Current MSP: Liam McArthur (Liberal Democrats) [MSP website]
Party Candidate Votes +/– % +/–
Liberal Democrat Liam McArthur * 2912 -1201 35.7 -11.8
Independent James Stockan 2052 +2052 25.2 +25.2
SNP Donna Heddle 2044 +407 25.1 +6.2
Conservative Jamie Halcro Johnston 686 -946 8.4 -10.4
Labour William Sharkey 458 -676 5.6 -7.5
Majority 860 Turnout 8152 Swing +0.0% LD hold

One of only two Liberal Democrats to hold their constituency seats, Liam McArthur returned as the Orkney Islands’ MSP, having first been elected in 2007 after the retirement of Jim Wallace. A strong independent challenge, of which there is a strong tradition at local authority level, pushed the SNP into third place.

Notes: Given boundary changes since 2007, variations in votes and share between seats with different boundaries would be misleading. We use the Denver figures, essentially a calculation of the 2007 votes cast within 2011 boundaries. More information on this here.

Symbols used:

* – Incumbent
^ – Challenger holding a list seat in previous Parliament
# – Lost deposit
National Central Scotland Glasgow Highlands & Islands Lothian Mid-Scotland & Fife North East Scotland South Scotland West Scotland
Argyll & Bute Caithness, Sutherland & Ross Inverness & Nairn Moray Na h’Eileanan an Iar Orkney Islands Shetland Islands Skye, Lochaber & Badenoch