East Lothian (Scottish Parliament constituency)
Region or constituency of the Scottish Parliament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
East Lothian (/ˈloʊðiən/; Scots: Aest Lowden; Scottish Gaelic: Lodainn an Ear) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of East Lothian. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
.svg)
| East Lothian | |
|---|---|
| Former county constituency for the Scottish Parliament | |
| |
.svg) East Lothian shown within the South Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland | |
| Population | 79,505 (2019)[1] |
| Former constituency | |
| Created | 1999 |
| Abolished | 2026 |
| Party | Scottish National Party |
| MSP | Paul McLennan |
| Council area | East Lothian |
| Replaced by | East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent |
The seat has been held by Paul McLennan from the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
As a result of the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025, the constituency will be abolished from the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. Most of the area will form the new constituency of East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs, whilst the Tranent area will be added to the new constituency of Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent.[2][3]
Electoral region
The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are: Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Galloway and West Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.
The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.
Constituency boundaries and council area
The East Lothian constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[4] Following their first Periodic Review into Scottish Parliament constituencies, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended the formation of a modified East Lothian, with the Musselburgh electorate wards part of a redrawn Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency, which was first used for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.
The Holyrood constituency covers most of the East Lothian council area. The remainder is represented by the Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.
East Lothian is formed from the electoral wards listed below. All of these wards are part of East Lothian.
Member of the Scottish Parliament
| Election | Member | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | John Home Robertson | Labour | |
| 2007 | Iain Gray | ||
| 2021 | Paul McLennan | SNP | |
Election results
2020s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| SNP | Paul McLennan | 17,968 | 39.2 |  4.4 |
15,498 | 33.8 | 0.3 | |
| Labour | Martin Whitfield[a] | 16,789 | 36.7 |  1.1 |
11,207 | 24.4 | 2.0 | |
| Conservative | Craig Hoy[a] | 9,470 | 20.7 | 3.2 |
11,864 | 25.9 | 1.9 | |
| Green | 3,801 | 8.3 | 1.5 | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Euan Davidson | 1,566 | 3.4 | 0.1 |
1,611 | 3.5 | 0.2 | |
| Alba | 552 | 1.2 | New | |||||
| All for Unity | 481 | 1.0 | New | |||||
| Independent Green Voice | 278 | 0.6 | New | |||||
| Scottish Family | 196 | 0.4 | New | |||||
| Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 96 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Freedom Alliance (UK) | 84 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Reform | 77 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| UKIP | 59 | 0.1 | 1.5 | |||||
| Scottish Libertarian | 51 | 0.1 | New | |||||
| Vanguard Party (UK) | 9 | 0.0 | New | |||||
| Scotia Future | 8 | 0.0 | New | |||||
| Valid votes | 45,793 | 45,872 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 138 | 58 | ||||||
| Majority | 1,179 | 2.5 | N/A | |||||
| Turnout | 45,931 | 69.1 | 6.6 |
45,930 | 69.1 | 6.6 | ||
| SNP gain from Labour | Swing | 2.8 |
||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
This was the only SNP gain from Labour at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
2010s
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Labour | Iain Gray[a] | 14,329 | 37.8 | 1.2 |
10,020 | 26.4 | 5.2 | |
| SNP | Douglas-James Johnston-Smith | 13,202 | 34.8 | 3.7 |
12,729 | 33.5 | 4.1 | |
| Conservative | Rachael Hamilton[b] | 9,045 | 23.9 | 7.3 |
10,570 | 27.8 | 11.9 | |
| Green | 2,580 | 6.8 | 2.1 | |||||
| Liberal Democrats | Ettie Spencer | 1,337 | 3.5 | 2.4 |
1,242 | 3.3 | 1.8 | |
| UKIP | 590 | 1.6 | 0.6 | |||||
| Solidarity | 108 | 0.3 | 0.2 | |||||
| Clydesdale and South Scotland Independent | 71 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| RISE | 70 | 0.2 | New | |||||
| Majority | 1,127 | 3.0 | 2.5 |
|||||
| Valid votes | 37,913 | 37,980 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 118 | 47 | ||||||
| Turnout | 38,031 | 62.5 | 5.2 |
38,027 | 62.5 | 5.2 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | |||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Constituency | Regional | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% | |||
| Labour | Iain Gray[a] | 12,536 | 39.0 | N/A | 10,189 | 31.6 | N/A | |
| SNP | David Berry | 12,385 | 38.5 | N/A | 12,101 | 37.6 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Derek Brownlee[b] | 5,344 | 16.6 | N/A | 5,131 | 15.9 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Ettie Spencer | 1,912 | 5.9 | N/A | 1,643 | 5.1 | N/A | |
| Green | 1,520 | 4.7 | N/A | |||||
| All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 452 | 1.4 | N/A | |||||
| Socialist Labour | 377 | 1.2 | N/A | |||||
| UKIP | 312 | 1.0 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Christian | 198 | 0.6 | N/A | |||||
| BNP | 174 | 0.5 | N/A | |||||
| Scottish Socialist | 73 | 0.2 | N/A | |||||
| Solidarity | 24 | 0.1 | N/A | |||||
| Majority | 151 | 0.5 | N/A | |||||
| Valid votes | 32,177 | 32,194 | ||||||
| Invalid votes | 117 | 71 | ||||||
| Turnout | 32,294 | 57.3 | N/A | 32,265 | 57.3 | N/A | ||
| Labour win (new boundaries) | ||||||||
Notes
| ||||||||
2000s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Iain Gray | 12,219 | 35.4 | −8.5 | |
| SNP | Andrew Sharp | 9,771 | 28.4 | +11.8 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Judy Hayman | 6,249 | 18.1 | +1.4 | |
| Conservative | Bill Stevenson | 6,232 | 18.1 | +0.6 | |
| Majority | 2,448 | 7.0 | −19.2 | ||
| Turnout | 34,471 | 56.2 | +3.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | John Home Robertson | 13,683 | 43.9 | −7.2 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Judy Hayman | 5,508 | 17.7 | +6.7 | |
| Conservative | Stuart Thomson | 5,459 | 17.5 | +1.7 | |
| SNP | Tom Roberts | 5,174 | 16.6 | −5.4 | |
| Scottish Socialist | Hugh Kerr | 1,380 | 4.4 | New | |
| Majority | 8,175 | 26.2 | −2.9 | ||
| Turnout | 31,204 | 52.7 | −11.5 | ||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
1990s
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | John Home Robertson | 19,220 | 51.1 | N/A | |
| SNP | Calum Millar | 8,274 | 22.0 | N/A | |
| Conservative | Christine Richards | 5,941 | 15.8 | N/A | |
| Liberal Democrats | Judy Hayman | 4,147 | 11.0 | N/A | |
| Majority | 10,946 | 29.1 | N/A | ||
| Turnout | 37,582 | 72.2 | N/A | ||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||