Current MSP: Alex Salmond (SNP) [MSP website]
Party Candidate Votes +/– % +/–
SNP Alex Salmond * 19533 +5161 64.5 +21.3
Liberal Democrat Alison McInnes ^ 4238 -5599 14.0 -17.8
Conservative Geordie Burnett Stuart 4211 -865 13.9 -2.4
Labour Peter Thomas Smyth 2304 -287 7.6 -0.1
Majority 15295 Turnout 30286 Swing +19.5% SNP hold
Formerly known as Gordon, and formerly a Lib Dem stronghold, Alex Salmond took the calculated risk in 2007 of standing here in order to become a constituency MSP as part of his return to Holyrood. The risk paid off, and he beat the Liberal Democrats’ Nora Radcliffe by 2,062 votes. There was no danger of a shock loss in 2011, though Alison McInnes held 2nd place for the Lib Dems with a vastly reduced voteshare, and she was elected a North East MSP through the regional list. The 19.5% swing to the SNP was the largest in the country in true Salmond style.

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
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