Edinburgh Pentlands (UK Parliament constituency)

Last updated

Edinburgh Pentlands
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
EdinburghPentlands1997Constituency.svg
Boundary of Edinburgh Pentlands in Scotlandfor the 2001 general election
Major settlements Edinburgh
1950–2005
SeatsOne
Created from Midlothian and Peebles Northern and Edinburgh South
Replaced by Edinburgh South West
Edinburgh South

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

Contents

In 1999, a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the same name and boundaries, and continues in use. See Edinburgh Pentlands (Scottish Parliament constituency) .

Boundaries

1950–1955: The Colinton, Gorgie-Dalry, Merchiston and Sighthill wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh. [1]

1955–1974: The Colinton, Merchiston and Sighthill wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, and part of the Gorgie-Dalry ward. [2]

1974–1983: The Colinton and Sighthill wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, and part of the Merchiston ward. [3]

1983–1997: Electoral divisions 10 (Balerno/Baberton), 24 (Hailes), 25 (Sighthill/Longstone), 35 (Colinton/Firrhill) and 36 (Braidburn/Fairmilehead) in the City of Edinburgh. [4]

1997–2005: Electoral divisions 10 (Balerno/Baberton), 22 (Longstone/Craiglockhart), 30 (Sighthill/Broomhouse), 31 (Colinton/Firrhill), and 35 (Braidburn/Fairmilehead) in the City of Edinburgh. [5]

In 2005, prior to the general election, the Westminster constituency was one of six covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Five were entirely within the city council area. One, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, straddled the boundary with the East Lothian council area, to take in Musselburgh. Edinburgh Pentlands covered a south-western portion of the city council area.

In terms of wards used for elections to the City of Edinburgh Council, 1999 to 2007, Edinburgh Pentlands included wards named Balerno, Baberton, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Fairmilehead, Firrhill, Murrayburn, Parkhead, and Sighthill. The South Morningside ward was split between Edinburgh Pentlands and Edinburgh South. The seat had an urban north and a suburban centre. The remaining area was rural, and included a Pentland Hills area in the south.

In 2005, most of the constituency became part of Edinburgh South West. The Fairmilehead and South Morningside wards went to Edinburgh South. For the 2005 election, there were five constituencies covering the city area, all entirely within that area. [6]

Members of Parliament

Malcolm Rifkind was the longest serving MP for Edinburgh Pentlands, serving from 1974 to 1997. Malcolm Rifkind 2011.jpg
Malcolm Rifkind was the longest serving MP for Edinburgh Pentlands, serving from 1974 to 1997.
ElectionMember [7] Party
1950 Lord John Hope Unionist
1964 Norman Wylie Unionist
1965 Conservative
Feb 1974 Malcolm Rifkind Conservative
1997 Lynda Clark Labour
2005 constituency abolished: see Edinburgh South West & Edinburgh South

Elections

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist John Hope 23,107 50.54
Labour Thomas Alexander MacNair17,91239.18
Liberal Charlotte R McNee4,70310.29
Majority5,19511.36
Turnout 45,72282.01
Unionist win (new seat)
General election 1951: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist John Hope 27,804 57.67
Labour David Connell20,40542.33
Majority7,39915.34
Turnout 48,20983.34
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1955: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist John Hope 23,496 59.47 +1.80
Labour David Connell16,01140.53−1.80
Majority7,48518.94+3.60
Turnout 39,50777.28−7.06
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1959: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist John Hope 25,742 60.30 +0.83
Labour John Mackintosh 16,95039.70−0.83
Majority8,79220.60+1.36
Turnout 42,69280.28+3.00
Unionist hold Swing

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Unionist Norman Wylie 20,181 46.04
Labour Magnus John Williamson17,79440.59
Liberal Charles L Abernethy5,86213.37New
Majority2,3875.45
Turnout 43,83781.57
Unionist hold Swing
General election 1966: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Norman Wylie 19,176 44.94
Labour William Wallace19,13244.84
Liberal Donald Clarke4,36310.22
Majority440.10
Turnout 42,67180.48
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Norman Wylie 21,829 46.11
Labour Ewan George Francis Stewart 18,64639.38
Liberal Donald Clarke4,0558.56
SNP A.W. Stephen Rae2,8145.94New
Majority3,1836.72
Turnout 47,34476.90
Conservative hold Swing
General election February 1974: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 18,162 41.20
Labour John McWilliam 13,56030.76
Liberal Stanley Patrick Ross-Smith6,87015.58
SNP T Forrest5,49112.46
Majority4,60210.44
Turnout 44,08380.88
Conservative hold Swing
General election October 1974: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 14,083 33.93
Labour Co-op George Foulkes 12,82630.90
SNP J Hutchinson10,18924.55
Liberal Stanley Patrick Ross-Smith4,41110.63
Majority1,2573.03
Turnout 41,50975.53
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1979: Edinburgh Pentlands
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 17,684 39.28 +5.4
Labour AJ Johnstone16,48636.62+5.7
Liberal Colin Luckhurst5,91913.15+2.5
SNP Stephen Maxwell 4,93410.96−14.5
Majority1,1982.66−0.3
Turnout 45,02376.76+1.2
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Edinburgh Pentlands [8]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 17,051 39.19 −5.1
SDP Keith Smith12,74229.28+15.7
Labour Eric Milligan 10,39023.88−6.2
SNP Neil MacCormick 2,6426.07−5.8
Ecology Alistair Nicol-Smith6871.58New
Majority4,3099.90+7.2
Turnout 43,51273.38−5.4
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1987: Edinburgh Pentlands [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 17,278 38.27 −0.9
Labour Mark Lazarowicz 13,53329.98+6.1
SDP Keith Smith11,07224.52−5.2
SNP Neil MacCormick 3,2647.23+1.1
Majority3,7458.30−1.6
Turnout 45,14777.67+4.3
Conservative hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Edinburgh Pentlands [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 18,128 40.7 +2.4
Labour Co-op Mark Lazarowicz 13,83831.1+1.1
SNP Kathleen Caskie6,88215.4+8.2
Liberal Democrats Keith Smith5,59712.6−11.9
Natural Law David Rae1110.2New
Majority4,2909.6+1.3
Turnout 44,55680.2+2.5
Conservative hold Swing
General election 1997: Edinburgh Pentlands [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Lynda Clark 19,675 43.0 +11.9
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 14,81332.4−8.3
SNP Stewart Gibb5,95213.0−2.4
Liberal Democrats Jenny Dawe4,57510.0−2.6
Referendum Malcolm McDonald4220.9New
Scottish Green Robin Harper 2240.5New
UKIP Alistair McConnachie810.2New
Majority4,86210.6N/A
Turnout 45,74276.7−3.5
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +10.1

Election in the 2000s

General election 2001: Edinburgh Pentlands [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Lynda Clark 15,797 40.6 −2.4
Conservative Malcolm Rifkind 14,05536.1+3.7
Liberal Democrats David Walker4,21010.8+0.8
SNP Stewart Gibb4,21010.8−2.2
Scottish Socialist James Mearns5551.4New
UKIP Bill McMurdo1050.3+0.1
Majority1,7424.5−5.9
Turnout 38,93264.4−12.3
Labour hold Swing -3.1

See also

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Representation of the People Act 1948: Schedule 1", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1948 c. 65 (sch.1), retrieved 23 July 2023
  2. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) (Edinburgh Central and Edinburgh Central) Order 1955. SI 1955/24". Statutory Instruments 1955. Part II. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1956. pp. 2192–2193.
  3. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1970", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1970/1680, retrieved 23 July 2023
  4. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1983", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1983/422, retrieved 23 July 2023
  5. ↑ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (Scotland) Order 1995", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1995/1037, retrieved 23 July 2023
  6. ↑ "Fifth Periodical Review". Boundary Commission for Scotland . Archived from the original on 9 October 2007.
  7. ↑ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
  8. ↑ "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

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