Electoral Commission to look at results delay in Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire results

The elections watchdog will look into the delay at a Scottish constituency that was the last in the UK to declare.

As part of its routine research after the General Election, the Electoral Commission will look into the count at Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire.

The constituency was supposed to declare a winner at around 5am but did not do so until Saturday evening.

A discrepancy between the verified votes total and the provisional number of counted ballots meant it had to be counted three times.

Despite the official result being delayed, by Saturday morning the Liberal Democrats said Angus MacDonald was the winner while the SNP’s Drew Hendry conceded the seat.

Politics

Liberal democrats claim last UK seat to declare result after delayed recount

Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire is the final UK seat to declare a result following repeated issues at the count.

The new Lib Dem MP gained 18,159 votes with Hendry in second with 15,999.

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said: “The result for the Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire constituency was declared on Saturday.

“We were in contact with the Returning Officer at Highland Council to provide guidance, and an Electoral Commission representative attended the count on Saturday.

“Any questions on the count process should be directed to the Returning Officer.

“As we do after every election, we will be undertaking research with voters and electoral administrators across the UK to understand their experiences at the general election and will publish a report.”

Highland Council confirmed in alignment with standard practice that a debrief is due to take place.