Edinburgh Leith (UK Parliament constituency)

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Edinburgh Leith
Former Burgh constituency
for the House of Commons
Subdivisions of ScotlandCity of Edinburgh
1950–1997
SeatsOne
Created fromLeith
Replaced byEdinburgh North and Leith

Edinburgh Leith was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

There was also an earlier Leith constituency, 1918 to 1950, and a yet earlier Leith Burghs constituency, 1832 to 1918.

Boundaries[edit]

1950 to 1955[edit]

The constituency was first defined by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, and first used in the 1950 general election, as one of seven constituencies covering the city of Edinburgh and the Midlothian burgh of Musselburgh.[1] The other six constituencies were Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh North, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, and Edinburgh West, and the rest of the county of Midlothian was covered by the Midlothian and Peebles constituency, which also covered the county of Peebles.[1]

The Edinburgh Leith constituency was entirely within the city, and covered the Central Leith, South Leith, and West Leith wards.[1] Therefore, the area of the constituency was similar to that of the former burgh of Leith, as merged into the city in 1920.

1950 boundaries were used also for the 1951 general election.[1]

1955 to 1983[edit]

The results of the First Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission were implemented for the 1955 general election, and Edinburgh Leith was again one of seven constituencies covering the city of Edinburgh and the burgh of Musselburgh, all named as during the 1950 to 1955 period.[1] The rest of the county of Midlothian was now covered, however, by the new Midlothian constituency.[1]

The Edinburgh Leith constituency again covered wards named Central Leith, South Leith, and West Leith, but the overall boundary of the constituency was different.[1]

For the county of Midlothian, inclusive of the city of Edinburgh, the general pattern established by the First Periodical Review was maintained for the general elections of 1959, 1964, 1966, 1970, February 1974, October 1974 and 1979. There were boundary adjustments, however, which became effective for the 1964 election and, as a result of the Second Periodical Review, for the February 1974 election.[1]

Edinburgh Leith was not affected by the 1964 changes. For the February 1974 election, the constituency was designed to cover the Central Leith, South Leith, and West Leith wards and part of the Pilton ward of city.[1]

1983 to 1997[edit]

The results of the Third Periodical Review, which took account of the abolition of Scottish counties and burghs in 1975 and the creation of two-tier regions and districts and unitary islands council areas under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, were implemented for the 1983 general election, and 1983 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1987 and 1992.

Between 1983 and 1997 the electoral wards used to create Edinburgh Leith were 12–14, 17, and 18, and part of 23[2]

As a result of the Fourth Periodical Review, Edinburgh Leith was abolished, and Edinburgh North and Leith was created for the 1997 general election.

Members of Parliament[edit]

Election Member [3] Party
1950 James Hoy Labour
1970 Ronald King Murray Labour
1979 Ron Brown Labour
1991 Independent
1992 Malcolm Chisholm Labour
1997 constituency abolished

Elections[edit]

Elections in the 1950s[edit]

General election 1950: Edinburgh Leith[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hoy 18,111 49.22
National Liberal Eoin Cameron Mekie 15,841 43.05
Liberal Thomas McGill Frew 2,846 7.73
Majority 2,270 6.17
Turnout 36,798 80.71
Labour win (new seat)
General election 1951: Edinburgh Leith[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hoy 19,308 50.09 +0.87
National Liberal Eoin Cameron Mekie 19,236 49.91 +6.86
Majority 72 0.18 -5.99
Turnout 38,544 84.05 +3.34
Labour hold Swing -3.00
General election 1955: Edinburgh Leith[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hoy 16,337 49.38 -0.71
National Liberal Janet Sutherland Shearer 10,693 32.32 -17.59
Independent Liberal Andrew Murray 6,055 18.30 New
Majority 5,644 17.06 +16.87
Turnout 33,085 77.79 -6.26
Labour hold Swing +8.44
General election 1959: Edinburgh Leith[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hoy 15,092 47.78 -1.60
National Liberal Gershom Stewart 12,018 38.05 +5.73
Liberal Andrew Murray 4,475 14.17 -4.13
Majority 3,074 9.73 -7.33
Turnout 31,585 79.46 +1.67
Labour hold Swing -3.67

Elections in the 1960s[edit]

General election 1964: Edinburgh Leith[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hoy 15,934 55.50 +7.72
National Liberal Gershom Stewart 12,777 44.50 +6.45
Majority 3,157 11.00 +1.27
Turnout 28,711 77.86 -1.60
Labour hold Swing +0.64
General election 1966: Edinburgh Leith[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour James Hoy 15,407 56.79 +1.29
Conservative Archie Elliott 11,443 42.18 -2.32
Communist Honor Arundel 279 1.03 New
Majority 3,964 14.61 +3.61
Turnout 27,129 76.09 -1.77
Labour hold Swing +1.81

Elections in the 1970s[edit]

General election 1970: Edinburgh Leith[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ronald Murray 12,066 46.29 -9.5
Conservative Archie Elliott 10,682 40.98 -1.2
SNP Mary G Thomson 1,827 7.01 New
Liberal Joyce Shein 1,490 5.72 New
Majority 1,384 5.31 -9.30
Turnout 26,065 73.11 -2.98
Labour hold Swing -4.15
General election February 1974: Edinburgh Leith[11][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ronald Murray 12,604 40.58 -5.71
Conservative William Robert Victor Percy 11,883 38.26 -2.72
SNP Hugh Miller 6,569 21.15 +14.14
Majority 721 2.32 -2.99
Turnout 31,056 79.31 +6.20
Labour hold Swing -1.50
General election October 1974: Edinburgh Leith[13][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ronald Murray 11,708 39.69 -0.89
Conservative William Robert Victor Percy 8,263 28.01 -10.25
SNP Robert John Dinwoodie Scott 7,688 26.07 +4.91
Liberal Arthur John Heley Squair 1,836 6.22 New
Majority 3,445 11.68 +9.36
Turnout 29,495 74.85 -4.46
Labour hold Swing +4.68
General election 1979: Edinburgh Leith[14][12]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ron Brown 12,961 46.30 +6.61
Conservative Aidan Joseph McLernan 8,944 31.95 +3.94
Liberal Keith Graeme Aitken 3,382 12.08 +5.86
SNP William Richard Platt 2,706 9.67 -16.40
Majority 4,017 14.35 +2.67
Turnout 27,993 75.24 +0.39
Labour hold Swing +1.34

Elections in the 1980s[edit]

General election 1983: Edinburgh Leith[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ron Brown 16,177 39.71 -7.33
SDP David Graham 11,204 27.51 +14.30
Conservative Brian Cooklin 10,706 26.28 -2.70
SNP John Young 2,646 6.50 -4.26
Majority 4,973 12.20 -2.1
Turnout 40,733 67.26 -9.9
Labour hold Swing
General election 1987: Edinburgh Leith[16][15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Ron Brown 21,104 49.3 +9.6
Conservative Duncan Menzies 9,777 22.9 -3.4
SDP Shelia Wells 7,843 18.3 -9.2
SNP William Morrison 4,045 9.5 +3.0
Majority 11,327 26.4 +14.2
Turnout 42,769 70.9 +3.6
Labour hold Swing

Elections in the 1990s[edit]

General election 1992: Edinburgh Leith[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Malcolm Chisholm 13,790 34.2 −15.1
SNP Fiona Hyslop 8,805 21.8 +12.3
Conservative Mohammed Rizvi 8,496 21.1 −1.8
Liberal Democrats Hilary C. Campbell 4,975 12.3 −6.0
Independent Labour Ron Brown 4,142 10.3 New
Natural Law Alan J. Swan 96 0.2 New
Majority 4,985 12.4 -14.0
Turnout 40,304 71.1 +0.2
Labour hold Swing -13.8

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i As per Boundaries of Parliamentary Constituencies 1885-1972 (ISBN 0-900178-09-4), F. W. S. Craig, 1972
    Craig published ahead of the February 1974 general election, but he knew the outcome of the Second Periodical Review, which concluded in 1969
  2. ^ "Westminster constituencies 1983-1997" (PDF). Boundary Commission for Scotland. [permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "L" (part 2)
  4. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1950". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  5. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1951". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1955". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  7. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1959". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  8. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1964". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  9. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1966". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  10. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 16 June 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  11. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results February 1974". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  12. ^ a b c "'Edinburgh Leith', Feb 1974 - May 1983". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  13. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results October 1974". Political Science Resources. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  14. ^ Kimber, Richard. "UK General Election results 1970". Political Science Resources. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  15. ^ a b "'Edinburgh Leith', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  16. ^ "UK General Election results June 1987". Richard Kimber's political science resources. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2010.
  17. ^ "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
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