Edinburgh South
2010 Results:
Conservative: 9452 (21.58%)
Labour: 15215 (34.74%)
Liberal Democrat: 14899 (34.02%)
SNP: 3354 (7.66%)
Green: 881 (2.01%)
Majority: 316 (0.72%)
2005 Results:
Labour: 14188 (33.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 13783 (32.3%)
Conservative: 10291 (24.1%)
SNP: 2635 (6.2%)
Other: 1801 (4.2%)
Majority: 405 (0.9%)
Boundary changes prior to 2005 election.
2001 Result
Conservative: 6172 (16.6%)
Labour: 15671 (42.2%)
Liberal Democrat: 10172 (27.4%)
SNP: 3683 (9.9%)
Other: 1468 (3.9%)
Majority: 5499 (14.8%)
1997 Result
Conservative: 9541 (21.3%)
Labour: 20993 (46.8%)
Liberal Democrat: 7911 (17.6%)
SNP: 5791 (12.9%)
Referendum: 504 (1.1%)
Other: 98 (0.2%)
Majority: 11452 (25.5%)
No Boundary Changes:
Profile:
Current MP: Ian Murray (Labour) Runs an events management company. Edinburgh councillor.
Neil Hudson (Conservative) contested Newcastle North 2005Ian Murray (Labour) Runs an events management company. Edinburgh councillor.Fred Mackintosh (Liberal Democrat) born 1970. Educated at Dulwich College and Edinburgh University. Advocate. Edinburgh councillor 1999-2007. Contested Livingston 1992, Midlothian 2005. Sandy Howat (SNP) Educated at Aberdeen and Glasgow universities. Financial consultant.Steve Burgess (Green) 2001 Census Demographics
Total 2001 Population: 85796
Male: 47.2%
Female: 52.8%
Under 18: 19.9%
Over 60: 20.1%
Born outside UK: 9.8%
White: 94.9%
Black: 0.4%
Asian: 2%
Mixed: 0.7%
Other: 2%
Christian: 54.3%
Muslim: 1.7%
Graduates 16-74: 39.5%
No Qualifications 16-74: 18.9%
Owner-Occupied: 73.3%
Social Housing: 11.9% (Council: 9.8%, Housing Ass.: 2.1%)
Privately Rented: 12.5%
Homes without central heating and/or private bathroom: 9.1%
I always thought that the predictions that were seeing this as a straight fight between Tories and the Lib-dems were slightly strange considering the residual unpopularity of the Tories in Scotland and the fact that they only seemed to be campaigning in half the constituency. There seemed to be a complete absence of any Tory campaign south of Cameron Toll and even in the more central areas they were only ever, at best, going to split the vote with the Lib-dems.
I did think that the Lib-Dems would get it though. I thought it might be the only seat in Scotland to change hands, but Labour held on. It must be really diasppointing both here and in Edinburgh North to reduce already small majorities and still fall short.
Has anybody looked at how the seat reduction boundary review might effect Edinburgh?
Nonsense.
Anyone for whom a vote for independence is important will vote SNP regardless.
And it would be a pointless gesture as the Scots will never vote for independence.
Was in reply to Kieran
I agree with HH.
I don’t know why Kieran thinks that would solve the Tories problems here.
Precisely because the referendum would probably result in a big vote for the continuation of the union it would not be a pointless gesture. It would settle the issue for at least a generation, thus strengthening the union. It would not therefore be a policy designed solely to appeal to those who want Scottish independence. It would also have the added advantage of addressing the issue of the Tories being seen in Scotland as something of an English party.
“Anyone for whom a vote for independence is important will vote SNP regardless.”
I don’t think so. The advantage a vote for a Tory candidate would have for a voter of that type would be that sending a Tory to Westminster would contribute to creating a situation where the promise of a referendum could actually be delivered upon. Barring certain hung parliament scenarios SNP MPs are always going to be something of an irrelevance at Westminster.
In any event, the Scottish Tories surely must do something radically different. They haven’t had a good election night since 1992.
I think there’s a real gap in the market in Scotland for a Scottish centre-right party, that believes in free enterprise, lower taxes, the importance of family, reducing the dependency culture, and in making a success of devolution within the framework of a strong United Kingdom.
I would have thought that, in the nation that produced Adam Smith, at least 30-40% of the voters would be potential supporters, including many people who currently vote SNP, LD and Labour, which are all at heart leftist statist parties. The problem with the Tories in Scotland is that they are perceived as being completely dominated by the English, and are damaged beyond repair by folk memories of 1979-97.
Maybe it’s time to start from a blank sheet of paper, with a new party, a new name, new people. They could work with the English and Welsh Tories in the manner of the Bavarian CSU or the Austraian National Party.
Their complete domination of Scotland will not help Labour to ever win again in England or the UK as a whole.