The 180-mile journey via two ferries, two cars and a plane to get ballot boxes to Scottish count

Many ballot boxes will travel great distances to be counted on election - but none more so than the most northerly boxes in the UK.

The votes cast on the isle of Unst in Shetland will need to travel 180 miles via two ferries, a car journey and a plane to be counted in Kirkwall, Orkney. 

Sitting on the same latitude as the south of Greenland, Unst’s two polling stations are 825 miles north of the House of Commons.

It will be a major task for Returning Officer Oliver Reid - however, he has already got a plan in place to make sure everything runs like clockwork on the night.

At 10pm when the polls close, the boxes from Unst will be put on a ferry to the isle of Yell, and then onto a second ferry to mainland Shetland.

From there, they will be driven south down the mainland to the capital Lerwick, where most of the Shetland boxes will congregate, before being driven to the very southern tip to Sumburgh Airport.

The boxes will then be put on a specially chartered flight to Kirkwall Airport, where the returning officer hopes to collect them at around 3am.

National World

Returning officer Oliver Reid | Orkney Islands Council

“The deputy returning officer will be in Shetland and will fly with the boxes down to Kirkwall, and I will meet them at the airport”, says Mr Reid. “The flight will take approximately an hour.

“A good chunk of the journey will actually be getting the boxes from the north to the south of Shetland via land and sea.”

The boxes will be transported on the Loganair aircraft that normally serves the world’s shortest flight path from Westray to Papa Westray in Orkney - a journey of around 90 seconds.

All eight seats inside will be removed so the plane can be filled up with ballot boxes instead.

It will be a quick turnaround for the aircraft - it will be back on regular passenger duty the following day.

Of course, the weather in the northern isles can be unpredictable, so there is a back-up plan if the conditions are too bad for flying.

Spare a thought for the deputy returning officer who has to stay with the ballot boxes from Shetland - the back-up plan is to use a tiny pilot boat, a journey which takes seven hours across the North Sea.

Mr Reid said: “My main concern is checking the weather - the biggest risk at this time of year is fog.

“Both Sumburgh and Kirkwall airports can be affected by haar which can prevent flights taking off.

“Unless there is a storm, we will then bring the boxes over by pilot boat transfer from Scalloway to Kirkwall.

“The boat is owned by Shetland Islands Council and can be called upon if there is fog, but that trip takes about seven hours.”

The logistics are a lot simpler in Orkney, as most people there who do not live on the mainland use postal votes.

The votes for the Orkney and Shetland seat will be counted in Kirkwall. Image: Getty Images. | Canva/Getty Images

Mr Reid said: “Most ballot boxes are on the mainland in Pickaquoy - we don’t have separate polling stations in the smaller islands, and that has been the case for a number of years.

“This makes it a much more straightforward process and there will be a very high turnout of postal votes, so that is not a concern.”

He added: “We will certainly be one of the last to get all the boxes to the count, but not necessarily the last to declare, if everything goes according to plan.

“It is difficult to put timings on it, but I want a transparent and accountable count rather than speed.”