South Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)
| South Scotland | |
|---|---|
| electoral region for the Scottish Parliament | |
South Scotland shown within Scotland | |
| Electorate | 594,925 (2022) |
| Current electoral region | |
| Created | 2011 |
| MSPs | Scottish National Party 7 Scottish Conservative Party 6 Scottish Labour 3 |
| Council areas | Dumfries and Galloway East Ayrshire (part) Midlothian (part) Scottish Borders South Ayrshire South Lanarkshire (part) |
| Constituencies | Ayr Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley Clydesdale Dumfriesshire East Kilbride Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire Galloway and West Dumfries Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale |
South Scotland is one of the eight electoral regions of the Scottish Parliament. Ten of the parliament's 73 first past the post constituencies are sub-divisions of the region. Under the additional-member electoral system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the region elects seven regional Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs), in addition to the ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole, which thus elects a total of 17 MSPs.
The region was created as a result of the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries in 2011, and largely replaced the South of Scotland region. As defined at the 2011 review, the South Scotland region covered the Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire, Scottish Borders and South Ayrshire council areas in full and parts of the East Lothian, Midlothian and South Lanarkshire council areas, and covered nine constituencies. Following the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025, the boundaries of the region were altered, and it now covers ten constituencies. The region now covers the whole of the council areas of Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders, and South Ayrshire; and parts of the council areas of East Ayrshire, Midlothian, and South Lanarkshire. By population it is now the largest of Scotland's eight electoral regions.