Edinburgh West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

, first contested at the 1885 general election. Prior to the 2005 general election, the boundaries were the same as the eponymous constituency of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyr ...

, which had been created in 1999. This commuter belt seat, distinctively in the city, was Unionist/ Conservative for over 65 years, from the

1931 general election Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – ...

until the 1997 general election, although the Liberal/SDP Alliance and later the Liberal Democrats repeatedly came close to winning in the 1980s and early 1990s. After 1997, the seat was held by the Liberal Democrats until the 2015 general election. The

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) between the 2015 and 2017 general elections was Michelle Thomson, who was elected for the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

(SNP) in May 2015. In September 2015, she resigned the party whip and sat as an

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

. Thomson chose not to seek reelection either for the SNP or as an Independent candidate. At the 2017 general election, Christine Jardine of the Liberal Democrats gained the seat with a majority of 2,988 votes. The seat has been relative to others a marginal seat since 2005, as the winner's majority has not exceeded 8.2% of the vote since the 30% majority won in that year. The seat has changed hands twice electorally since that year and once through resigning the party whip.

Constituency profile

This is an affluent, left-leaning and pro-European seat covering the northwestern portion of Edinburgh. It is mostly suburban, but takes in rural areas within the council area including Kirkliston and South Queensferry. Edinburgh Airport and Murrayfield Stadium are within the seat.

Boundaries

The seat was created when the

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

constituency was abolished, in 1885, replaced by four seats: Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West. The Central constituency was abolished in 2005. The East constituency was abolished in 1997, but a new Edinburgh East was created in 2005. The South and West constituencies have been in continuous use (with alterations to boundaries) since 1885. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the seat was to consist of the municipal wards of St. Andrew, St. Stephen, St. Bernard, St. Luke. In 1918 the seat legally consisted of the Dalry, Gorgie, Haymarket and St. Bernard's municipal wards of Edinburgh. Before the 2005 general election, the seat was one of six covering the

City of Edinburgh council area The City of Edinburgh Council is the local government authority for the city of Edinburgh, capital of Scotland. With a population of in mid-2019, it is the second most populous local authority area in Scotland. In its current form, the counci ...

. Five were entirely within the city council area. One, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, straddled the boundary with the

East Lothian council area East Lothian (; sco, East Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Ear) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, as well as a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area. The county was called Haddingtonshire until 1921. In 1975, the histo ...

to take in

Musselburgh Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of . History The name Musselburgh is Ol ...

. Constituency boundaries were revised for the 2005 election: Edinburgh West was enlarged, to include an area formerly within Edinburgh Central, and became one of five seats covering the city area. From 1997 to 2007 the seat comprised the following wards: Cramond, Dalmeny and Kirkliston, Davidson's Mains,

East Craigs East Craigs is a residential district of Edinburgh located in the north-west of the city, on the western flanks of Corstorphine Hill. It lies next to the green belt, and prior to development was a working farm. Development of the area began i ...

, Gyle, Muirhouse and Drylaw, Murrayfield, North East Corstorphine, Queensferry, South East Corstorphine and Stenhouse. As of 2007, as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, none of the new Edinburgh wards were wholly within the constituency.

Almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genu ...

and Constorphine/Murrayfield are almost entirely within it except for a small corner of each one. The constituency also includes a majority of Drum Brae/Gyle, a minority of Pentland Hills and small sections of

Forth Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

, Inverleith,

City Centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

and Sighthill/Gorgie.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Portrait of Leonard Courtney, 1st Baron Courtney of Penwith

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

* Caused by Buchanan's resignation to seek re-election as a Liberal candidate.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edinburgh West (Uk Parliament Constituency) Westminster Parliamentary constituencies in Scotland Constituencies of the Parliament of the United Kingdom established in 1885

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...