Banff and Buchan (UK Parliament constituency)

For the Scottish Parliament constituency, see Banff and Buchan (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Banff and Buchan is a constituency of the British House of Commons, located in the north-east of Scotland within the Aberdeenshire council area. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) at least once every five years using the first-past-the-post system of voting.

The seat has been held by the Scottish National Party since 1987, with former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond representing the seat until 2010. In 2010, Eilidh Whiteford succeeded Salmond as the constituency's MP; however, the SNP vote share fell below 50% for the first time since 1992, due to a strong challenge by the Conservative Party.

In the 2015 election the SNP achieved its best ever result in the constituency, with Whiteford winning over 60% of the vote and increasing her majority to 31.5%.

A mostly rural constituency, it takes in the towns of Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Turriff, and the main industries are fishing and tourism.

Boundaries

As created in 1983, the constituency replaced part of East Aberdeenshire and part of Banffshire.

New boundaries were used for the 2005 general election, as recommended by the Fifth Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland, and the constituency is now one of five covering the Aberdeenshire and Aberdeen City council areas. The Banff and Buchan constituency is entirely within the Aberdeenshire area, covering a northern portion of it. To the south, Gordon includes part of the Aberdeenshire area and part of the Aberdeen City area. Further south, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine is entirlely within the Aberdeenshire area and Aberdeen North and Aberdeen South are entirely within the Aberdeen City area.

The Banff and Buchan constituency continues to include the port towns of Peterhead and Fraserburgh. It also now includes Turriff, which was formerly within the Gordon constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1983	Albert McQuarrie	Conservative
	1987	Alex Salmond	SNP
	2010	Eilidh Whiteford	SNP

Alex Salmond was the MP for Banff and Buchan from 1987 to 2010. He also represented the coterminous Scottish Parliament constituency between 1999 and 2001. He was later re-elected to Holyrood for the neighbouring seat of Gordon, and then for the re-drawn Aberdeenshire East seat, which he still represents. Salmond stood down at the 2010 general election so that he could focus on his jobs as an MSP and First Minister of Scotland, and was succeeded by Eilidh Whiteford.

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

General Election 2015: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Eilidh Whiteford	27,487	60.2	+18.9
	Conservative	Alex Johnstone	13,148	28.8	−2.0
	Labour	Sumon Hoque1	2,647	5.8	−8.2
	Liberal Democrat	David Evans	2,347	5.1	−6.2
Majority			14,339	31.4	+18.9
Turnout			45,629	66.5	+6.7
	SNP hold		Swing	+10.5

¹: After nominations were closed, Hoque was suspended from the Labour Party when he was charged with multiple driving offences.

General Election 2010: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Eilidh Whiteford	15,868	41.3	−9.9
	Conservative	Jimmy Buchan	11,841	30.8	+11.4
	Labour	Glen Reynolds	5,382	14.0	+2.0
	Liberal Democrat	Galen Milne	4,365	11.3	−2.0
	BNP	Richard Payne	1,010	2.6	N/A
Majority			4,027	12.5
Turnout			38,466	59.8	+3.2
	SNP hold		Swing	−10.6

The swing of 10.6% to the Conservatives in Banff and Buchan was the largest swing in Scotland at the 2010 General Election.

Elections in the 2000s

General Election 2005: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alex Salmond	19,044	51.2	−3.1
	Conservative	Sandy Wallace	7,207	19.4	−0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Eleanor Anderson	4,952	13.3	+4.3
	Labour	Rami Okasha	4,476	12.0	−2.1
	Christian Vote	Victor Ross	683	1.8	N/A
	UKIP	Kathleen Kemp	442	1.2	+0.2
	Scottish Socialist	Steve Will	412	1.1	−0.3
Majority			11,837	31.8	−2.3
Turnout			37,216	56.6	+2.2
	SNP hold		Swing	−1.1

General Election 2001: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alex Salmond	16,710	54.2	−1.5
	Conservative	Sandy Wallace	6,207	20.1	−3.7
	Labour	Ted Murray Harris	4,363	14.2	+2.3
	Liberal Democrat	Douglas Herbison	2,769	9.0	+3.0
	Scottish Socialist	Alice Janette Gilbertson Rowan	447	1.5	N/A
	UKIP	Eric Davidson	310	1.0	N/A
Majority			10,503	34.1	+2.1
Turnout			30,806	54.4	−14.3
	SNP hold		Swing	+1.1

Elections in the 1990s

General Election 1997: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alex Salmond	22,409	55.8	+8.2
	Conservative	William Frain-Bell	9,564	23.8	−14.8
	Labour	Megan Harris	4,747	11.8	+3.6
	Liberal Democrat	Neil Fletcher	2,398	6.0	+0.4
	Referendum	Alan Buchan	1,060	2.6	N/A
Majority			12,845	32.0	+23.1
Turnout			40,178	68.7	−2.5
	SNP hold		Swing	+11.5

General Election 1992: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alex Salmond	21,954	47.5	+3.3
	Conservative	Sandy P. Manson	17,846	38.6	−0.1
	Labour	Brian R. Balcombe	3,803	8.2	+0.8
	Liberal Democrat	Rhona C. Kemp	2,588	5.6	−4.0
Majority			4,108	8.9	+3.3
Turnout			46,191	71.2	+0.4
	SNP hold		Swing	+1.7

Elections in the 1980s

General Election 1987: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Alex Salmond	19,462	44.3	+6.8
	Conservative	Albert McQuarrie	17,021	38.7	−1.0
	Social Democratic	George Milne Burness	4,211	9.6	−5.5
	Labour	James McFarlane Livie	3,281	7.5	−0.3
Majority			2,441	5.6
Turnout			43,975	70.8	+3.8
	SNP gain from Conservative		Swing	+3.9

General Election 1983: Banff and Buchan

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Albert McQuarrie	16,072	39.7	N/A
	SNP	Douglas Henderson	15,135	37.4	N/A
	Social Democratic	E. Needham	6,084	15.0	N/A
	Labour	I. F. R. Lloyd	3,150	7.8	N/A
Majority			937	2.3	N/A
Turnout			40,441	67.0	N/A
	Conservative win (new seat)

References

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "B" (part 1)