Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)


Edinburgh West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first contested at the 1885 general election.
Before the 2005 general election, the boundaries were the same as the Scottish Parliament constituency with the same name, which had been created in 1999. See Edinburgh West .
This commuter belt seat, distinctively in the city, was safely Unionist/Conservative for over 65 years, from the 1931 general election until the 1997 general election, after which the seat was held by the Liberal Democrats until the 2015 general election. The MP between the 2015 and 2017 general elections was Michelle Thomson, who was elected for the SNP in May 2015. In September 2015, she resigned the party whip and sat as an Independent. At the 2017 general election, Christine Jardine of the Liberal Democrats gained the seat with a majority of 2,988 votes. Thomson chose to neither seek re-election for the SNP, or as an Independent candidate and stood down.
The seat has been relative to others a marginal seat since 2005, as the winner's majority has not exceeded 8.2% of the vote since the 30% majority won in that year. The seat has changed hands twice electorally since that year and once through resigning the party whip.

Boundaries

The seat was created when the Edinburgh constituency was abolished, in 1885, replaced by four seats: Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West. The Central constituency was abolished in 2005. The East constituency was abolished in 1997, but a new Edinburgh East was created in 2005. The South and West constituencies have been in continuous use since 1885.
The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the seat was to consist of the Municipal Wards of St. Andrew, St. Stephen, St. Bernard, and St. Luke.
In 1918 the seat legally consisted of the Dalry, Gorgie, Haymarket and St. Bernard's Municipal Wards of Edinburgh.
Before the 2005 general election, the seat 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.
Constituency boundaries were revised for the 2005 election: Edinburgh West was enlarged, to include an area formerly within Edinburgh Central, and became one of five seats covering the city area.
The seat now covers a north western portion of the city area. It is mostly suburban, but takes in rural areas within the city area, to the west of central Edinburgh. In terms of wards used in elections to the City of Edinburgh Council, 1999 to 2007, the seat comprises:-
These wards were replaced with new wards in 2007, as a result of the Local Governance Act 2004, and none of the new wards were wholly within the constituency. Almond and Constorphine/Murrayfield are almost entirely within it except for a small corner of each one. The constituency also includes a majority of Drum Brae/Gyle, a minority of Pentland Hills and small sections of Forth, Inverleith, City Centre and Sighthill/Gorgie.

Members of Parliament

Election results

Elections in the 2010s

Elections in the 2000s

Elections in the 1990s

Elections in the 1980s

Elections in the 1970s

Elections in the 1960s

Elections in the 1950s

Elections in the 1940s

Elections in the 1930s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1900s

Elections in the 1890s

Elections in the 1880s