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Edinburgh Northern and Leith (Scottish Parliament constituency) facts for kids

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Edinburgh Northern and Leith
burgh constituency
for the Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh Northern and Leith (Scottish Parliament constituency).svg
Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region).svg
Edinburgh Northern and Leith shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population 93,605 (2019)
Current constituency
Created 2011
Party SNP
MSP Ben Macpherson
Council area City of Edinburgh
Created from Edinburgh North and Leith

Edinburgh Northern and Leith (Gaelic: Dùn Èideann a Tuath agus Lite) 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.

Prior to the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, most of the constituency was part of the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.

The seat has been held by Ben Macpherson of the Scottish National Party since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

Electoral region

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

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.

The Edinburgh North and Leith 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 House of Commons constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.

Since 2011, "Edinburgh Northern and Leith" has consisted of the electoral wards of:

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election Member Party
2011 Malcolm Chisholm Labour
2016 Ben Macpherson SNP

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Northern and Leith
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Ben Macpherson 22,443 47.9 Increase1.2 18,174 38.7 Increase2.4
Labour Katrina Faccenda 10,874 23.2 Decrease5.3 8,726 18.6 Decrease1.2
Green Lorna Slater 6,116 13.1 New 9,243 19.7 Increase1.6
Conservative Callum Laidlaw 5,052 10.8 Decrease5.6 6,293 13.4 Decrease4.4
Liberal Democrats Rebecca Bell 2,035 4.3 Decrease0.5 2,177 4.6 Increase1.0
Alba Party 770 1.6 New
Animal Welfare Party 264 0.6 New
All for Unity 220 0.5 New
Scottish Family Party 212 0.5 New
Freedom Alliance (UK) Jon Pullman 314 0.7 New 180 0.4 New
Women's Equality Party 167 0.4 Decrease1.4
Reform UK 110 0.2 New
Scottish Libertarian Party 83 0.2 New
Communist Party of Britain 80 0.2 New
Abolish the Scottish Parliament Party 78 0.2 New
Independent Ashley Graczyk 58 0.1 New
UKIP 43 0.1 Decrease1.4
Social Democratic Party (UK, 1990–present) 23 0.0 New
Renew Party 14 0.0 New
Majority 11,569 24.7 Increase6.5
Valid Votes 46,834 46,915
Invalid Votes 155 85
Turnout 46,989 63.0 Increase7.5 47,000 63.0 Increase7.6
SNP hold Swing Increase3.3

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Northern and Leith
Party Candidate Constituency Regional
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
SNP Ben Macpherson 17,322 46.7 Increase7.0 13,495 36.3 Decrease1.2
Labour Lesley Hinds 10,576 28.5 Decrease13.1 7,364 19.8 Decrease4.4
Green 6,744 18.1 Increase5.8
Conservative Ian McGill 6,081 16.4 Increase6.9 6,623 17.8 Increase8.7
Liberal Democrats Martin Veart 1,779 4.8 Decrease4.4 1,349 3.6 Decrease2.2
Independent Jack Caldwell 1,344 3.6 New
Women's Equality Party 658 1.8 New
UKIP 568 1.5 Increase1.0
RISE 293 0.8 New
Solidarity (Scotland) 120 0.3 Increase0.1
Majority 6,746 18.2 N/A
Valid Votes 37,102 37,214
Invalid Votes 260 73
Turnout 37,362 55.5 Increase3.0 37,287 55.4 Increase2.8
SNP gain from Labour Swing
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Northern and Leith
Party Candidate Constituency Region
Votes % ±% Votes % ±%
Labour Malcolm Chisholm 12,858 41.6 N/A 7,508 24.2 N/A
SNP Shirley-Anne Somerville 12,263 39.7 N/A 11,610 37.5 N/A
Green 3,812 12.3 N/A
Conservative Sheila Low 2,928 9.5 N/A 2,803 9.1 N/A
Independent Margo MacDonald 2,157 7.0 N/A
Liberal Democrats Dan Farthing 2,836 9.2 N/A 1,805 5.8 N/A
All-Scotland Pensioners Party 266 0.9 N/A
Scottish Socialist 211 0.7 N/A
Socialist Labour Party (UK) 177 0.6 N/A
UKIP 155 0.5 N/A
BNP 148 0.5 N/A
Liberal Party (UK, 1989) 91 0.3 N/A
Scottish Christian Party 90 0.3 N/A
Solidarity (Scotland) 57 0.2 N/A
Christian Peoples Alliance 41 0.1 N/A
Independent Ken O'Neil 17 0.1 N/A
Independent David Hogg 11 0.0 N/A
Independent Mev Brown 7 0.0 N/A
Majority 595 1.9 N/A
Valid Votes 30,885 30,966
Invalid Votes 172 114
Turnout 31,057 52.5 N/A 31,080 52.6 N/A
Labour win (new seat)

See also

  • Politics of Edinburgh
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