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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.

portraitCurrent MP: Sheila Gilmore (Labour) Former Edinburgh councillor. Contested Edinburgh Pentlands 2007.

2010 election candidates:
portraitMartin Donald (Conservative) Educated at Portobello High School and Aberdeen University. Researcher for David McLetchie.
portraitSheila Gilmore (Labour) Former Edinburgh councillor. Contested Edinburgh Pentlands 2007.
portraitBeverley Hope (Liberal Democrat)
portraitGeorge Kerevan (SNP) Associate editor of the Scotsman. Former Labour councillor.
portraitRobin Harper (Green) Born 1940, Thurso. Educated at St Marylebone Grammar and Aberdeen University. Former teacher. MSP for the Lothians since 1999, he will stand down from the Scottish Parliament at the next election.
portraitGary Clark (TUSC)

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%

NB - The constituency guide is now archived and is no longer being updated. The new guide is at http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/2015guide

106 Responses to “Edinburgh East”

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  1. richard

    It might be asked what the point of the LibDems is in Scotland now.

    Want a pro-coalition, anti-Labour, unionist party?
    Conservative

    Want an anti-coalition, left-wing, unionist party?
    Labour

    Want a nationalist party?
    SNP

    Want a ‘radical’ party?
    Greens

    Want a EUsceptic libertarian party?
    UKIP

    What’s left for the LibDems?

    Apart from “Our family’s always voted Liberal” traditional votes, personal votes for Charlie, Ming etc and votes to stop another party winning.

    May 8th, 2012 at 9:47 pm
  2. Barnaby Marder

    It’s ironic – they’ve prospered in the past because they could theoretically have something for everyone, now they don’t have anything to offer anyone really, one could say.

    May 8th, 2012 at 10:44 pm
  3. Calum Smith

    Richard, you could say the same of the Scottish Tories to a large extent..

    May 8th, 2012 at 10:46 pm
  4. Calum Smith

    Correction, no point *in their present form*

    May 8th, 2012 at 10:59 pm
  5. A Cairns

    I think the LDs are essentially finished in Edinburgh even if they cling onto their 3 current cllrs as it is clear they were too dependent on protest votes and lazy tactical votes.

    September 7th, 2012 at 4:04 am
  6. THE RESULTS

    Prediction for 2015-
    Gilmore (Labour)- 19, 256 (50.5%, +7.1%)
    SNP- 9, 267 (24.3%, +3.9%)
    Tory- 3, 689 (9.6%, -1.3%)
    Lib Dem- 3, 467 (9.0%, -10.4%)
    Others- 2, 445 (6.4%, +0.6%)

    Lab hold.
    Turnout- 38, 124.
    Majority- 9, 989 (26.2%)

    Swing- +1.6% From SNP to Lab.

    December 22nd, 2012 at 4:57 pm
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