Edinburgh Pentlands (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Scottish Parliament constituency infobox
Name = Edinburgh Pentlands
Type = burgh


Region = Lothians
Year = 1999
MSP = David McLetchie
Party = Conservative
Council = 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.

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.

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 [See [http://www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk/ "The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland] "] .

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.

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.

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.

Members of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = David McLetchie
votes = 12,927
percentage = 37.6
change = +0.4 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Sheila Gilmore
votes = 8,402
percentage = 24.4
change = -6.5 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Ian McKee
votes = 8,234
percentage = 24.0
change = +7.2 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Simon Clark
votes = 4,814
percentage = 14.0
change = +2.2Election box majority
votes = 4,525
percentage = 13.2
change = Election box turnout
votes = 34,377
percentage = 59.1
change = +2.1 Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish Conservative Party
loser =
swing = 3.5%

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = David McLetchie
votes = 12,420
percentage = 37.2
change = +8.3 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Iain Gray
votes = 10,309
percentage = 30.9
change = −5.3 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Ian McKee
votes = 5,620
percentage = 16.8
change = −5.3 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Simon Clark
votes = 3,943
percentage = 11.8
change = −0.9 Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Socialist Party
candidate = Frank O'Donnell
votes = 1,090
percentage = 3.3
change = +3.3 Election box majority
votes = 2,111
percentage = 6.3
change = Election box turnout
votes = 33,382
percentage = 57.03
change = −8.94 Election box gain with party link
winner = Scottish Conservative Party
loser = Scottish Labour Party
swing = 6.8%

Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Labour Party
candidate = Iain Gray
votes = 14,343
percentage = 36.2
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Conservative Party
candidate = David McLetchie
votes = 11,458
percentage = 28.9
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish National Party
candidate = Stewart Gibb
votes = 8,770
percentage = 22.2
change = N/A Election box candidate with party link
party = Scottish Liberal Democrats
candidate = Ian Gibson
votes = 5,029
percentage = 12.7
change = N/AElection box majority
votes = 2,885
percentage = 7.3
change = N/AElection box turnout
votes =
percentage =
change = Election box hold with party link
winner = Scottish Labour Party
loser =
swing =

Footnotes

See also

* Politics of Edinburgh