Ochil (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Ochil was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, it was one of nine constituencies in the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Ochil
Former county constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Ochil shown within the Mid Scotland and Fife electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created	1999
Abolished	2011
Council area	Clackmannanshire Perth and Kinross (part)

The former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament George Reid represented the constituency from 2003 to 2007.

For the Scottish Parliament election, 2011, Ochil was abolished, with the majority of the seat forming the newly created Clackmannanshire and Dunblane seat.

Electoral region

The region covered all of the Clackmannanshire council area, all of the Fife council area, all of the Perth and Kinross council area, all of the Stirling council area and parts of the Angus council area.

Constituency boundaries and council areas

The constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing Westminster (House of Commons) constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[1] The Ochil Westminster constituency, was divided between the Ochil and South Perthshire Westminster constituency and the Stirling Westminster constituency.

From the Scottish Parliament election, 2011, Ochil was largely replaced by an expanded constituency of Clackmannanshire and Dunblane.

Constituency profile

Although a county constituency, Ochil was mostly industrial in character, with the main industries of the region being brewing, distilling, glass manufacture, bottling, tourism and agriculture. There are however affluent areas, including Bridge of Allan, which is home to wealthy commuters to the city of Stirling and further afield; Dollar, which has, in its Academy, one of Scotland's most renowned private schools; and rural Kinross. The majority of the constituency's inhabitants, however, are working-class.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Richard Simpson	Labour
	2003	George Reid	Scottish National Party
			Presiding Officer
	2007	Keith Brown	Scottish National Party
	2011	Constituency abolished: see Clackmannanshire and Dunblane

Election results

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Ochil

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Keith Brown	12,147	38.5	+0.2
	Labour	Brian Fearon	11,657	36.9	-0.5
	Conservative	George Murray	4,284	13.6	+3.9
	Liberal Democrats	Lorraine Caddell	3,465	11.0	+2.7
Majority			490	1.6	+0.7
Turnout			31,553	54.9	+0.2
	SNP hold		Swing	+0.4

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Ochil

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	George Reid	11,659	38.3	+0.1
	Labour	Richard Simpson	11,363	37.4	-4.4
	Conservative	Malcolm Parkin	2,946	9.7	-1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Catherine Whittingham	2,536	8.3	-0.5
	Scottish Socialist	Felicity Garvie	1,102	3.6	N/A
	Monster Raving Loony	Flash Gordon Approaching	432	1.4	N/A
	Independent	William Whyte	378	1.2	N/A
Majority			296	0.9	N/A
Turnout			30,416	54.7
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+4.5

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Ochil

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Richard Simpson	15,385	41.7	N/A
	SNP	George Reid	14,082	38.2	N/A
	Conservative	Nick Johnston	4,151	11.3	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	The Earl of Mar & Kellie	3,249	8.8	N/A
Majority			1,301	3.5	N/A
Turnout			36,867		N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Note: Although George Reid was elected as a Scottish National Party candidate in 2003, he became independent the same year, as the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament.

Footnotes

1. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived 21 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine