Edinburgh Pentlands (UK Parliament constituency)

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Current constituency
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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.

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

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 beame 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.

Member of Parliament

Year		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Scottish Unionist Party/meta/color" |	1950	Lord John Hope	Unionist
style="background-color: Template:Scottish Unionist Party/meta/color" |	1964	Norman Wylie	Unionist/Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1974	Malcolm Rifkind	Conservative
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	1997	Lynda Clark	Labour
2005		constituency abolished

Election results

General Election 2001: Edinburgh Pentlands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynda Clark	15,797	40.6	−2.4
	Conservative	Malcolm Rifkind	14,055	36.1	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	David Walker	4,210	10.8	+0.8
	SNP	Stewart Gibb	4,210	10.8	−2.2
	Scottish Socialist	Jimmy Mearns	555	1.4	N/A
	UKIP	Bill McMurdo	105	0.3	+0.1
Majority			1,742	4.5
Turnout			38,932	64.4	−12.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General Election 1997: Edinburgh Pentlands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Lynda Clark	19,675	43.0	11.9
	Conservative	Malcolm Rifkind	14,813	32.4	−8.3
	SNP	Stewart Gibb	6,882	13.0	−2.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Dawe	4,575	10.0	−2.6
	Referendum	Malcolm McDonald	422	0.9	N/A
	Green	Robin Harper	224	0.5	N/A
	UKIP	Alistair McConnachie	81	0.2	N/A
Majority			4,862	10.6
Turnout			45,742	76.7
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

General Election 1992: Edinburgh Pentlands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Malcolm Rifkind	18,128	40.7
	Labour	Mark Lazarowicz	13,838	31.1
	SNP	Ms K. Caskie	6,882	15.4
	Liberal Democrats	K. Smith	5,597	12.6
	Natural Law	D. Rae	111	0.2
Majority			4,290	9.6
Turnout			44,556	80.18
	Conservative hold		Swing

Notes and references

See also

• Politics of Edinburgh