Edinburgh South (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh South was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it was one of nine constituencies in the Lothians electoral region, which elected 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 Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency).

Edinburgh South
Former burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh South shown within the Lothians electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created1999
Abolished2011
Council areaCity of Edinburgh
Replaced byEdinburgh Eastern,
Edinburgh Southern

For the Scottish Parliament election, 2011, Edinburgh South was redrawn and replaced by the renamed Edinburgh Southern constituency

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region are Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, 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 South 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 southern 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 Pentlands, Edinburgh North and Leith, and Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.

Edinburgh South has boundaries with the Edinburgh West constituency, the Edinburgh Central constituency, and the Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency.

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh 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 South includes the wards of Alnwickhill, Gilmerton, Kaimes, Marchmont, Merchiston, Moredun, Newington, North Morningside and the Grange, Prestonfield, and Sciennes, and part of the South Morningside ward, which is split with Edinburgh Pentlands. The wards were created in 1999, at the same time as the constituency, and are due to be replaced with new wards in 2007, without change to constituency boundaries.

To create the new "Edinburgh Southern" for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the electoral wards used are Sighthill / Gorgie; Fountainbridge / Craiglockhart; Meadows / Morningside; Southside / Newington; Liberton / Gilmerton; Portobello / Craigmillar. All these wards are divided between Southern and neighbouring constituencies, not one is contained whole within the new boundaries.

Constituency profile

Edinburgh South was predominantly suburban. It included Marchmont, Merchiston, Newington, the Grange, Sciennes and a northern area of Morningside, Moredun, Little France, Inch and Gilmerton.

Members of the Scottish Parliament
ElectionMemberParty
1999 Angus MacKay Scottish Labour Party
2003 Mike Pringle Scottish Liberal Democrats
2011 constituency abolished: replaced by Edinburgh Southern

Election results
2007 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mike Pringle 11,398 35.0 +2.9
Labour Donald Anderson 9,469 29.1 -2.5
SNP Robert Holland 6,117 18.8 +4.7
Conservative Gavin Brown 5,589 17.2 +0.6
Majority 1,929 5.9 +5.4
Turnout 32,573 56.6 +4.9
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Democrats Mike Pringle 10,005 32.07 + 9.74
Labour Angus MacKay 9,847 31.56 −5.49
Conservative Gordon Buchan 5,180 16.60 + 0.71
SNP Alex Orr 4,396 14.09 −9.44
Scottish Socialist Shirley Gibb 1,768 5.67 N/A
Majority 158 0.51 N.A
Turnout 31,196 51.68 −10.94
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
1999 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh South
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Angus MacKay 14,869 37.05 N/A
SNP Margo MacDonald 9,445 23.53 N/A
Liberal Democrats Mike Pringle 8,961 22.33 N/A
Conservative Iain Whyte 6,378 15.89 N/A
Socialist Workers William Black 482 1.20 N/A
Majority 5,424 13.52 N/A
Turnout 40,135 62.62 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

See also
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