Statutory Review of Polling Places and Boundaries
Review of Scottish Parliamentary Boundaries
Boundaries Scotland is responsible for reviewing and making recommendations for:
- constituencies and regions for the Scottish Parliament;
- the number of councillors on each council in a local government area;
- the number of wards for local government elections and their boundaries; and
- the extent of council areas.
The Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries commenced in September 2022. The Review is required by the Scotland Act 1998 and the report containing the recommendations by Boundaries Scotland must be submitted to Scottish Ministers by 1 May 2025. If subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament, the new boundaries will be effective at the next Scottish Parliament election, expected in May 2026.
The rules state Boundaries Scotland must review and make recommendations for the boundaries of 73 constituencies and eight regions, with each region represented by seven MSP’s. The overall number of MSPs will remain at 129.
Boundaries Scotland marked the start of a further public consultation which runs for one month from 24 January to 24 February 2025.
Summary Highland Council area - Constituencies
For Highland Council Constituencies, as they are unchanged from the Further Proposals stage, Boundaries Scotland has agreed to adopt the Further Proposals as its Final Recommendations, subject to satisfactory constituencies being designed in neighbouring areas.
Constituencies – Maps
All Scotland | Caithness Sutherland and Ross | Inverness and Nairn | Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch |
Summary Highland Council area – Region Highlands and Islands
There is no change in the name of the region and when compared to the existing boundaries there is a minor alignment of the ward boundary within the Moray Constituency.
Regions – Map
From the Provisional Proposals the Highlands and Islands Region remains unchanged.
Further information regarding the review is available on the Boundaries Scotland website
This review is of electoral boundaries (constituencies and regions) only and therefore does not affect any other boundaries (UK constituencies, local authorities, community councils, health boards etc). For individuals, this review does not affect the council area in which they live nor the way local services are accessed.