General Election 2024: Your new Highland constituencies and who is running to become your MP
There has been a swarm of rumours that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will finally name the date for the General Election today following a cabinet meeting at No. 10 Downing Street.
If he does then clearly two of the most important things for voters is to know their constituency and who is standing for the election but that has been complicated since a boundary shake-up.
Apart from Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross which has been extended, two new constituencies have been formed and named after the Boundary Commission for Scotland proposals were accepted.
They leave the north with the largest UK parliamentary constituencies in the country and the number of MPs has been reduced by one.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is the biggest territory; followed by Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire; Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber; Angus and Perthshire Glens is the next biggest followed by Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey.
In total that means four MPs will have to represent a population of 300,020 living across 35,537 km sq of the most rural terrain in Europe – by comparison 11 MPs will represent 453 km sq for Edinburgh and Glasgow.
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross – population: 75,173; area – 11,798 km sq
Candidates:
Eva Kestner – Labour
MP Jamie Stone – Liberal Democrat
Sandra Skinner –
Anne Thomas – Greens
Lucy Beattie – SNP
Steve Chisholm – Alba
Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire – population: 76,903; area – 9,688 km sq
Ruraidh Stewart – Conservative
Angus MacDonald – Liberal Democrat
Peter Newman – Greens
MP Drew Hendry – SNP
Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey – population: 76,237; area – 4,748 km sq
Neil Alexander – Liberal Democrats
James Hynam – Labour
Graham Leadbitter – SNP
Euan Morrice – Scottish Family
Kathleen Robertson – Conservative
Draeyk Van Der Horn – Greens
Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber – population: 71,707; area – 9,303 km sq
Candidates:
Amanda Hampsey – Conservative
Hamish Maxwell – Labour
MP Brendan O'Hara – SNP
Alan Reid – Liberal Democrats
