Talk:Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency)

Not a record. Nowhere near.
There are constituency names that have existed continuously since the earliest records of (the pre-UK English) Parliament, for example Bath, Cambridge, Carlisle. Orkney & Shetland should be a Scottish record though. Lewis Trondheim 11:46, 5 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I think you missed the poing that this was in boundaries not names and from that point of view it is the only unchanged constituency in the past 300 years. Yes the other constituencies have retained the same names but on vastly different boundaries. Galloglass 13:10, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

Except that Orkney & Shetland's boundaries date only from 1918 as well... ;) Although that might actually be a record for all I know...Lewis Trondheim 19:37, 17 March 2007 (UTC)

MPs Expenses claims
MPs have always been able to claim travel expenses between Parliament in London and their Constituency. At one time, pre-Beeching, the amount of money that could be claimed was determined by the cost of travel to the nearest railway station to their constituency home. Therefore an MP was required to inform the Commons expenses staff of the name of the nearest railway station to their home. Apparently, former Orkney & Shetland MP, Jo Grimond advised them that the name of the nearest railway station for him was 'Bergen'. They were not able to locate it on the map. (of the UK that is) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Graemp (talk • contribs) 15:02, 30 January 2010 (UTC)

Protected Status
The protected status of the constituency seems to be confused. There are three issues:
 * Firstly the status is no longer unique. I have corrected this and gone to a primary source (the Act listing the four protected constituencies) for this, but would be grateful for a secondary source to be added on this.
 * Secondly while the status was probably unique before 2012, is there anywhere that says this? I've added a citation request.
 * Finally it said that this was introduced by the 1999 Scotland Act, whereas it appears that this was simply carried over from the 1986 Parliamentary Constituencies Act (and that may have carried it over from another act). I've corrected this.

Any help here would be appreciated.

JASpencer (talk) 20:46, 26 December 2013 (UTC)


 * This seems to be in danger of becoming a revert war. Could User:Doktorbuk please say why Orkney and Shetland is still the only protected constituency.  Since the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 there are also Na h-Eileanan an Iar and the two constituencies in the Isle of Wight.  To my eyes the reverts make this article outdated and hence inaccurate. The |cited source] itself (Rule 6 not rule 3A which does not exist in the source) says


 * ''(1) There shall be two constituencies in the Isle of Wight.
 * (2) There shall continue to be-
 * (a) a constituency named Orkney and Shetland, comprising the areas of the Orkney Islands Council and the Shetland Islands Council;
 * (b) a constituency named Na h-Eileanan an Iar, comprising the area of Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.''

JASpencer (talk) 18:20, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

You appear to be under the impression that the act still stands. It doesn't. The process was abandoned, reversing to the state prior to 2010. doktorb wordsdeeds 18:23, 9 February 2014 (UTC)


 * It was most definitely not rolled back. The redistribution of Parliamentary constituency boundaries |was delayed until the election some time after 2015.  Labour would still have a chance to push this back if they win the next election, but the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 is currently the law of the land.  The boundary commission recommendations have been delayed, but that was the only affect of the 2013 parliamentary vote (AV has also gone - but that had been done earlier).  So Orkney and Shetland is no longer unique in being protected.  True the two Isle of Wight seats have not yet formed as the boundary commission recommendations have not been put in, so in a way can't be protected, but the Western Isles seat is here and so is protected.  JASpencer (talk) 20:12, 9 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Rather than a plain revert, then, could you phrase it so the legislation and its details are fully explained? The problematic text was time-locked. doktorb wordsdeeds 22:06, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Liberals and the coalition
In 1918 Wason was the official candidate of the Liberal Party, and he happened to be awarded the coupon. I have changed his description back and added the information about the coupon in line with what has been done elsewhere. Strictly speaking in 1918 there was no party called the Coalition Liberal Party and no clear division existed. By 1921, there was a clear division and Sir Malcolm Smith was most certainly put forward as a candidate in support of the Coalition government, so it is accurate to describe him as a Coalition Liberal. Graemp (talk) 18:39, 19 July 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 one external links on Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120118141216/http://www.alba.org.uk/scot99constit/h05.html to http://www.alba.org.uk/scot99constit/h05.html
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130729230722/http://www.snptacticalvoting.com/2009/10/untouchable-orkney-shetland-isles.html to http://www.snptacticalvoting.com/2009/10/untouchable-orkney-shetland-isles.html
 * Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20040908123618/http://politics.guardian.co.uk:80/hoc/constituency/history/0,9571,-1280,00.html to http://politics.guardian.co.uk/hoc/constituency/history/0,9571,-1280,00.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 16:43, 16 July 2016 (UTC)

History and 1987
Would it be worth noting in the History section that the SNP did not contest the seat in 1987 in favour of the Orkney and Shetland Movement. This would seem to be the last occasion the SNP did not contest a Scottish seat at a general election. Dunarc (talk) 20:47, 19 December 2021 (UTC)