Aberdeen City

The Result

Electorate: 172,179
Area (Hectares): 18,216

Aberdeen is Scotland's third-largest city. It is the main centre for Scotland's off-shore oil industry and a large fishing port. There are significant engineering, textiles and food processing industries as well. The Aberdeen City authority also covers the nearby small towns of Dyce and Bridge of Don and numerous small villages. Aberdeen has a mix of middle class and less affluent areas. The oil boom of the 1970s and 1980s brought money into the area, and many of the villages around the city have become quite 'gentrified'.

The area is politically dominated by Labour, although the old seat of Aberdeen South was the only seat that the Tories gained from Labour at the 1992 General Election. All three Aberdeen constituencies were won by Labour at the last election. The Council is Labour controlled: they have 30 councillors, the Liberal Democrats have 10, the Conservatives have 9, and the SNP has 1.

Results of 1979 referendum:

ICM/Scotsman poll published on 22 August 1997:

		Yes		No		Don't know
All Scotland		68%		21%		11%
Highland, Grampian & Tayside		63%		26%		11%

Question:Should a Scottish Parliament have tax-varying powers?

		Yes		No		Don't know
All Scotland		56%		36%		8%
Highland, Grampian & Tayside		48%		41%		11%

(Total Sample Size: 1,001, Fieldwork: 19-20 August 1997)