Lib Dems gain Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch

Andrew Baxter has been elected as the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch in the Holyrood election.

He enters parliament for the first time after serving as a Highland councillor.

Full results for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch:

Andrew Baxter – Scottish Liberal Democrats – 15,223
Eilidh Munro – SNP – 14,273
Jon Whitton – Reform UK – 4,669
Helen Crawford – Scottish Conservatives – 2,731
Isla McCay – Scottish Labour – 1,751
Laùra Hänsler – Alliance to Liberate Scotland – 506

Turnout in the constituency fell by more than 10%, with 39,357 votes cast.

Andrew Baxter

The seat was previously held by Kate Forbes, who served as Deputy First Minister in the Scottish Government. She decided not to seek re-election and discussed the decision in an extended interview last month.

It is the first time the seat has not been held by the SNP since it was created in 2011.

In his victory speech, Mr Baxter thanked his colleagues and family for their support. He also paid tribute to his fellow candidates.

He said the hustings events attended during the campaign, including the Radio Skye debate in Portree, were among the “politest and most thoughtful” he had experienced.

Mr Baxter said he would “work tirelessly” to represent the constituency in Holyrood.

SNP candidate, Eilidh Munro said:

“I’m disappointed by the result today but very grateful to everyone who cast a vote for me in what was a very close contest. The SNP fought a positive, hopeful campaign in Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch and I’ll always be proud of that. We’ll hold the Lib Dems to the promises they have made to locals and challenge again.”

Elsewhere, the Highlands and Islands was the last region to declare, with seven MSPs elected.

Full regional results:

• Reform (Vic Currie and Max Bannerman)
• Scottish Greens (Arianne Burgess and Kristopher Leask)
• SNP (Maree Todd)
• Scottish Conservatives (Tim Eagle)
• Scottish Lib Dems (Morven-May MacCallum)

The two other Highland constituencies finished as follows:

Caithness, Ross and Sutherland

David Green – Scottish Liberal Democrats

Inverness and Nairn

Emma Roddick – SNP

Overall results:

• SNP – 58
• Reform – 17
• Scottish Labour – 17
• Scottish Greens – 15
• Scottish Conservatives – 12
• Scottish Liberal Democrats – 10

What do the candidates for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch stand for?

The Scottish Parliament election is on Thursday 7 May 2026. There are six candidates standing for the seat of Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch. You can listen to an extended conversation with each one of them below.

Hustings
There’s also an opportunity to put your questions directly to the candidates at the Radio Skye Hustings on Thursday 23 April at the Skye Gathering Hall. The event starts at 7pm and will be broadcast live on Radio Skye. It is free to attend. No booking is required.

Constituency
The constituency has been held by the SNP’s Kate Forbes since 2016. She has taken the decision to step down as an MSP, and as the Deputy First Minister in the Scottish Government. You can hear more about why she decided to do so here.

How does voting work?
Scotland has a form of proportional representation called the Additional Member System (AMS). Voters record two votes in the polling booth, or by post. One for a constituency MSP. One for a regional MSP. There are 129 MSPs altogether. 73 constituency MSPs and 56 additional regional MSPs (7 per region).
Some parties decide to run in both the constituency and the regional list. Others choose one or the other. For the Radio Skye Hustings, we have invited those running as contituency candidates only.

Andrew Baxter – Scottish Liberal Democrats

Helen Crawford – Scottish Conservatives

Laùra Hänsler – Alliance to Liberate Scotland

Islay McCay – Scottish Labour

Eilidh Munro – SNP

Jon Whitton – Reform UK

Pupils from Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Phort Rìgh are taking on a 500-mile walking challenge to raise funds for a defibrillator outside the school.

Five pupils from Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Phort Rìgh spoke to Radio Skye about the venture, which take places this Wednesday (25th May).

The defibrillator will be acquired through Skye-based charity Lucky2BHere.

Speaking to Radio Skye, pupils from P3/P4 Sgoil Araich chatted about the fundraiser.

Sandy MacDonald said: “We are trying to get a defibrillator, because there are 3,000 cases of cardiac arrest every year, and easily one of those people could be one of the people in our school.

“The defibrillator will be placed out of our school, where our school can use it and anyone else that needs it.”

Fellow pupil, Edith MacDonald said: “The walk will be up at shinty clubhouse, and we are going to walk 500 miles. We are going to walk around the clubhouse and the school.”

Ruby Latton, who is also in P3/P4 added: “We are having a coffee morning in the school, on the 16th June at 11 am.”
Bun-sgoil Ghàidhlig Phort Rìgh is aiming to raise £2,000.

For more information and to donate click below on the social media post.

Deadline for Kilt Rock car park project extended

Work to redevelop the car park at the Kilt Rock visitor attraction on Skye is to be extended due to emergency road repairs.

The facilities at the beauty spot were scheduled to reopen at the end of May, but in an update today the Highland Council said the works would be extended due to local emergency road repairs and resources the works will now be extended.

Skye and Raasay Councillor John Finlayson said the works at Kilt Rock were progressing well, but added that the weather would be a factor and a specific end date was difficult to give.

“The very welcome development works at Kilt Rock are progressing well and are now at the phase that puts works very much at the mercy of the weather,” he said

“This being the case, it is difficult to give a specific date for opening but we remain hopeful that subject to weather the tarring and line painting works can be completed as soon as possible, and the new facilities will be open very soon and certainly in time for peak demand.”

Skye artist part of Highland Memory Space pandemic project

A Skye sound artist and musician is leading a special project to commemorate the pandemic called Highland Memory Space.

Hector MacInnes from Skye is working in collaboration with Cat Meighan from Inverness and Sinéad Hargan Caithness on the Scottish Government initiative which will involve open workshops, drop-ins and sessions targeting specific communities,

Speaking to Radio Skye today, Hector MacInnes explained the project.

“It is part of a bigger project – over the last year – called Remembering Together which has been rolling out across Scotland.

“It is basically giving communities the chance to come together and talk about how they might want to create some way of remembering or commemorating the pandemic.

“At the heart of that are the people that want to remember the loved ones that they have lost. We recognised that is at the centre of the project.

He went on to say: “There are also host of other extremely diverse experiences and memories – there are funerals, weddings, and births that have been missed.

“The loss of livelihoods, the way of life, and then also all the different ways some people might have found a new role for themselves or a new relationship with their communities. And of course, the ways people are experiencing the pandemic are ongoing right now.

“These are things that might be appropriate to mark somehow or pause and reflect on together.”

For more information, you can visit the website here.

Some of the events upcoming as part of the project

Change afoot for Skye and Lochalsh constituency?

The Scottish Parliament constituency covering Skye and Lochalsh could be set to change if a new proposal goes ahead.

A month-long consultation by Boundaries Scotland is seeking views on proposals.

At present the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency currently covers an area of more than 12,000 square kilometres, with an electorate of 63,500.

Under the proposal the electorate would increase by 6.1 per cent, while the new boundary would also include part of the Inverness south ward.

The consultation runs until 17th June and you can take part by visiting the website.

News by Adam Gordon.

You can listen to the latest local news for Skye and Lochalsh at the times below by clicking on the banner.