Edinburgh Pentlands (Scottish Parliament constituency)

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Edinburgh Pentlands
Scottish Parliament burgh constituency
Edinburgh Pentlands shown within the
Lothians electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created: 1999
MSP: David McLetchie
Party: Conservative
Council area: City of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Pentlands is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Lothians electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Contents

[edit] Electoral region

See also Lothians Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region are Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh West, Linlithgow, Livingston and Midlothian.

The region covers the City of Edinburgh council area, the West Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, and part of the East Lothian council area.

[edit] Constituency boundaries and council area

The Edinburgh Pentlands constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies[1].

The Holyrood constituency covers a south-western portion of the City of Edinburgh council area. The rest of the city area is covered by five other constituencies, all also in the Lothians electoral region: Edinburgh West, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh North and Leith, and Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.

Edinburgh Pentlands has boundaries with the Edinburgh West, Edinburgh Central, and Edinburgh South constituencies.

The Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency also covers the Musselburgh portion of the East Lothian council area. The rest of the East Lothian area is covered by the East Lothian constituency, which is in the South of Scotland electoral region.

[edit] Wards

Edinburgh Pentlands included the wards of Balerno, Baberton, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Fairmilehead, Firrhill, Murrayburn, Parkhead and Sighthill, and part of the South Morningside ward, which is split with the South constituency. The wards were created in 1999, at the same time as the constituency, and were replaced for the new single transferable vote system to be introduced in 2007.

The new wards straddle the constituency boundaries and are called Pentland Hills, Colinton & Fairmilehead, Morningside & Meadows, Craiglockhart & Fountainbridge and Sighthill & Gorgie.

They all elect three councillors except Morningside & Meadows and Sighthill & Gorgie, which elect four.

The party breakdown is:

Pentland Hills - 1 Con, I LD, 1 SNP:
Colinton & Fairmilehead - 2 Con, 1 Lab:
Morningside & Meadows - 1 Con, 1 LD, 1 Green, 1 Lab:
Craiglockhart & Fountainbridge - 1 Con, 1 LD, 1 Lab:
Sighthill & Gorgie - 2 Lab, 2 SNP

In total, there are 5 Conservatives, 5 Labour, 3 Liberal Democrats, 3 SNP and 1 Green.

[edit] Description of the constituency

The constituency has an urban north and a suburban centre. The remaining area is rural, and runs into the Pentland Hills in the south. The constituency includes Balerno, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Parkhead, Sighthill and a southern area of Morningside.

[edit] Members of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
1999 Iain Gray Labour
2003 David McLetchie Conservative
2007

[edit] Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Edinburgh Pentlands
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David McLetchie 12,927 37.6 +0.4
Labour Sheila Gilmore 8,402 24.4 -6.5
Scottish National Party Ian McKee 8,234 24.0 +7.2
Liberal Democrats Simon Clark 4,814 14.0 +2.2
Majority 4,525 13.2
Turnout 34,377 59.1 +2.1
Conservative hold Swing 3.5% from LAB to CON
Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Edinburgh Pentlands
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative David McLetchie 12,420 37.2 +8.3
Labour Iain Gray 10,309 30.9 −5.3
Scottish National Party Ian McKee 5,620 16.8 −5.3
Liberal Democrats Simon Clark 3,943 11.8 −0.9
Scottish Socialist Frank O'Donnell 1,090 3.3 +3.3
Majority 2,111 6.3
Turnout 33,382 57.03 −8.94
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 6.8% from LAB to CON
Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Edinburgh Pentlands
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Iain Gray 14,343 36.2 N/A
Conservative David McLetchie 11,458 28.9 N/A
Scottish National Party Stewart Gibb 8,770 22.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats Ian Gibson 5,029 12.7 N/A
Majority 2,885 7.3 N/A
Turnout
Labour hold Swing

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland

[edit] See also


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