Election data comes from UK Parliament. Turnout percentage is calculated by Project Open Gov from Parliament's turnout and electorate figures.
People and place
A population and household snapshot for Orkney and Shetland, using validated House of Commons Library constituency datasets.
Estimated population45,210
EstimateMid-2024 estimate
Region / nationScotland
Age profile
0 to 1718.8% · 8,506 people
18 to 245.8% · 2,637 people
25 to 3410.9% · 4,937 people
35 to 4917.8% · 8,059 people
50 to 6422.6% · 10,202 people
65 and over24.0% · 10,869 people
Population figures are mid-2024 estimates from the House of Commons Library. Project Open Gov calculates the estimated population shown above by summing the six published age-band counts. View population source ↗
Home ownership and renting
Housing tenure shows how households in this constituency described their home at the most recent census.
21,205 householdsCensus 2022
Home owners68.2% · 14,471 households
Private renters8.3% · 1,763 households
Social renters19.8% · 4,201 households
Other tenure3.6% · 770 households
“Other tenure” combines shared ownership and households recorded as living rent free.
Housing-tenure figures come from the most recent census: 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 2022 in Scotland. View housing-tenure source ↗
Household composition
A broad view of household types in this constituency. Project Open Gov uses the four broad groups supplied by the Commons Library so the presentation remains consistent across the UK.
21,209 householdsCensus 2022
One-person households38.3% · 8,116 households
Families with dependent children22.1% · 4,694 households
Other single-family households37.7% · 7,995 households
Other household types1.9% · 404 households
Household-composition figures come from the Commons Library constituency dataset. The source uses census data and Project Open Gov displays its broad household groups rather than attempting to harmonise the detailed categories itself. View household-composition source ↗
Disability and day-to-day activities
The source records whether day-to-day activities are limited and uses separate person-level tables for England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
44,942 people in the source baseCensus 2022Source comparison: Scotland
Day-to-day activities limited a lot9.0% · 4,055 people
Day-to-day activities limited a little13.9% · 6,231 people
Non-disabled77.1% · 34,656 people
Comparison note: the workbook uses different source terminology across the UK: England & Wales uses “Disabled under the Equality Act”, while Scotland and Northern Ireland use “Disabled” / “Non-disabled”. Project Open Gov therefore preserves the source categories and does not present them as one single like-for-like UK legal definition.
Disability figures come from the Commons Library constituency workbook. This profile uses the person-level tables only; the workbook also contains separate household-level disability tables which are not used here. View disability source ↗
Petitions
Open UK Government and Parliament petitions that have reached at least 10,000 signatures nationally, ranked here by the number of signatures recorded in this constituency.
Petition signatures are not a poll and do not show what the constituency as a whole thinks. A person can also sign more than one petition.
Open petitionCloses 13 October 2026
Introduce legislation to make it possible to renumerate emergency volunteers
Signature counts come from the official UK Government and Parliament petitions data and may change while a petition remains open. Browse official petitions ↗
Funding and local projects
National Lottery grants awarded to organisations recorded in this parliamentary constituency since 4 July 2024.
The constituency is based on the recipient organisation recorded in the source data. The funded activity may sometimes take place across a wider area.
Grants recorded97
Total awarded£3,057,973
Most recent awards
National Lottery grantAwarded 25 June 2026
Navigating by Blackbird - Autumn Migration
Grant to Individual
£15,000
Creative Scotland · Arts
About this award
I want to complete a project started in 2023 about Scandinavian blackbird migration and its links to Orkney. In 2025 I followed the spring migration from Orkney to Finland, now I want to finish the journey and project by following the autumn migration to Ireland. This international project consists of the cycle journey, sound recording, sewing, documenting, painting, working with an Irish language poet and meeting people. These components will come together as exhibitions in The Orkney Museum, the Donal Watson Gallery at the Scottish Ornithological Club and Féile na Bealtaine Celtic music and arts festival in County Kerry. The cycle is my practice – travelling solo as ‘birdlike’ as possible leading to encounters with people and landscapes along a route designed using ringing data from the British Trust for Ornithology from blackbirds ringed/recovered in Orkney through Scotland, the Isle of Man to the furthest record southwest in County Kerry.
National Lottery grantAwarded 24 June 2026
The Last Kirk Standing: A Community Rescue
Friends of Sanday Kirk Ltd
£231,803
The National Lottery Heritage Fund · Heritage
About this award
Friends of Sanday Kirk have successfully transformed a historic island landmark into a multi-functional community hub and home for some of the island's most important ecclesiastical heritage. Our primary objective at this moment in time is to protect and give a new lease of life to the last remaining of Sanday's four church buildings by attending to essential fabric repairs and future-proofing the building's sustainability and long-term financially viability. This project will underpin our growing community use of the building and provide Sanday with a warm, accessible space for social and cultural activities ranging from health and fitness to cultural and heritage workshops. Ultimately, we seek to highlight and protect our architectural identity and heritage content while empowering our community with a resilient, multi-functional space that tackles social isolation and fosters local pride for generations to come.
National Lottery grantAwarded 24 June 2026
Wheelchair adapted bus
Marengo Road Centre
£10,000
The National Lottery Community Fund · Charitable and Community including Health, Education and Environment
About this award
Marengo Road Centre - Community - National Lottery Awards for All Scotland
National Lottery grantAwarded 16 June 2026
Unplugged Orkney - Audio-Visual Jamming
Grant to Individual
£4,848
Creative Scotland · Arts
About this award
We are an artist and a musician, both autistic creatives, focused on creating shared, inclusive, improvisatory spaces. We will develop and deliver a series of workshops and jamming sessions into historic spaces in Orkney. Participants will be invited to join us jamming with audio-visual material and instruments in response to the ambient audio-visual environment of each space. We will work with Orkney-based jazz vocalist Maureen Flaws to develop and deliver the sessions.
National Lottery grantAwarded 19 May 2026
The Bressay Stone: A one thousand year journey.
Bressay History Group
£37,818
The National Lottery Heritage Fund · Heritage
About this award
Bring a valuable and currently inaccessible link with our heritage to our community. Update Bressay Heritage Centre’s exhibition space and visitor offering to increase footfall and engagement as well as increasing the Centre’s sustainability. Work with Shetland Museum and UHI Shetland to consolidate, explore and share current knowledge of Pictish stones in Scotland, Scandinavian links and cultural changes during the era and Investigate and use innovative ways to explore, share and store our local history, with the aim of bringing it to life and making it more accessible to all. Annually explore and present our heritage from different viewpoints - adding to present understanding of the Stone, its meaning and of Shetland culture. Updating our exhibition to ensure it remains interesting to locals. Work with local artists, youth film group and the community to ensure maximum engagement and to document all aspects of the projects progress.
92 more awards are available.
Source: DCMS National Lottery Grants Database. The figures shown cover awards from 4 July 2024 to 1 July 2026. View official grants data ↗
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