Edinburgh East
2010 Results:
Conservative: 4358 (10.93%)
Labour: 17314 (43.43%)
Liberal Democrat: 7751 (19.44%)
SNP: 8133 (20.4%)
Green: 2035 (5.1%)
TUSC: 274 (0.69%)
Majority: 9181 (23.03%)
2005 Results:
Labour: 15899 (40%)
Liberal Democrat: 9697 (24.4%)
SNP: 6760 (17%)
Conservative: 4093 (10.3%)
Other: 3260 (8.2%)
Majority: 6202 (15.6%)
Boundary changes prior to 2005 election: Name of seat changed from Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.
2001 Result
Conservative: 3906 (11.3%)
Labour: 18124 (52.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 4981 (14.5%)
SNP: 5956 (17.3%)
Other: 1487 (4.3%)
Majority: 12168 (35.3%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 6483 (15.4%)
Labour: 22564 (53.6%)
Liberal Democrat: 4511 (10.7%)
SNP: 8034 (19.1%)
Referendum: 526 (1.2%)
Majority: 14530 (34.5%)
No Boundary Changes:
Profile: This seat includes the Old Town of Edinburgh, covering Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Holyrood palace and now the Scottish Parliament (though the boundary runs along Princes Street, so the retail heart of Edinburgh lies in Edinburgh North). The redevelopment of run down flats and the arrival of the Scottish Palriament means this is now a far more modern, upmarket and desirable area.
Most of the electorate however live on the other side of Arthur`s Seat and Holyrood Park in areas like Meadowbank, Duddingston, Mountcastle, Portobello, Prestonfield, Restalrig, Southside and Tollcross. There are mixed areas here, some dsirable housing, a lot of student accomodation from Napier University, Victorian tenements and a lot of council accommodation from the last century, including notoriously deprived and troubled areas like Craigmillar and Niddrie, both largely demolished and redeveloped since the 1980s.
This is a safe Labour seat, having returned Gavin Strang to Parliament for over 35 years. The Edinburgh East and Musselburgh seat in the Scottish Parliament, fought as the name suggests on significantly different boundaries, fell to the SNP in 2007.
Current MP: Sheila Gilmore (Labour) Former Edinburgh councillor. Contested Edinburgh Pentlands 2007.






2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 90140
Male: 47.8%
Female: 52.2%
Under 18: 18.2%
Over 60: 19.2%
Born outside UK: 9.3%
White: 95.7%
Black: 0.5%
Asian: 1.9%
Mixed: 0.7%
Other: 1.3%
Christian: 52.3%
Muslim: 1.7%
Graduates 16-74: 26.6%
No Qualifications 16-74: 26%
Owner-Occupied: 61.1%
Social Housing: 21.1% (Council: 13.9%, Housing Ass.: 7.3%)
Privately Rented: 15.1%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 14.8%