Banff and Buchan
Formercounty constituency for theHouse of Commons
Boundary of Banff and Buchan in Scotland
Major settlements	Peterhead,Fraserburgh,Turriff
1983–2024
Created from	Aberdeenshire East andBanffshire[1]
Replaced by	Aberdeenshire North and Moray East

Banff and Buchan was aconstituency of theHouse of Commons, located in the north-east ofScotland within theAberdeenshire council area. It elected oneMember of Parliament at least once every five years using thefirst-past-the-post system of voting.

The seat was most recently held byDavid Duguid of theScottish Conservatives from2017; until then theScottish National Party (SNP) had held the seat since1987, with the thenFirst Minister of ScotlandAlex Salmond representing the seat until2010 andEilidh Whiteford until 2017.

Further to the completion of the2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was subject to boundary changes which involved expansion into eastern parts ofMoray. As a consequence, it was renamedAberdeenshire North and Moray East, which was first contested at the2024 general election.^[2]

A mostly rural constituency, it took in the towns ofFraserburgh,Peterhead andTurriff, and the main industries are fishing and tourism.^[3]

The Aberdeenshire council area as a whole voted againstScottish independence in 2014.^[4]

61% of people in constituency are estimated to have voted in favour ofleaving theEuropean Union in the2016 Brexit referendum.^[5]

In 2010, Eilidh Whiteford succeeded Alex Salmond as the MP for Banff and Buchan, but the SNP vote share fell below 50% for the first time since1992, due to a strong challenge by the Conservative Party. In the2015 general election, the SNP achieved its best-ever result in the constituency, with Whiteford winning a 60.2% share of the vote and increasing her majority by more than 10,300 votes.

In2017, the constituency saw the second-largest swing to the Conservatives in all of Scotland (20.2%), bested only by the swing achieved byColin Clark in defeating Salmond in the neighbouring seat ofGordon (20.4%). Observers attributed this to anger at the SNP's opposition to Brexit and support for a second independence referendum. After the election,The Guardian reported, "In the coastal town of Peterhead, locals at the Waverley hotel were toasting Salmond's first defeat since being elected as an MP in 1987. Murdo MacKenzie, 51, a former fisherman, said there was a lot of anger about Sturgeon's stance on Europe. 'Europe is dictating our fishing quotas. I've voted SNP all my life but if you take the power away from Westminster and hand it toBrussels, how is that independence?'"^[6]

At the2019 general election, Banff and Buchan's Conservative vote share bucked the Scottish trend and increased by 2.1%, increasing David Duguid's majority to over 4,000 votes and taking over 50% of the vote share.

Map of boundaries 2005-2024

1983–1997: Banff and Buchan District.

1997–2005: The Banff and Buchan District electoral divisions of Banff and Portsoy, Deveron, Fraserburgh North, Fraserburgh South, Mid Buchan, Peterhead North, Peterhead South, and Ugie, Cruden and Boddam.

2005–2024: The Aberdeenshire Council wards of Durn, Banff West and Boyndie, Banff, Aberchirder, Macduff, Gamrie King Edward, Buchan North, Fraserburgh West, Fraserburgh North, Fraserburgh East, Fraserburgh South, Buchan North East, South Buchan, Central Buchan, Lonmay and St Fergus, Mintlaw Old Deer, Mintlaw Longside, Boddam Inverugie, Blackhouse, Buchanhaven, Peterhead CentralRoanheads, Clerkhill, Dales Towerhill, Cruden, Turriff West, Turriff East, Upper Ythan, and Fyvie Methlick.

As created in 1983, the constituency replaced part ofEast Aberdeenshire and part ofBanffshire.

New boundaries were used for the2005 general election, as recommended by the Fifth Periodical Report of theBoundary Commission for Scotland,^[7] and the constituency was one of five covering theAberdeenshire andAberdeen City council areas. The Banff and Buchan constituency was entirely within the Aberdeenshire area, covering a northern portion of it. To the south,Gordon included part of the Aberdeenshire area and part of the Aberdeen City area. Further south,West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine continues to be entirely within the Aberdeenshire area andAberdeen North andAberdeen South are entirely within the Aberdeen City area.

As of its abolition, the Banff and Buchan constituency continued to include the port towns ofPeterhead andFraserburgh, along withTurriff which was formerly within the Gordon constituency.

¹: After nominations were closed, Hoque was suspended from the Labour Party when he was charged with multiple driving offences.^[16]

The swing of 10.6% to the Conservatives in Banff and Buchan was the largest swing in Scotland at the 2010 general election.^[18]

Specific

General

• Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "A" (part 1)

• Banff and Buchan UK Parliament constituency (boundaries April 2005 – May 2024) atMapIt UK

57°28′19″N2°27′04″W / 57.472°N 2.451°W /57.472; -2.451

• Historic parliamentary constituencies in Scotland (Westminster)
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1983
• Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom disestablished in 2024
• Alex Salmond
• Banff and Buchan
• Buchan

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