Midlothian 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 Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

for the region as a whole. For the

2011 Scottish Parliament election The 2011 Scottish Parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2011 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. The election delivered the first majority government since the opening of Holyrood, a remarkable feat as the Additional M ...

, the Midlothian constituency was abolished, with the creation of two new constituencies called Midlothian North and Musselburgh, and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region from 1999 to 2011 were: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh West,

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a ...

and Livingston. 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 Midlothian constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

, with the name and boundaries of the then existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.Se
''The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland''
The Holyrood constituency was one of two covering the Midlothian council area. The other constituency, Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, covered a western portion of the Midlothian council area, and straddles its boundary with the Scottish Borders council area. Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale was within the South of Scotland electoral region.

Boundary review

Following their First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended extending the current Midlothian constituency into a newly formed seat of Midlothian North and Musselburgh with the western boundary to the south of Auchendinny. The other constituency now covering the Midlothian council area is a modified Midlothian South, Tweedale, and Lauderdale constituency.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

Footnotes

{{Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999-2011 Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999–2011 1999 establishments in Scotland Constituencies established in 1999 2011 disestablishments in Scotland Constituencies disestablished in 2011 Dalkeith Bonnyrigg and Lasswade Politics of Midlothian