SNP's Fergus Ewing pledge to Inverness and Nairn voters

Fergus Ewing wins the seat for Inverness and Nairn.

THE Scottish National Party's Fergus Ewing has pledged to tackle unemployment and high fuel prices as the new MSP for Inverness and Nairn.

Mr Ewing described them as key issues for the region after storming to victory in the polls.

The nationalist politician retained his seat in the Scottish Parliament with 16870 votes, almost doubling his majority.

An emphatic result saw Mr Ewing attract more votes than each of the other five candidates put together, with 51.5 per cent of the share.

The SNP won all the Highland constituencies, with Dave Thompson taking the Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch seat, with 46.2 per cent of the vote, and Rob Gibson taking Caithness and Sutherland, with 48.4 per cent of the vote.

The seven candidates elected to the Highland regional list are John Finnie (SNP), Jean Urquhart (SNP), Mike Mackenzie (SNP), Rhoda Grant (Labour), David Stewart (Labour), Jamie McGrigor (Conservative) and Mary Scanlon (Conservative).

A delighted Dave Thompson giving his winner's speech.

The Highland results mirrored the rest of Scotland where the SNP swept the boards. The party will form the country''s first ever majority government.

The SNP has 69 seats, Labour 37, Conservative 15, Liberal Democrats 5, Scottish Greens 2 and Independent 1.

The results represent a 23 seat swing to the SNP. Labour has seven fewer seats, the Conservatives five and the Liberal Democrats have 12 fewer.

A delighted Mr Ewing pledged to represent every constituent in the area regardless of their political preference.

He said that as a losing candidate in the 1992 General Election for a constituency which included Inverness, he had posted a 24.2 per cent share of the vote.

"More than half the people that voted, voted for me," he said.

"In a political sense it has been an endorsement of our campaign which we ran in a positive manner."

Mr Ewing said the key issues for him to tackle were jobs, the impact of high fuel prices and added that more help for parents with children who have additional needs was also a priority.

The contest had been tipped as a two horse race between the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.

Mr Ewing rubbed further salt into Lib Dem wounds when he paid tribute to retiring Lib Dem MSP John Farquhar Munro, who controversially backed Alex Salmond for First Minister last month.

A dejected Lib Dem candidate Christine Jardine, who finished fourth in the Inverness and Nairn contest, said it had been a difficult day and there was no hiding place from the result.

Labour's David Stewart, elected on the regional list, said "electors did not feel we represented them enough."

The results:

Inverness and Nairn constituency:

Fergus Ewing won the seat with 16,870 votes, followed by Labour's David Stewart who polled 7125 votes. Conservative candidate Mary Scanlon took 3797 votes, with Liberal Democrat candidate Christine Jardine in fourth with 3763 votes. Donald Boyd of the Scottish Christian Party polled 646 votes.

Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch constituency:

Dave Thompson polled 14,737 votes, ahead of Lib-Dem hopeful Alan MacRae with 9742 votes, while Linda Stewart came third for Labour with 4112 votes. Fourth was Conservative candidate Kerensa Carr with 2834 votes and fifth was independent Ronnie Campbell with 490 votes.