Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael has retained his Westminster seat for Orkney and Shetland as the SNP and Scottish Greens failed to crack the isles stronghold during the 2024 General Election.
With the results of the vote in the constituency announced at 6.30am this morning, the overall outcome will come as a surprise to few.
The constituency has historically voted Lib Dem and Mr Carmichael has held the seat for the party since 2001.
This time the campaign trail has been dominated by the linked issues of fuel poverty, energy prices, the cost of living and, of course, transport.
But after all was said and done, toppling the Lib Dem from his seat proved too tall an order for the SNP’s Robert Leslie and The Scottish Greens’ Alex Armitage.
The total turnout for the constituency was 60.74%, while the total number of ballots cast was 20,794.
Mr Carmichael won with a convincing lead of the vote, winning a total of 11,392 votes, with the next candidate down being the SNP’s Robert Leslie with 3,585 votes.
Speaking following his win, Mr Carmichael congratulated Labour Leader Keir Starmer and his party on the national result.
He also said it that “when the dust settles” on the general election result, it would be seen “as an opportunity to reset out political discourse in Britain and to move on from the politics of identity and again to make politics about ideas”.
Orkney and Shetland: SNP and Greens compete for second place in general election
A point of interest in this election has been the addition of a candidate from the Scottish Greens this time.
Many have wondered how this may affect the outcome for the other parties – if particularly the SNP.
The Scottish Nationalists have previously been the Lib Dems’ closest competitor for the constituency.
Back in 2015, they came within less than 4% of the vote from Mr Carmichael.
This morning’s results saw the gap widen, however, with a difference of just over 7,800 votes between the SNP and the Lib Dems.
The Green Party’s Alex Armitage came in third, with 2,046 votes.
Another point of interest was how the UK Reform candidate, Robert Smith, may perform.
Standing for UKIP and the Brexit Party in the past, he has typically come in near the bottom of the standings with only around 5 or 6% of the vote at most.
Some had wondered if his criticism of the UK political system and refusal to engage in hustings events would appeal to a section of voters.
This morning’s result revealed that Mr Smith had earned enough votes, with 1,586 votes to come out ahead of both Labour and Conservatives, which had 1,493 and 586 respectively.
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