Edinburgh Central (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh Central is a burgh 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, it is one of nine constituencies in the Lothian 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.
| Edinburgh Central | |
|---|---|
| burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
.svg.png) | |
.svg.png) Edinburgh Central shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Current constituency | |
| Created | 1999 |
| Party | Scottish Conservative Party |
| MSP | Ruth Davidson MSP |
| Council area | City of Edinburgh |
The constituency was created with the name and boundaries of a constituency of the Edinburgh Central UK Parliament constituency.
Since 1999, the constituency MSP has been an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Scotland. From 1925 until 1999, that role had been taken by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Westminster constituency.
The constituency was one of the few areas to vote "Yes" in the 2011 UK Alternative Vote referendum held on the same day as the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.
Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the Lothian region are Almond Valley, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern, Edinburgh Western, Linlithgow and Midlothian North and Musselburgh
The region includes all of the City of Edinburgh council area, parts of the East Lothian council area, parts of the Midlothian council area and all of the West Lothian council area.
Constituency boundaries and council area
The City of Edinburgh is represented in the Scottish Parliament by six constituencies: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western.
The Edinburgh Central 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]
As part of the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries the boundaries of the constituency were changed before the 2011 Scottish Parliament election. Each electoral ward used in the creation of the redrawn Central is split, shared with neighbouring constituencies.
- Inverleith (shared with Edinburgh Northern and Leith and Edinburgh Western)
- Corstorphine/Murrayfield (shared with Edinburgh Western)
- Sighthill/Gorgie (shared with Edinburgh Pentlands and Edinburgh Southern)
- Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart (shared with Edinburgh Southern)
- Meadows/Morningside (shared with Edinburgh Southern)
- City Centre (shared with Edinburgh Eastern)
- Southside/Newington (shared with Southern)
Constituency profile and voting patterns
Constituency profile
The Edinburgh Central constituency is situated in the central-north of the City of Edinburgh. The constituency is a major tourist, financial and retail centre, covering Edinburgh's Old and New Towns, Princes Street, Haymarket, Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Castle and the Scottish Parliament building itself.
The north and west of the constituency is very affluent, covering Victorian suburbs such as Craigleith, Murrayfield, Stockbridge and Orchard Brae, in addition Edinburgh's well-off West End. There is some deprivation towards the south and east of the constituency around Dalry, Dumbiedykes and in patches of Edinburgh's Old Town, although overall the constituency is very affluent.[2]
Voting patterns
In the 2007 City of Edinburgh local council election, the Liberal Democrats emerged as the largest party in wards covered by the Edinburgh Central constituency. In the 2012 local election, the Conservatives and Scottish National Party formed the two largest parties in the area. The Conservatives were ahead in 6 of the 8 electoral wards covering the Edinburgh Central constituency in the 2017 City of Edinburgh local council election.
Traditionally this constituency has been represented by the Labour Party, with the Liberal Democrats forming the main opposition. From the formation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 until the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the constituency of Edinburgh Central was represented by Labour's Sarah Boyack. With a re-arrangement of the constituency boundaries in 2011, which would have been won by the Liberal Democrats in 2007, the constituency narrowly returned the SNP's Marco Biagi, who gained the constituency with a slender majority of 237 votes. In 2016 the Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, Ruth Davidson, gained the constituency from the SNP with a majority of 610 votes.
In the UK Parliament, the Edinburgh Central constituency was represented by the Labour Party almost continuously from the 1945 UK general election until the constituency was abolished in 2005, voting Conservative once in 1983.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sarah Boyack | Scottish Labour | |
| 2011 | Marco Biagi | Scottish National Party | |
| 2016 | Ruth Davidson | Scottish Conservatives | |
Election results
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Ruth Davidson | 10,399 | 30.4 | +15.4 | |
| SNP | Alison Dickie | 9,789 | 28.6 | -4.1 | |
| Labour | Sarah Boyack | 7,546 | 22.1 | -9.8 | |
| Scottish Green | Alison Johnstone | 4,644 | 13.6 | New | |
| Liberal Democrats | Hannah Bettsworth | 1,672 | 4.9 | -15.6 | |
| Libertarian | Tom Laird | 119 | 0.3 | New | |
| Majority | 610 | 1.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 34,169 | ||||
| Conservative gain from SNP | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNP | Marco Biagi | 9,480 | 32.7 | N/A | |
| Labour | Sarah Boyack | 9,243 | 31.9 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Alex Cole-Hamilton | 5,937 | 20.5 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Iain McGill | 4,354 | 15.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 237 | 0.8 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 29,014 | 54.5 | +1.6 | ||
| SNP win (new boundaries) | |||||
2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Sarah Boyack | 9,155 | 31.1 | -1.3 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Siobhan Mathers | 7,962 | 27.1 | +4.3 | |
| SNP | Shirley-Anne Somerville | 7,496 | 25.5 | +7.8 | |
| Conservative | Fiona Houston | 4,783 | 16.3 | -0.8 | |
| Majority | 1,193 | 4.0 | -5.5 | ||
| Turnout | 29,396 | 52.9 | +6.8 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -2.8 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Sarah Boyack | 9,066 | 32.36 | −5.66 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Andy Myles | 6,400 | 22.85 | +6.31 | |
| SNP | Kevin Pringle | 4,965 | 17.72 | −7.93 | |
| Conservative | Peter Finnie | 4,802 | 17.14 | +1.05 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Catriona Grant | 2,552 | 9.11 | +6.89 | |
| Scottish Peoples Alliance | James O'Neill | 229 | 0.82 | New | |
| Majority | 2,666 | 9.52 | −2.85 | ||
| Turnout | 28,014 | 46.06 | −10.67 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | -5.99 | |||
1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Sarah Boyack | 14,224 | 38.02 | N/A | |
| SNP | Ian McKee | 9,598 | 25.65 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Andy Myles | 6,187 | 16.54 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Jacqui Low | 6,018 | 16.09 | N/A | |
| Scottish Socialist | Kevin Williamson | 830 | 2.22 | N/A | |
| Majority | 4,626 | 12.37 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 36,857 | 56.73 | N/A | ||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
Footnotes
- See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived September 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- "SIMD (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation) 2016". Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2016.
- Statement of Persons Nominated Edinburgh Council