Edinburgh East (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh East is a burgh constituency

Burgh constituency

A burgh constituency is a type of parliamentary constituency in Scotland. It is a constituency which is predominantly urban, and on this basis has been designated as a burgh constituency...

of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

In its present form the constituency was first used in the 2005 general election

United Kingdom general election, 2005

The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....

, but there was also an Edinburgh East constituency from 1885 to 1997.

Boundaries

Edinburgh East is now one of five constituencies covering the City of Edinburgh council area. All are entirely within the city council area. Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area was covered by six constituencies, with one straddling a boundary with another council area.

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885

The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equally populated constituencies, in an attempt to equalise representation across...

provided that the constituency was to consist of the Municipal Wards of Broughton, Calton, and Canongate, and so much of St. Leonard's Ward as lies to the north of a line drawn along the centres of East and West Richmond Streets.

In 1918 the constituency consisted of the "Burgh of Musselburgh and the Canongate and Portobello Municipal Wards of Edinburgh."

The Edinburgh East constituency, as defined in 2005, consists of areas formerly within the constituencies of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

, Edinburgh Central

Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh Central was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

and Edinburgh South

Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh South is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the general election of 1885. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...

. It is largely a replacement for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh. Scottish Parliament constituencies retain the names and boundaries of the older Westminster constituencies.

As implied by the name, Edinburgh East covers an eastern portion of the City of Edinburgh. In terms of wards used in elections to the City of Edinburgh Council, 1999 to 2007, it includes the wards of Craigmillar

Craigmillar

Craigmillar , from the Gaelic Crag Maol Ard, meaning 'High Bare Rock', is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, about south east of the city centre, with Duddingston to the north and Newcraighall to the east.- History :...

, Duddingston

Duddingston

Duddingston is a former village in the east of Edinburgh, Scotland, next to Holyrood Park.-Origins and etymology:The estate wherein Duddingston Village now lies was first recorded in lands granted to the Abbot of Kelso Abbey by David I of Scotland between 1136–47, and is described as stretching...

, Holyrood

Holyrood, Edinburgh

Holyrood is an area in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Lying east of the city centre, at the end of the Royal Mile, Holyrood was once in the separate burgh of Canongate before the expansion of Edinburgh in 1856...

, Leith Links

Leith Links

Leith Links is the principal open space within Leith, the harbour district of Edinburgh, Scotland. This public park extends to . In its current form it is largely flat and bordered by mature trees. Historically it was an undulating area of former sand-dunes utilised as a golf links.-Current...

, Meadowbank

Meadowbank, Edinburgh

Meadowbank is a suburb of Edinburgh in Scotland. It is best known for Meadowbank Stadium. The A1 road and East Coast Main Line railway to England run through this way.-External links:*...

, Milton, Mountcastle

Mountcastle, Edinburgh

Mountcastle is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the city centre and lies to the north-west of the neighbouring area of Portobello. Mountcastle is primarily a residential area, with a large number of early-mid 20th century houses....

, Portobello, Prestonfield

Prestonfield

Prestonfield is a suburb in the south of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, which lies to the north of the A7 road. It is best known as being home to Prestonfield House, a renowned hotel.-External links:* *...

, Restalrig

Restalrig

Restalrig is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located east of the city centre, west of the A199 road, and to the east of Lochend, with which it overlaps. Restalrig Road is the main route through the area, running from London Road at Jock's Lodge, to Leith Links at the south edge of...

, Southside and Tollcross

Tollcross, Edinburgh

Tollcross is a crossroads in the South-West of the City Centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, and also the surrounding area which derives its name from the junction.-Physical description:...

. The wards are due to be replaced with new wards in 2007, as a consequence of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004

The Local Governance Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, inter alia, for the election of Councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the Single Transferable Vote system....

.

The constituency is predominantly urban.

The constituency of the 1885 to 1997 period was created when the Edinburgh

Edinburgh (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1708 to 1801 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 until 1885. Originally a single member constituency, representation was increased to two members in 1832...

constituency was abolished, in favour of four new constituencies: Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Central

Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)

, Edinburgh South

Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)

and Edinburgh West

Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom , first used in the 1885 general election...

. Edinburgh Central was abolished in 2005. The South and West constituencies continue in use, with altered boundaries.

Constituency profile

The constituency is home to some of the Scottish capital's most notable tourist attractions, including Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle is a fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position atop the volcanic Castle Rock. Human habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC, although the nature of early settlement is unclear...

, the Holyrood Palace

Holyrood Palace

The Palace of Holyroodhouse, commonly referred to as Holyrood Palace, is the official residence of the monarch in Scotland. The palace stands at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, at the opposite end to Edinburgh Castle...

, the Royal Mile

Royal Mile

The Royal Mile is a succession of streets which form the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland.As the name suggests, the Royal Mile is approximately one Scots mile long, and runs between two foci of history in Scotland, from Edinburgh Castle at the top of the Castle...

, St Giles' Cathedral and the Scottish Parliament building

Scottish Parliament Building

The Scottish Parliament Building is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, within the UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament held their first debate in the new building on 7...

at Holyrood

Holyrood, Edinburgh

. Towards the south and east it also includes some of Edinburgh's more deprived areas such as the Craigmillar

Craigmillar

housing estate.

1885 to 1997

Election		Member	Party
	1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 -Seats summary:-See also:List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918Representation of the People Act 1884Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...	George Goschen	Independent Liberal
	1886	George Goschen	Liberal Unionist Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington and Joseph Chamberlain, the party formed a political alliance with the Conservative Party in opposition to Irish Home Rule...
	1886 United Kingdom general election, 1886 -Seats summary:-See also:MPs elected in the UK general election, 1886The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987*...	Robert Wallace Robert Wallace (Edinburgh MP) Robert Wallace was a Scottish writer who had a remarkably varied career as a classics teacher, minister, university professor, newspaper editor, barrister and finally a member of parliament. He was born on 24 June 1831 at Kincaple near St. Andrews, Fife, and was the second son of Jasper Wallace,...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1899 by-election	Sir George McCrae Sir George McCrae Colonel Sir George McCrae DSO MP was a Scottish textile merchant Liberal Party politician.-Family and education:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1909 by-election	Sir James Gibson, Bt Sir James Gibson, 1st Baronet Sir James Gibson, 1st Baronet was Liberal MP for Edinburgh East from 1909 to 1912.- External links :...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1912 by-election	James Myles Hogge James Myles Hogge James Myles Hogge was a British social researcher and Liberal politician.Hogge was educated at the Edinburgh Normal School, Moray House School of Education, and Edinburgh University, where he was president of the Liberal Association. Hogge at first wanted to be teacher...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1924 United Kingdom general election, 1924 - Seats summary :- References :* F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987* - External links :* * *...	Thomas Drummond Shiels	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1931 United Kingdom general election, 1931 The United Kingdom general election on Tuesday 27 October 1931 was the last in the United Kingdom not held on a Thursday. It was also the last election, and the only one under universal suffrage, where one party received an absolute majority of the votes cast.The 1931 general election was the...	David Marshall Mason David Marshall Mason David Marshall Mason was a Scottish Liberal, later Liberal National politician, banker and businessman.-Family and Education:...	Liberal Liberal Party (UK) The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...
	1935 United Kingdom general election, 1935 The United Kingdom general election held on 14 November 1935 resulted in a large, though reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Conservative Stanley Baldwin. The greatest number of MPs, as before, were Conservative, while the National Liberal vote held steady...	Frederick Pethick-Lawrence Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, 1st Baron Pethick-Lawrence PC was a British Labour politician.-Background and education:...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1945 by-election	George Reid Thomson	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1947 by-election	John Wheatley	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1954 by-election	George Willis	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	1970 United Kingdom general election, 1970 The United Kingdom general election of 1970 was held on 18 June 1970, and resulted in a surprise victory for the Conservative Party under leader Edward Heath, who defeated the Labour Party under Harold Wilson. The election also saw the Liberal Party and its new leader Jeremy Thorpe lose half their...	Gavin Strang Gavin Strang Gavin Steel Strang is a British politician who served in the House of Commons for forty years , representing Edinburgh East in the Labour interest. He served as a minister in the 1974-1979 government under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan as well as in the Cabinet under Tony Blair...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...		constituency abolished: see Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (UK Parliament constituency) Edinburgh East and Musselburgh was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

2005 to present

Election		Member	Party
	2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....	Gavin Strang Gavin Strang Gavin Steel Strang is a British politician who served in the House of Commons for forty years , representing Edinburgh East in the Labour interest. He served as a minister in the 1974-1979 government under Prime Ministers Harold Wilson and James Callaghan as well as in the Cabinet under Tony Blair...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
	2010	Sheila Gilmore Sheila Gilmore Sheila Gilmore is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh East since 2010. Gilmore stood for the seat following the decision of Gavin Strang MP to stand down; she is a former City of Edinburgh councillor.- Childhood and early career :Gilmore was born...	Labour Labour Party (UK) The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

Boundaries

Constituency profile

1885 to 1997

2005 to present

Election results

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

See also