Subdivisions of Scotland City of Edinburgh Created from Edinburgh Member of parliament Ian Murray | Created 1885 European Parliament constituency Scotland Replaced by Edinburgh | |
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Edinburgh South is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the general election of 1885. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is the Labour Party's Ian Murray who was first elected at the 2010 general election with a majority of just 316 votes. He held his seat at the 2015 election with an increased majority, as the only Labour MP in Scotland.
Contents
- Boundaries
- 2015 general election
- 2010 general election
- Elections in the 1910s
- Elections in the 1880s
- References
Prior to the 2005 general election the constituency had the same boundaries as the Scottish Parliament constituency with the same name.
Boundaries
When created in 1885, the Westminster constituency was partly a replacement for the Edinburgh constituency. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the constituency was to consist of the Municipal Wards of St. George, St. Cuthbert, and Newington.
In 1918 the constituency consisted of the "Merchiston, Morningside, and Newington Municipal Wards of Edinburgh."
In 2005, prior to the general election, Edinburgh South was one of six covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Five were entirely within the city council area. One, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, straddled the boundary with the East Lothian council area, to take in Musselburgh.
For the 2005 election, the constituency was enlarged to enclude areas from the former Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, and became one of five constituencies covering the city area, all entirely within that area.
The constituency covers a southern portion of the city area, and is predominantly suburban. In terms of wards used in elections to the City of Edinburgh Council 1999 to 2007, it includes the wards of Alnwickhill, Fairmilehead, Gilmerton, Kaimes, Marchmont, Merchiston, Moredun, Little France, Newington, North Morningside and the Grange, Sciennes, and South Morningside.
These wards were replaced with new wards in 2007, as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. The constituency therefore contains almost no electoral division in its entirety. Those within its boundaries are Southside/Newington, Meadows/Morningside, a handful of streets from the extreme north-east of Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart ward, Colinton/Fairmilehead, and Liberton/Gilmerton.
2015 general election
At the 2015 general election, Edinburgh South became the only constituency in Scotland with a Labour MP.
2010 general election
On 1 February 2010, Nigel Griffiths announced that he would not stand as the Labour candidate in the 2010 general election, and Labour then chose local councillor Ian Murray as their candidate. The Liberal Democrats selected former Edinburgh councillor Fred Mackintosh, the Scottish Conservatives selected veterinary surgeon Dr. Neil Hudson, the SNP selected financial consultant Sandy Howat, and the Green Party selected former research scientist Steve Burgess.
The constituency was a top target seat for both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives against the Labour Party — the Lib Dem candidate had been just 405 votes behind the successful Labour candidate in the previous general election. In early 2008 Charles Clarke included it in his "Doomsday Memo" of at-risk Labour constituencies, predicting that it could be taken by the Liberal Democrats with a swing of under 0.5%. In October 2009 a polling of marginal Scottish constituencies suggested that it could be taken by the Liberal Democrats. In the event, Labour managed to hold on to the seat, restricting the swing to just 0.1% to the Liberal Democrats.
Elections in the 1910s
On 12 May 1917, Sir James Edward Parrott was returned unopposed.
Elections in the 1880s
At a by-election on 9 February 1886, Mr Childers having accepted office, he was returned unopposed.