The Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in
1999, with the name and boundaries of a pre-existing
Westminster (
House of Commons) constituency. In
2005, however, Scottish Westminster constituencies were generally replaced with new larger constituencies. For representation at Westminster, the area of the Holyrood constituency is now divided between two constituencies: the
Ross, Skye and Lochaber Westminster constituency and the
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey Westminster constituency.
Council area Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber was the most southerly of three Holyrood constituencies covering the
Highland council area. The other two were
Ross, Skye and Inverness West and
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber has Ross, Skye and Inverness West on its northern boundary. Inverness East, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross is further north. All three constituencies were within the Highlands and Islands electoral region. When created in 1999 the constituency boundaries were definable with reference to council
wards which were grouped, by the
Highland Council, in relation to eight council management areas. Constituency and management area names have many elements in common, and the management areas had the boundaries of former districts of the Highland
region, as abolished in 1996, namely
Inverness,
Nairn,
Lochaber,
Ross and Cromarty,
Skye and Lochalsh,
Badenoch and Strathspey,
Caithness and
Sutherland. The management areas were abolished in 2007, and the council introduced three new corporate management areas, defined as groups of new wards, also introduced in 2007. The boundaries of the corporate management areas were similar to those of Westminster constituencies created in 2005. One corporate management area, the
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area, had boundaries which were also similar to those of a Holyrood constituency. The boundaries of the other two corporate areas, the
Ross, Skye and Lochaber area and the
Inverness, Nairn, and Badenoch and Strathspey area, were quite unlike those of any Holyrood constituency. == Member of the Scottish Parliament ==