Edinburgh West (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh West was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) from 1999 until 2011. It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It was also 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 West (UK Parliament constituency).

Edinburgh West
Former burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh West shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Former constituency
Created	1999
Abolished	2011
Council area	City of Edinburgh
Replaced by	Edinburgh Western

From the Scottish Parliament election, 2011, the Edinburgh West constituency was re-drawn and renamed Edinburgh Western.

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region were Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, Linlithgow, Livingston and Midlothian.

The region covered 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 West 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 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 North and Leith, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh and Edinburgh South,

Edinburgh West has boundaries with the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency, the Edinburgh Central constituency, and the Edinburgh Pentlands 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 West includes the wards of Cramond, Dalmeny and Kirkliston, Davidson's Mains, East Craigs, Gyle, Muirhouse and Drylaw, Murrayfield, North East Corstorphine, South Queensferry, South East Corstorphine, and Stenhouse, part of the Craigleith ward, which is split with Edinburgh Central, and part of the Pilton ward, which is split with Edinburgh North and Leith. 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.

From the 2011 election, Edinburgh West is to be redrawn and renamed "Edinburgh Western". The electoral wards used in this seat are;

• In full: Almond, Drum Brae/Gyle
• In part: Forth, Inverleith, Corstorphine/Murrayfield

Constituency profile

Edinburgh West is mostly suburban, but takes in rural areas to the west. It includes Cramond, Davidson's Mains, East Craigs, Gyle, Murrayfield, Ratho, South Queensferry, a part of the Craigleith area and a part of the Pilton area.

Members of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Margaret Smith	Scottish Liberal Democrats
	2011	constituency abolished: replaced by Edinburgh Western

Election results

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Smith	13,677	39.4	-3.9
	SNP	Sheena Cleland	7,791	22.4	+10.0
	Conservative	Gordon Lindhurst	7,361	21.2	-4.4
	Labour	Richard Meade	5,343	15.4	+0.3
Majority			5,886	16.9	-0.9
Turnout			34,752	57.9	+2.5
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

2003 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Smith	14,434	43.34	+6.88
	Conservative	James Douglas-Hamilton	8,520	25.58	+0.14
	Labour	Carol Fox	5,046	15.15	−6.16
	SNP	Alyn Smith	4,133	12.41	−5.61
	Scottish Socialist	Pat Smith	993	2.98	+2.98
	Scottish Peoples Alliance	Bruce Skivington	175	0.53	+0.53
Majority			5,914	17.76	+6.74
Turnout			33,301	55.38	−11.97
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal Democrats	Margaret Smith	15,161	36.46	N/A
	Conservative	James Douglas-Hamilton	10,578	25.44	N/A
	Labour	Carol Fox	8,860	21.31	N/A
	SNP	Graham Sutherland	6,984	16.80	N/A
Majority			4,583	11.02	N/A
Turnout			41,583		N/A
	Liberal Democrats win (new seat)

See also

• Politics of Edinburgh

References

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