Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh South is a constituency

United Kingdom constituencies

In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...

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...

, first used in the general election of 1885

United Kingdom general election, 1885

-Seats summary:-See also:*List of MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1885*Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885–1918*Representation of the People Act 1884*Redistribution of Seats Act 1885-References:...

. It elects one Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

(MP) by the first past the post system of election. The current MP is the Labour Party's

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...

Ian Murray

Ian Murray (Scottish politician)

Ian Murray is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South since 2010. He was previously an Edinburgh city councillor for the Liberton/Gilmerton ward.-Life outside politics:...

who was first elected at the 2010 general election with a majority of just 316 votes.

Prior to 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....

the constituency had the same boundaries as the Scottish Parliament

Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...

constituency with the same name.

Boundaries

When created in 1885, the Westminster constituency was partly a replacement for 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. 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 St. George, St. Cuthbert, and Newington.

In 1918 the constituency consisted of the "Merchiston, Morningside, and Newington Municipal Wards of Edinburgh."

In 2005, prior to the general election, Edinburgh South was one of six covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Five were entirely within the city council area. One, 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....

, straddled the boundary with the East Lothian council area, to take in Musselburgh

Musselburgh

Musselburgh is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, six miles east of Edinburgh city centre.-History:...

.

For the 2005 election, the constituency was enlarged to enclude areas from the former Edinburgh Pentlands

Edinburgh Pentlands (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh Pentlands was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the general election of 1950, and abolished prior to the general election of 2005...

constituency, and became one of five constituencies covering the city area, all entirely within that area.

The constituency covers a southern portion of the city area, and is predominantly suburban. In terms of wards used in elections to the City of Edinburgh Council 1999 to 2007, it includes the wards of Alnwickhill

Alnwickhill

Alnwickhill is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is on the southern edge of the city and neighbours the areas of Liberton and Kaimes. The area is primarily residential....

, Fairmilehead

Fairmilehead

Fairmilehead is a district of South Edinburgh. It lies approximately 3 miles due south of the city centre and borders Midlothian. The area comprises the districts of Buckstone, Caiystane, Swanston, Frogston and Winton....

, Gilmerton

Gilmerton, Edinburgh

Gilmerton is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south-west of Danderhall. Its name derives from a combination of - from which we have the first, Gilmer, element - and ....

, Kaimes

Kaimes

Kaimes is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is south of Alnwickhill.-Sources:...

, Marchmont

Marchmont

Marchmont is a mainly residential affluent area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It lies roughly a mile to the south of the Old Town, separated from it by The Meadows and Bruntsfield Links...

, Merchiston

Merchiston

Merchiston is a prosperous, mainly residential area in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The housing is primarily a mixture of large, late Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian villas – several of the latter by Edward Calvert – together with a smaller number of Victorian tenements and...

, Moredun

Moredun

Moredun is a district of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of Liberton, while Craigour is situated just to its north.Originally called Gutters and later Goodtrees, the estate was renamed Moredun in 1769.-Sources:Google Maps...

, Little France

Little France

Little France is a suburb of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is on the A7.The area falls within the parish of Liberton, and acquired its name from members of the entourage brought to Scotland from France by Mary, Queen of Scots, who took up residence there...

, Newington

Newington, Edinburgh

Newington is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, about 15 to 20 minutes walk south of the city centre, the Royal Mile and Princes Street.It is the easternmost district of the area formerly covered by the Burgh Muir, gifted to the City by David I in the 12th Century...

, North Morningside and the Grange

Morningside, Edinburgh

Morningside is a district in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is south of the areas of Bruntsfield, Burghmuirhead ; south-west of Marchmont, and south-east of Merchiston...

, Sciennes

Sciennes

Sciennes is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, just outside the city centre to the south of the Meadows, with Newington to the east. Sciennes shares a Community Council with Marchmont, to the west....

, and South Morningside

Morningside, Edinburgh

Morningside is a district in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is south of the areas of Bruntsfield, Burghmuirhead ; south-west of Marchmont, and south-east of Merchiston...

.

These wards were replaced with new wards in 2007, as a result 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 therefore contains almost no electoral division in its entirety. Those within its boundaries are Southside/Newington, Meadows/Morningside, a handful of streets from the extreme north-east of Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart ward, Colinton/Fairmilehead, and Liberton/Gilemerton.

Members of Parliament

	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 Harrison	Independent Liberal
1886 by-election	Hugh Childers Hugh Childers Hugh Culling Eardley Childers was a British and Australian Liberal statesman of the nineteenth century. He is perhaps best known for his reform efforts at the Admiralty and the War Office...	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...
1892 United Kingdom general election, 1892 The 1892 United Kingdom general election was held from 4 July to 26 July 1892. It saw the Conservatives, led by Lord Salisbury, win the greatest number of seats, but not enough for an overall majority as William Ewart Gladstone's Liberals won many more seats than in the 1886 general election...	Herbert Paul Herbert Paul Herbert Woodfield Paul was an English writer and Liberal MP.Paul was the eldest son of George Woodfield Paul, Vicar of Finedon, and Jessie Philippa Mackworth. He was educated at Eton College and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he became President of the Oxford Union. He was called to the bar...	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...
1895 United Kingdom general election, 1895 The United Kingdom general election of 1895 was held from 13 July - 7 August 1895. It was won by the Conservatives led by Lord Salisbury who formed an alliance with the Liberal Unionist Party and had a large majority over the Liberals, led by Lord Rosebery...	Robert Cox	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	Arthur Dewar Arthur Dewar, Lord Dewar Arthur Dewar, later Lord Dewar, was a Scottish politician and judge, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South as well as Solicitor General for Scotland and later a Senator of the College of Justice....	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...
1900 United Kingdom general election, 1900 -Seats summary:-See also:MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1900The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:**-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...	Sir Andrew Agnew, 9th Baronet Sir Andrew Agnew, 9th Baronet Sir Andrew Noel Agnew, 9th Baronet JP was the son of Sir Andrew Agnew, 8th Baronet and Lady Mary Arabella Louisa Noel.-Succession:...	Liberal Unionist
1906 United Kingdom general election, 1906 -Seats summary:-See also:MPs elected in the United Kingdom general election, 1906The Parliamentary Franchise in the United Kingdom 1885-1918-External links:**-References:F. W. S. Craig, British Electoral Facts: 1832-1987**...	Arthur Dewar Arthur Dewar, Lord Dewar Arthur Dewar, later Lord Dewar, was a Scottish politician and judge, who served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South as well as Solicitor General for Scotland and later a Senator of the College of Justice....	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...
1910 by-election	Charles Henry Lyell Charles Henry Lyell The Hon. Charles Henry Lyell was a British politician and Liberal Member of Parliament who died in the First World War.He was born in 1875, the only son of Leonard Lyell, and was educated at Eton and New College, Oxford...	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...
1917 by-election	James Edward Parrott	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...
1918 United Kingdom general election, 1918 The United Kingdom general election of 1918 was the first to be held after the Representation of the People Act 1918, which meant it was the first United Kingdom general election in which nearly all adult men and some women could vote. Polling was held on 14 December 1918, although the count did...	Charles David Murray	Unionist
1922 United Kingdom general election, 1922 The United Kingdom general election of 1922 was held on 15 November 1922. It was the first election held after most of the Irish counties left the United Kingdom to form the Irish Free State, and was won by Andrew Bonar Law's Conservatives, who gained an overall majority over Labour, led by John...	Samuel Chapman Samuel Chapman Sir Samuel Chapman was a Scottish Unionist Party politician.He unsuccessfully contested the Perth constituency in 1906 and January 1910, and the Greenock constituency in December 1910 and in 1918, but was elected as Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South at the 1922 general election and held...	Unionist
1945 United Kingdom general election, 1945 The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...	William Darling William Darling Sir William Young Darling, CBE, MC was the Unionist Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons for the Edinburgh South constituency from 1945 to 1957. He was a director of the Royal Bank of Scotland 1942-57....	Unionist
1957 by-election Edinburgh South by-election, 1957 The Edinburgh South by-election of 29 March 1957 was held after the resignation of Conservative Party MP William Darling:The seat was safe, having been won by Lloyd George at the United Kingdom general election, 1955 by over 13,000 votes...	Michael Clark Hutchison Michael Clark Hutchison Alan Michael Clark Hutchison was a Scottish Unionist politician.Hutchison was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He became a barrister, called to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1937...	Unionist
1965		Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1979 United Kingdom general election, 1979 The United Kingdom general election of 1979 was held on 3 May 1979 to elect 635 members to the British House of Commons. The Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher ousted the incumbent Labour government of James Callaghan with a parliamentary majority of 43 seats...	Michael Ancram Michael Ancram Michael Andrew Foster Jude Kerr, 13th Marquess of Lothian, PC, QC , known as Michael Ancram, is a United Kingdom Conservative Party politician. He is a member of the House of Lords, former Member of Parliament, and a former member of the Shadow Cabinet...	Conservative Conservative Party (UK) The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...	Nigel Griffiths Nigel Griffiths Nigel Griffiths is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South from 1987 to 2010.-Early life:...	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	Ian Murray Ian Murray (Scottish politician) Ian Murray is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Edinburgh South since 2010. He was previously an Edinburgh city councillor for the Liberton/Gilmerton ward.-Life outside politics:...	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 general election

On 1 February 2010, Nigel Griffiths announced that he would not stand as the Labour candidate in the 2010 general election, and Labour then chose local councillor Ian Murray as their candidate. The Liberal Democrats selected former Edinburgh councillor Fred Mackintosh, the Scottish Conservatives selected veterinary surgeon Dr. Neil Hudson, the SNP selected financial consultant Sandy Howat, and the Green Party selected former research scientist Steve Burgess.

The constituency was a top target seat for both the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives against the Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

— the Lib Dem candidate had been just 405 votes behind the successful Labour candidate in the previous general election. In early 2008 Charles Clarke

Charles Clarke

Charles Rodway Clarke is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006.-Early life:...

included it in his "Doomsday Memo" of at-risk Labour constituencies, predicting that it could be taken by the Liberal Democrats with a swing of under 0.5%. In October 2009 a polling of marginal Scottish constituencies suggested that it could be taken by the Liberal Democrats. In the event, Labour managed to hold on to the seat, restricting the swing to just 0.1% to the Liberal Democrats.

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

On 12 May 1917, Sir Edward Parrott was returned unopposed.

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s

At a by-election on 9 February 1886, Mr Childers having accepted office, he was returned unopposed.