Edinburgh Eastern (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh Eastern (Gaelic: Dùn Èideann an Ear) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Edinburgh. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is one of nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Edinburgh Eastern
Burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh Eastern shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population86,488 (2019)[1]
Current constituency
Created2011
PartyAlba Party[a]
MSPAsh Regan
Council areaCity of Edinburgh
Created fromEdinburgh East and Musselburgh,
Edinburgh South

The constituency was created for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, and includes areas that were formerly part of the constituencies of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh and Midlothian North and Musselburgh, which were abolished. The seat has been held by Ash Regan since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, originally an SNP politician, she defected to Alba on 28 October 2023.

Electoral region

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The other eight constituencies of the Lothian region are: Almond Valley, Edinburgh Central, 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

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Map of boundaries from 2011

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.

Edinburgh Eastern uses the following electoral wards:[2]

Member of the Scottish Parliament

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Election Member Party
2011 Kenny MacAskill SNP
2016 Ash Regan
2023 Alba

Election results

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2020s

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2021 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Eastern[3][4][5]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Ash Regan[b] 22,658 52.4  5.1 17,182 39.6  1.3
Labour Bill Cook 12,541 29.0  4.0 9,105 21.0  3.2
Conservative Graham Hutchison 5,970 13.8  2.3 6,839 15.8  1.0
Scottish Green 6,292 14.5  3.0
Liberal Democrats Jill Reilly 2,035 4.7  1.1 1,583 3.6  1.1
Alba 866 2.0 New
Animal Welfare 299 0.7 New
Scottish Family 279 0.6 New
All for Unity 271 0.6 New
Women's Equality 134 0.3  0.9
Freedom Alliance (UK) 102 0.2 New
Reform UK 96 0.2 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament 94 0.2 New
Communist 66 0.2 New
Scottish Libertarian 59 0.1 New
UKIP 64 0.1  1.8
Independent Ashley Graczyk 50 0.1 New
SDP 28 0.1 New
Renew 12 0.0 New
Majority 10,117 23.4  9.1
Valid Votes 43,204 43,421
Invalid Votes 270 97
Turnout 43,474 61.0  4.3 43,518 61.0  4.2
SNP hold Swing  4.6
Notes
  1. ^ elected as SNP
  2. ^ Incumbent member for this constituency

2010s

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2016 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Eastern[6][7]
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Ash Regan 16,760 47.3  0.1 14,557 40.9  0.6
Labour Kezia Dugdale[a] 11,673 33.0  7.1 8,615 24.2  5.6
Conservative Nick Cook 5,700 16.1  7.5 5,969 16.8  9.2
Scottish Green 4,098 11.5  4.3
Liberal Democrats Cospatric d'Inverno 1,264 3.6  0.4 892 2.5  0.1
UKIP 684 1.9  1.3
Women's Equality 417 1.2 New
RISE 212 0.6 New
Solidarity 183 0.5  0.3
Majority 5,087 14.3  7.0
Valid Votes 35,397 35,627
Invalid Votes 277 71
Turnout 35,624 56.7  1.3 35,698 56.8  1.4
SNP hold Swing  3.5
Notes
  1. ^ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Eastern[8][9][10]
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Kenny MacAskill[a] 14,552 47.4 N/A 12,380 40.3 N/A
Labour Ewan Aitken 12,319 40.1 N/A 9,171 29.8 N/A
Conservative Cameron Buchanan 2,630 8.6 N/A 2,335 7.6 N/A
Independent Margo MacDonald[a] 2,313 7.5 N/A
Scottish Green 2,219 7.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats Martin Veart 1,227 4.0 N/A 795 2.6 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 445 1.4 N/A
Socialist Labour 225 0.7 N/A
BNP 224 0.7 N/A
UKIP 182 0.6 N/A
Scottish Socialist 144 0.5 N/A
Scottish Christian 109 0.4 N/A
CPA 66 0.2 N/A
Liberal 62 0.2 N/A
Solidarity 54 0.2 N/A
Independent Ken O'Neil 15 0.0 N/A
Independent Mev Brown 6 0.0 N/A
Independent David Hogg 5 0.0 N/A
Majority 2,233 7.3 N/A
Valid Votes 30,728 30,750
Invalid Votes 157 137
Turnout 30,885 55.4 N/A 30,887 55.4 N/A
SNP win (new seat)
Notes
  1. ^ a b Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based), National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes)
  2. ^ "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 138. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Edinburgh Eastern constituency results". City of Edinburgh Council. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Edinburgh Eastern regional results". City of Edinburgh Council. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  5. ^ Constituencies A-Z | Edinburgh Eastern, BBC News; retrieved 8 May 2021
  6. ^ "Edinburgh Eastern Constituency". City of Edinburgh Council. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Lothian regional results". City of Edinburgh Council. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  8. ^ "Eastern MSP Constituency Results 2011". City of Edinburgh Council. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  9. ^ "2011 Results of Regional List". City of Edinburgh Council. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Results and turnout at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election". Electoral Commission. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
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