Northfield/Mastrick North
* In part:
** Hilton/Woodside/Stockethill (shared with Aberdeen Central)

## Member of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 2011 | Brian Adam | Scottish National Party |
| 2013 by-election | Mark McDonald | Scottish National Party |
| 2017 | Mark McDonald | Independent |
| 2021 | Jackie Dunbar | Scottish National Party |
* ↑ Incumbent for Aberdeen North constituency since 2003.

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Donside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Jackie Dunbar | 18,514 | 51.6 | 4.4 | 16,233 | 45.2 | 6.6 |
| | Conservative | Harriet Cross | 9,488 | 26.4 | 8.0 | 8,849 | 24.6 | 5.8 |
| | Labour | Heather Herbert | 5,505 | 15.3 | 3.0 | 5,283 | 14.7 | 2.1 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,764 | 4.9 | 1.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Isobel Davidson | 2,162 | 6.0 | 1.5 | 1,728 | 4.8 | 0.5 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 743 | 2.1 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | Scottish Family | 269 | 0.8 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 255 | 0.7 | New |
| | TUSC | Lucas Grant | 240 | 0.7 | New | | | |
| | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | Independent Green Voice | 177 | 0.5 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 134 | 0.4 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 126 | 0.4 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 109 | 0.3 | New |
| | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | Restore Scotland | 85 | 0.2 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 71 | 0.2 | 2.0 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 64 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| | Independent | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | Laura Marshall | 39 | 0.1 | New |
| | Independent | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | Geoffrey Farquharson | 15 | 0.0 | New |
| | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | 7 | 0.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 9,026 | 25.2 | 12.4 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 35,909 | | | 35,951 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 118 | | | 80 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,027 | 58.0 | 7.2 | 36,031 | 58.0 | 7.2 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 6.2 | | | |

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Donside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Mark McDonald | 17,339 | 56.0 | 0.7 | 16,080 | 51.8 | 2.4 |
| | Conservative | Liam Kerr | 5,709 | 18.4 | 10.3 | 5,825 | 18.8 | 11.0 |
| | Labour | Greg Williams | 5,672 | 18.3 | 10.1 | 5,208 | 16.8 | 6.5 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Isobel Davidson | 2,261 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 1,653 | 5.3 | 0.1 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,046 | 3.4 | 0.8 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 675 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 226 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | National Front | 106 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 72 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 57 | 0.2 | New |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 55 | 0.2 | New |
| | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | 37 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,630 | 37.6 | 12.8 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 30,981 | | | 31,040 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 117 | | | 52 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,098 | 50.8 | 3.0 | 31,092 | 50.8 | |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | 5.5 | | | |
| Notes ↑ Changes shown are relative to 2011 election ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency |||||||||
Aberdeen Donside By-Election, 20 June 2013 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Mark McDonald | 9,814 | 42.0 | 13.4 |
| | Labour | Willie Young | 7,789 | 33.3 | 4.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Christine Jardine | 1,940 | 8.3 | 2.3 |
| | Conservative | Ross Thomson | 1,791 | 7.7 | 0.4 |
| | UKIP | Otto Inglis | 1,128 | 4.8 | New |
| | Scottish Green | Rhonda Reekie | 410 | 1.8 | New |
| | National Front | Dave MacDonald | 249 | 1.1 | 0.3 |
| | Scottish Christian | Tom Morrow | 222 | 0.9 | New |
| | SDA | James Trolland | 35 | 0.1 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,025 | 8.7 | 18.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 23,396 | 38.8 | −8.5 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | 5.5 | |
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Aberdeen Donside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Brian Adam | 14,790 | 55.3 | 10.5 | 14,526 | 54.2 | N/A |
| | Labour | Barney Crockett | 7,615 | 28.5 | 3.2 | 6,237 | 23.3 | N/A |
| | Conservative | Ross Thomson | 2,166 | 8.1 | 0.6 | 2,076 | 7.7 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Millie McLeod | 1,606 | 6.0 | 10.0 | 1,390 | 5.2 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 683 | 2.5 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 544 | 2.0 | N/A |
| | Independent | David Henderson | 371 | 1.4 | New | TBC | | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 231 | 0.9 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 220 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 217 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 210 | 0.8 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 177 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | National Front | Christopher Willett | 213 | 0.8 | New | 135 | 0.5 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 17 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | Angus Independents | 6 | 0.0 | N/A |
| | Others | Others | Others | Others | Others | 123 | 0.5 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 7,175 | 26.8 | 13.7 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 26,761 | | | 26,792 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 84 | | | 96 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,845 | 47.8 | N/A | 26,888 | 47.9 | 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 ↑ Changes shown are relative to the notional result for 2007 ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency ↑ Included as part of "Others" |||||||||

### 2000s

The following is the notional result for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, as calculated by the BBC.
Scottish Parliament election, 2007 Notional Result: Aberdeen Donside :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | SNP | | 12,165 | 44.8 |
| | Labour | | 8,614 | 31.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | | 4,340 | 16.0 |
| | Conservative | | 2,027 | 7.5 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,551 | 13.1 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | |

## Politics and history of the constituency

The area contains Aberdeen Airport (run by BAA),
Prior to the 2011 election, the Liberal Democrat candidate (Cllr Gordon Leslie), stood down amid allegations related to prostitution.