East Lothian (Scottish Parliament constituency)

East Lothian 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 South Scotland 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.

Not to be confused with East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency).

East Lothian
county constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
East Lothian shown within the South Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Current constituency
Created1999
PartyLabour
MSPIain Gray
Council areaEast Lothian

Electoral region
See also: South Scotland (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Galloway and West Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The East Lothian 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 most of the East Lothian council area. The remainder is represented by the Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.

Following their first Periodic Review into Scottish Parliament constituencies, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended the formation of a modified East Lothian, with the Musselburgh electorate wards part of a redrawn Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.

East Lothian is formed from the following electoral wards:

Member of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 John Home Robertson Scottish Labour Party
2007 Iain Gray

Election results

2010s
2016 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Iain Gray 14,329 37.8 -1.2
SNP Douglas-James Johnston-Smith 13,202 34.8 -3.7
Conservative Rachael Hamilton 9,045 23.9 +7.3
Liberal Democrats Ettie Spencer 1,337 3.5 -2.4
Majority 1,127 3.0 +2.5
Turnout 37,913 62.3 +5.4
Labour hold Swing
2011 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Iain Gray 12,536 39.0 +4.5
SNP David Berry 12,385 38.5 +10.7
Conservative Derek Brownlee 5,344 16.6 -2.6
Liberal Democrats Ettie Spencer 1,912 5.9 -12.6
Majority 151 0.5 New
Turnout 32,177 56.9 +0.7
Labour win (new boundaries)

2000s
2007 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Iain Gray 12,219 35.4 -8.5
SNP Andrew Sharp 9,771 28.4 +11.8
Liberal Democrats Judy Hayman 6,249 18.1 +1.3
Conservative Bill Stevenson 6,232 18.1 +0.6
Majority 2,448 7.0 -19.2
Turnout 34,471 56.2 +3.5
Labour hold Swing
2003 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour John Home Robertson 13,683 43.9 −7.2
Liberal Democrats Judy Hayman 5,508 17.7 + 6.7
Conservative Stuart Thomson 5,459 17.5 + 1.7
SNP Tom Roberts 5,174 16.6 −5.4
Scottish Socialist Hugh Kerr 1,380 4.4 New
Majority 8,175 26.2 −2.9
Turnout 31,204 52.7 −11.5
Labour hold Swing

1990s
1999 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour John Home Robertson 19,220 51.1 N/A
SNP Calum Millar 8,274 22.0 N/A
Conservative Christine Richards 5,941 15.8 N/A
Liberal Democrats Judy Hayman 4,147 11.0 N/A
Majority 10,946 29.1 N/A
Turnout 37,582 72.2 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes
  1. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived September 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
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