Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Scottish Parliament constituency) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire
county constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire shown within the South Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	68,019 (2019)
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	Conservative
MSP	Rachael Hamilton
Council area	Scottish Borders
Created from	Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale

Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire (Gaelic: Eadraig, Rosbrog agus Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Scottish Borders. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

The constituency was established for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and covers parts of the former constituencies of Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale and Roxburgh and Berwickshire. The remaining parts of the Scottish Borders form part of the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency.

Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire is currently held by the Conservatives. The current MSP is Rachael Hamilton, who won the seat at a 2017 by-election following the resignation of previous member John Lamont in order to contest the 2017 UK general election.

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire, East Lothian, Galloway and West Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council areas

The rest of the Scottish Borders is represented in the Scottish Parliament by the Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale constituency.

The electoral wards in the Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire constituency are listed below. All of these wards are part of Scottish Borders.

• Selkirkshire
• Mid Berwickshire
• East Berwickshire
• Kelso and District
• Jedburgh and District
• Hawick and Denholm
• Hawick and Hermitage

Members of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

2021 parliamentary election

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rachael Hamilton	18,564	51.5	3.7	17,075	47.4	0.7
	SNP	Paul Wheelhouse	11,701	32.5	0.7	10,857	30.1	0.3
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Marr	2,352	6.5	1.2	2,426	6.7	1.9
	Labour	Ian Davidson	2,050	5.7	0.4	2,438	6.8	0.0
	Green	Barbra Harvie	1,084	3.0	New	1,665	4.6	0.1
	All for Unity					492	1.4	New
	Alba Party					317	0.9	New
	Independent	Jesse Rae	290	0.8	New
	Scottish Family Party					184	0.51	New
	Independent Green Voice					148	0.41	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party					134	0.37	New
	Reform UK					116	0.32	New
	Scottish Libertarian Party					60	0.17	New
	UKIP					60	0.17	2.1
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					51	0.17	New
	Vanguard					11	0.03	New
	Scotia Future					10	0.03	New
Majority			6,863	19.0	4.4
Valid Votes			36,041			36,044
Invalid Votes			81			69
Turnout			36,122	64.0	3.1	36,113	64.0	3.1
	Conservative hold		Swing		2.2
Notes

2017 by-election

In April 2017, John Lamont announced his intention to resign his seat in the Scottish Parliament in order to contest the 2017 UK general election.

2017 Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire by-election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rachael Hamilton	20,658	53.5	1.7
	SNP	Gail Hendry	11,320	29.3	2.5
	Labour	Sally Prentice	3,406	8.8	3.5
	Liberal Democrats	Catriona Bhatia	3,196	8.3	0.6
Majority			9,338	24.2	0.8
Total valid votes			38,580
Rejected ballots			73
Turnout			38,653	70.9	10.0
	Scottish Conservative Party hold		Swing	0.4

2016 parliamentary election

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Lamont	18,257	55.2	10.3	15,452	46.7	15.2
	SNP	Paul Wheelhouse	10,521	31.8	5.4	10,068	30.4	4.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jim Hume	2,551	7.7	9.6	2,851	8.6	6.2
	Labour	Barrie Cunning	1,766	5.3	5.1	2,251	6.8	3.2
	Green					1,481	4.5	1.1
	UKIP					771	2.3	0.6
	Clydesdale and South Scotland Independent					112	0.3	New
	RISE					68	0.2	New
	Solidarity (Scotland)					67	0.2	0.1
Majority			7,736	23.4	4.9
Valid Votes			33,095			33,121
Invalid Votes			88			68
Turnout			33,183	60.9	7.7	33,189	60.9	7.7
	Conservative hold		Swing
Notes

2011 parliamentary election