UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies & Members – Political Knowledge Atlas (5 Nov 2019)
- November 5, 2019
There are 59 Scottish members (‘MP’s’) of the United Kingdom Parliament at Westminster out of a total of 650, elected every 5 years or so (very roughly speaking). Though these politicians fundamentally affect our lives on a day-to-day basis through supporting their party’s policies, and their participation in, and oversight of, government and the essential services that keep the nation going, it’s difficult to get the big picture AND the detail, AND how both have changed over time, in the one source. This first ever political knowledge atlas of the members & constituencies of the UK Parliament in Scotland helps solve that problem.
Based on our first ever UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies – General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Atlas, the embedded contextual data fields in the seed branches for each constituency are now replaced by an embedded ‘Recent Election Results’ spreadsheet showing turnouts and majorities as well as votes cast for the last 20 years or so, whilst the attached multiple links to general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources are retained.
There are also now knowledge seed branches for all the current Scottish MP’s, with those that have retired or died since they were last elected retained as sub-branches for reference. As well as their official portrait picture, there are attached multiple links and sub-link collections of ‘Official Parliamentary’, ‘Official Party & MP Controlled’ and ‘Externally Controlled’ knowledge resources, with the size of all their majorities won in the constituency also embedded as data fields. Notable changes in circumstance since they were last elected are recorded as a branch note.
All elements are coloured by party when appropriate to make this map a truly ‘visual’ political knowledge base of the constituencies and members of the UK Parliament in Scotland..
**NOTE – This map marks the ‘state of play’ when the Parliament formally dissolves on November 7 in preparation for the forthcoming UK General Election on December 12th 2019.**

Angus McDonald
Scotland The Map Project Director and Knowledge Mappers Founder & CEO
Part of the 'Governance & Politics' Category
- On This Page
Map
The options to view / download this UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies & Members Polticial Knowledge Atlas (5 Nov 2019) map are in the panel below. If you are new to our maps then please browse the Knowledge Map Mini Guide first before viewing / downloading. Further down this page you can also see a summary of the map content, the main features, and some fun facts 😉 we discovered when compiling it. Please provide your feedback, or suggest additional content, in the map comments, and please also share it with your networks. You can also find other maps using the map finder panel, or the map of maps.
View / Download Options
Anybody can view the html version of this map as a standalone, full-screen webpage in a new browser tab, using the ‘View HTML map full screen’ button below. However to download the HTML5 file – for viewing on-, or off-, line in any modern browser, on any device, without additional plugins – you will need to register for basic membership (it’s free 🙂 To download the original map in MindManager (.mmap) format – for amending, adapting & repurposing in MindManager software – you will need PRO membership, available for a modest annual, or one off lifetime, fee. Already joined? Login here.
Download Map As An HTML5 (.html) File [22.2 MB]
Download Map As A MindManager (.mmap) File [15.1 MB]
Knowledge Map Mini Guide
We create our digital knowledge maps linking to 100’s of public domain knowledge resources about the ‘building blocks’ of Scotland using MindManager, the market leading information mapping software for over 20 years. One of MindManger’s many unique features is the ability to publish a knowledge map as an HTML5 document that…
- retains all of the knowledge, and most of the interactivity, of the original.
- is viewable in any modern browser, on any device, as a stand-alone webpage that doesn’t require any external plug-ins or internet connection to ‘work’ (ie. they can be viewed offline).
- can be embedded in an existing webpage using a standard i-frame and URL (whilst being hosted elsewhere).
- can be shared in the usual ways that files are shared, including being sent as an email attachment.
- is ‘thumb friendly’ for viewing & interacting on touch screen devices such as mobile phones.
If you have not encountered an HTML knowledge map before, treat it like a Google Map. You can pan about, zoom in and out, and clicking on map branches will activate content (single hyperlinks, multiple hyperlinks, notes, embedded data feature toggles etc.). Notes & hyperlinks will open up in a side panel in the browser window (mobile users – see ‘Tips For Mobile Users’ below).
We make the HTML versons of our maps available to the world for free by publishing them within ‘map blog posts’ on the ScotlandtheMap.info WordPress blog website. This video explains the layout of the posts and how the maps can be viewed online as a stand alone page in your web browser, or downloaded to your device and viewed offline at your convenience.
As stated already our HTML knowledge maps are “thumb friendly and viewable in any modern browser, on any device”. Here are a few extra tips to enhance your user experience if viewing maps on a small touch-screen device…
1) Vertical Scrolling Of Webpage – If your ‘scrolling thumb’ is anywhere within the embedded map window when it slides across the touch-screen, you will pan around the map rather than scroll the webpage as a whole. To counter this there is always a narrow margin around the map panel at the edges of the screen, which you can ‘drag’ to move the page. (Viewing the map full screen in a new browser tab also gets round this issue :-).
2) Activating Branch Content – Clicking on map branches will activate content. Notes & the list of attached hyperlinks will open up in a side panel in the browser window. On mobile phones this panel can be take up a disconcertingly large proportion of the screen. If you don’t want to access this content, just click on the map background away from the activated branch, and the panel will disappear.
3) Following Hyperlinks – If there is a single hyperlink on a branch then clicking on the favicon symbol at the end once will activate it and the web resource linked to will open up in a new browser tab. If the topic has multiple hyperlinks attached (another unique MindManager feature) then these can only be followed by clicking on the link in the list in the side panel that opens up within the browser window when the branch is clicked. Note that notes and hyperlinks are on separate tabs within the sidepanel if both are present. Hyperlinks are listed in the ‘Attachments’ tab.
4) Map Content Version – Work the ‘Lo-Fi’ (most images removed) version of the map if your device has limited capacity. But that is not to say that the ‘Hi-Fi’ version can’t be viewed, and they do not work fine once they have loaded. It will just take longer for them to load, say 30s – 2 mins depending on the connection. For example we have viewed & worked with the ‘Hi-Fi’ version of the Scottish Local Councillor map – 2000+ branches, 6000+ hyperlinks, 1600+ embedded images, including a location map for all 32 councils and 324 electoral wards as well as a colour photo of every one of the 1227 councillors – on a Samsung Galaxy S7 no problem.
1) Maps In Native MindManager (.mmap) Format – Whilst our HTML maps are interactive, they are not editable. This can only be done within MindManager and the maps republished as HTML. Generally speaking ScotlandtheMap maps will be available to download in native MindManager (.mmap) format from the Knowledge Mappers map store. Click the button below the map if present to go to the map page on the store website (opens up in a new browser tab).
2) Other Information Mapping Software Users – Many other information software programmes have the capability of importing MindManager map files (MindManager was the first software of it’s type and has been the market leader for over 20 years). A word of caution however. Our maps fully utilise the large range of unique ‘information cartography’ features available in MindManager – large maps (1000’s of branches), ‘rich (ie. variable) formatting’ of topic text, multiple hyperlinks, embedded data features (spreadsheets, charts & topic properties), layout variations within the same map etc. – which are not supported by other information mapping software programs. Thus even if your program can import a MindManager file, how it copes with each of these features, and what it renders on-screen as a result, will vary from the MindManager version so user beware!
Map Summary
UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies & Members – Political Knowledge Atlas (5 Nov 2019)
Description
Politics & politicians fundamentally affect all our lives on a day-to-day basis, but it’s difficult to get the big picture AND the detail, AND how both have changed over time, in the one source. This knowledge map helps solve that problem, at least as far as the UK Parliament’s 59 constituencies & members in Scotland go.
Using the latest ‘UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies – General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Atlas‘ as a base, we have added knowledge seed branches for all 59 current Scottish MP’s. As well as their official portrait picture, there are attached multiple links and sub-link collections of ‘Official Parliamentary’, ‘Official Party & MP Controlled’ and ‘Externally Controlled’ knowledge resources, with the size of all their majorities won in the constituency also embedded as data fields. Whilst retaining the multiple attached general, geographic & electoral knowledge links of the basemap, the constituency seed branches now have an embedded ‘Recent Election Results’ spreadsheet showing turnouts and majorities as well as votes cast for the last 20 years or so. All elements are coloured by party when appropriate to make this map a truly ‘visual’ political knowledge base.
This map marks the ‘state of play’ when the UK parliament formally dissolves on November 7 in preparation for the forthcoming general election on December 12th 2019.
'Knowledge Seed' Branches
With embedded features and attached multiple hyperlinks & index marker tags, ‘seed branches’ provide a ‘base level’ of contextual knowledge resources about the subject, which is retained if the seed branch is repurposed / used in other maps in future.
Individual UK Parliament Constituency Seed Branch
Logo & thumbnail location map of the constituency relative to the other constituencies in Scotland
Constituency unique identifying codes for cross-referencing with other data…
- ONS code
Constituency Recent Election Results Table coloured by party and showing votes per party, turnout as a number & percentage and the majority of the winning candidate
Index marker ‘geo’ tags for additional contextual knowledge and dynamic map filtering…
- Constituency Type
- Current Political Party
- Shared Land Borders (ie. immediate neighbours)
- Border ‘Status’ (island, landlocked or mixed)
- UK Home Nation
- UK EU-NUTS2 Region
- Scottish Parliamentary Region
- Scottish Parliament Constituency
- Local Council Area
- Local Council Electoral Ward
- ONS Code
Shape of topic indicates nature of boundaries with neighbouring councils…
- all coastal (‘island’)
- all land (‘land-locked’)
- mixed
General Knowledge Resources
UK Parliament – Constituency Representation
House of Commons Library – Constituency Local Data Dashboard
Scottish Government Statistics Portal – Westminster Parliamentary Constituency
Wikipedia – Article on the UK Parliament constituency
Geographic Knowledge Resources
Boundary Commission for Scotland – Fifth Review Constituency Map [PDF & online viewer]
UK Parliament – Constituency Location Map
Electoral Knowledge Resources
BBC News Election Results – Constituency
UK Parliament Elections Online 2017 – United Kingdom Parliamentary Constituency
Wikipedia – Election results subsection of UK Parliament constituency Article
Individual Member of Parliament Seed Branch
Official profile picture
Name (Party Affiliation)
*Asterisk indicates noteworthy changes in MP’s circumstances (recorded in topic note)
[REASON FOR DEPARTURE] (if applicable)
MP’s Majority for each election to represent the constituency embedded as single data field(s).
Note these may not be consecutive as MP’s might lose their seat at one election and be re-elected at the next. Also there may be fewer majorities recorded for the MP than recent election victories for their party as previously incumbent MPs have not sought re-election. Some MP’s may also have represented other constituencies in the past.
Index marker tags for additional contextual knowledge and dynamic map filtering…
- Gender
- Political Affiliation
- Electoral Status
- Active Status
Official Parliamentary Knowledge Resources
UK Parliament MP Profile [NEW WEBSITE]
Email MP @parliament.uk
UK Parliament Hansard – MP Contributions
House of Commons – The Register of Members’ Financial Interests
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority Expenses Tracker – MP’s Expenditure
Official Party/MP Controlled Knowledge Resources
Official Party MP Profile
MP’s Official Website
Facebook – MP’s Official Page
Twitter – MP’s Official Profile
Externally Controlled Knowledge Resources
The Public Whip Voting Record – MP’s voting record
Knowledge Resource Link Collections
The links to official / definitive / ‘plain old useful’ public domain knowledge resources contained in these branches is the main focus of this map. Each link is attached to a single sub-branch which desctibes what it is, with sub-branches grouped into related collections, such as ‘General Knowledge Resources’ or ‘Geographic Knowledge Resources’. This makes for easier, more ‘thumb friendly’ browsing & knowledge discovery. Sub-branches can easily become ‘seed points’ if users start adding newly new knowledge discovered during their browsing.
Official Parliamentary Knowledge Resources
Official Parliamentary Knowledge Resources
UK Parliament MP Profile [NEW WEBSITE]
Email MP @parliament.uk
UK Parliament Hansard – MP Contributions
House of Commons – The Register of Members’ Financial Interests
Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority Expenses Tracker – MP’s Expenditure
Externally Controlled Knowledge Resources
Externally Controlled Knowledge Resources
The Public Whip Voting Record – MP’s voting record
Changelog
We are continually striving to find further, freely accessible in the public domain definitive / official / plain old useful 🙂 knowledge resources to link to in our maps, as well as keeping the existing links up to date. The changelogs below summarise the actions undertaken to initially create – and subsequently update – this knowledge map.
UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies & Members Polticial Knowledge Atlas (5 Nov 2019)
Version – 1.0
Links to knowledge resources – 2,950
Map Branches – 1,763
File Sizes – HTML5 – 22.2 MB; MindManager (.mmap) – 15.1 MB
Basemap Framework(s) – UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies – General, Geographic & Electoral Knowledge Atlas (14 Oct 2019) (v1.0)
Actions – The main work done in making this version of the map was…
- Initial creation of knowledge seed branch framework of Members of Parliament (MPs’) as additions to the UK Parliament Constituencies in Scotland mainbranch framework.
- Seeking out and attaching multiple links to MP’s seed branch of knowledge resources from Official Parliamentary, Party/MP Controlled and Externally Controlled sources.
- Attaching selected hyperlinks to the seed branch so they always stay with it if the map is re-used and re-purposed in MindManager.
- Adaptation of Constituency seed branches from general to political embedded knowledge – replaced facts and figures single geostatistical data fields with election results tables (spreadsheets) coloured by party, going back to the 1997 UK General Election. Data taken from the constituency’s Wikipedia article (the only source of historical election results data we could find in the public domain).
Note(s)
i) There was a major review of constituency boundaries by the Boundary Commission in Scotland that were implemented for the 2005 General Election and so some constituencies only date from then.
Map Facts
Here are some of the ‘fun facts’ 😉 about Scotland’s 59 (out of a total of 650) United Kindom Parliament Constituencies & Members that we have discovered (and embedded!) during the process of creating this map…
Geographic Area
Smallest & Largest
Glasgow North Consituency
Ross, Skye and Lochaber Constituency
Majority
Smallest & Largest
North East Fife Consituency [SNP]
Edinburgh South Constituency [Lab]
Gender Balance
15 out of 59 Female MP's
MPs - ALL: 59 Female: 15 Male: 44
Political Balance
By Total MPs, Consituency Areas & Constituency Populations
Constituency MP's As A Proportion of Total
(59 MP's)
MPs - SNP: 35 LDP: 4 Lab: 7 Con: 13
Constituency Areas As A Proportion of Total
(78,977.6 sq km)
Constituency Areas - SNP: 37,574.2 sq km LDP: 11,293.4 sq km Lab: 1,374.2 sq km Con: 28,735.7 sq km
Constituency Populations As A Proportion of Total
(5,533,270 people)
Constituency Populations - SNP: 3,241,864 LDP: 290,524 Lab: 674,500 Con: 1,326,652
Map Features
We take full advantage of MindManager’s many unique ‘information cartography’ features when creating our unique maps so we can pack in 1000’s of ‘bits’ of knowledge into a single, visually structured, intuitive to navigate document that can be easily shared. Here are the main features of this UK Parliament Scottish Constituencies & Members Polticial Knowledge Atlas (5 Nov 2019) …
Big Map With 100's Of Branches & Links And Capacity For Plenty More
With 2,950 knowledge resource links over 1,763 branches, this map is a useful, contextual knowledge resource in it’s own right, as well as being a visually structured ndex of the best definitive / official / plain old useful knowledge resources available in the public domain about the subject. Thanks to MindManager’s unique capabilities it has plenty of spare capacity for further content to be added in the future.
Main Branches Create Robust Visual Framework For 'Seed Branches'
The 1st level branches form the main (‘org-tree’) visual framework within which the map content of interest sits. It is a simple ‘A – Z’ layout, with the 2nd level Scottish United Kingdom Parliament Constituency branches arranged alphabetically in 7 groups of approximately equal sizes to pack as much in to a ‘single screen view’ as possible.
Visually Rich 'General Knowledge Seed' Branch For Each Of Scotland's 59 UK Parliament Constituencies
The 2nd level branches are political ‘knowledge seed points’ for individual United Kingdom Parliament constituencies. They contain the name & official constituency identifier codes in variably formatted (‘rich’) text, and a thumbnail location map image to aid user navigation and provide spatial context. This is supplemented by the variation in topic shape, which indicates the status of the borders with neighbouring electoral wards – all coastlal (ie. island), mixed or all land (ie. landlocked). There is also a table of the results by party for the most recent (half dozen or so) General Elections & by-elections, coloured by party, as well as multiple hyperlinks to public domain general, geographic & electoral knowledge resources about the constituency. The full list of knowledge embedded within, and attached to, this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
Embedded Spreadsheet Contains 'Recent' General Election Results For The Constituency
Data features embedded within seed branches – like spreadsheets, charts & data fields (another unique MindManager feature) – provide another ‘channel’ of knowlegde that adds context to the more detailed knowledge contained in the public domain resources linked to in the map. The embedded spreadsheet is a table of the results by party for the most recent General Elections & by-elections, coloured by party. Results go back to 1997 at most ie. 20 years or so (though a few consituencies were only formed in 2005 at the last boundary review). As well as the results for each party candidate, the turnout, and the majority of the winning candidate are also recorded. The colouring by party gives a simple ‘at a glance’ recent electoral history of the constituency, whilst the attached multiple hyperlinks to electoral knowledge resources will provide more detail as required. The full list of data embedded within this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
Visually Rich 'General Knowledge Seed' Branch For Each Of Scotland's 59 Members of the UK Parliament (MPs)
The 3rd level branches are ‘knowledge seed points’ for individual members of the UK Parliament (MPs), coloured by their political party allegiance. They contain the members name suffixed by ‘MP’ and their party allegiance in brackets, as well as a thumbnail of their official portrait picture. Their constituency names are also included to make it easier to keep track of ‘who’s who and where’s where’ when many MP branches are open on screen at one time. Embedded data fields show the MP’s majorities when elected for the constituency. There are also multiple hyperlinks to public domain knowledge resources about the MP, including their official register of interests. The full list of knowledge embedded within, and attached to, this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
Embedded Data Fields Show All MP's Majorities In Constituency
Data features embedded within seed branches – like spreadsheets, charts & data fields (another unique MindManager feature) – provide another ‘channel’ of knowlegde that adds context to the more detailed knowledge contained in the public domain resources linked to in the map. The data fields embedded in the MP seed topic show their majorities every time they were successfully elected to represent the constituency. Note these may be not be consecutive as MP’s might lose their seat at one election and be re-elected at the next. Also there may be fewer majorities recorded for the MP than recent election victories for their party as previously incumbent MPs have not sought re-election. Some MP’s may also have represented other constituencies in the past. The full list of data embedded within this seed topic is given in the map summary above.
Attached Multiple Hyperlinks To Public Domain Knowledge Resources
Seed Branches have multiple hyperlinks attached to them (yet another unique feature of MindManager maps), which link to the best definitive / official / plain old useful knowledge resources available in the public domain about the subject. The ‘definable link text’ gives clarty as to the resource being linked to (which can be very variable if left to the default). As well as increasing the amount of knowledge that can be ‘squeezed’ into a map without increasing the ‘visual clutter’ of additional branches, it means these links can be retained if the seed branches are used in other maps, or this map is re-purposed. The full list of multiple knowledge resource hyperlinks attached to the seed topics in this map is given in the map summary above.
Index Marker Tag Groups Enable 'Geo Intelligent' & Other Map Filtering
Branches in the map may be tagged with one or more ‘index markers’ from one or more ‘marker groups’. These enable intelligent map filtering and quick navigation. Many of the tags are ‘geographic’ in nature such that branches are tagged with ‘where’ they are – eg. administrative or electoral areas. This gives the map in-built ‘spatial intelligence’ and the ability to be ‘geo-filtered’. (MindManager software users can copy and paste any of the marker groups in any other maps). The full list of index marker tags attached to the seed topics in this map is given in the map summary above.
Sub-Branch Collections Of Single Links To Public Domain Knowledge Resources
The Scottish United Kingdom Parliament Members sub-branch link collections – each with a single hyperlink to official / definitive / at least practical & useful online knowledge resources – are grouped into related collections for ‘Official Parliamentary’, ‘Official Party/MP Controlled’ and ‘Externally Controlled’ knowledge resources. These are starting points for knowledge discovery and subsequent more detailed (‘desktop’) research. (MindManager software users have the advantage of being able to add to these branches as they go). The full list of links in the sub-branch collections attached to this seed branch is given in the map summary above.
Map Legend Branch Describes Each Topic 'Type' With Links To Further Information
Every map needs to have a legend that explains the cartographic structure, colours and symbology used. The ‘Map Legend’ branch describes the sub-components of each ‘type’ of map branch, with links to further knowledge resources where necessary.
'Contributing Online Knowledge-bases Branch' With Links To Further Information
We hunt down and assess many official / definitive / at least practical & useful online knowledge resources in the process of creating our maps. The ‘Contributing Online Knowledge-bases’ branch has links to all the ones that are actually linked to in the main map content, as well as some others that are a good source of general knowledge about the subject. It is a frustrating fact of life that some resources are organised better than others, and not all are ‘linkable to’ at the individual ‘building block’ level and so can’t be included in seed branches.
'Voter Help For Scottish Elections Branch' With Links To Useful Resources
The ‘Voter Help For Scottish Elections’ branch has links to useful links to help you registering to vote, find out which Local Council Electoral Ward, Scottish Parliament Constituency & Region or UK Parliament Constituency you live in, notice of any upcoming elections in your area and where to vote in them, and what the voting record for your incumbent MP’s or MSP’s.





