Edinburgh South West

Edinburgh South West covers a south western portion of the city around the Lanark Road. It has an urban north east including Gorgie and Slateford, and a suburban centre including Wester Hailes. The southwest part is rural and extends into the Pentland Hills.

The seat is left-leaning and pro-EU, with wealthier residents than the UK average.^[2]

Edinburgh South West is one of five constituencies covering the City of Edinburgh council area. All are entirely within the city council area.

Prior to the 2005 general election, the city area had been covered by six constituencies and, of the six, there was one, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, which straddled the boundary with the East Lothian council area, to include Musselburgh.

Edinburgh South West is mostly a replacement for the former Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, but excludes some of the east of that constituency. Also, it includes a south western portion of the former Edinburgh Central constituency.^[3] The Scottish Parliament uses different boundaries. Edinburgh South West is mostly contained within the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency for elections to the Scottish Parliament, with some parts of the north and east of the seat being located in the constituencies of Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western.

2005–2024: Under the Fifth Review of UK Parliament constituencies which came into effect for the 2005 general election, the boundaries of the constituency were defined in accordance with the ward structure in place on 30 November 2004 and comprised the following wards of the City of Edinburgh Council: Balerno, Baberton, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Dalry, Firrhill, Fountainbridge, Moat, Murrayburn, Parkhead, Shandon and Sighthill. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, in 2007 these wards were replaced with new wards which were not aligned with the constituency boundaries. Further minor changes were made to ward boundaries in 2017.

2024–present: Under the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, which came into effect for the 2024 general election, the constituency boundaries were virtually unchanged and comprise the following wards or part wards of the City of Edinburgh Council: ^[4][5]

• The bulk of Pentland Hills ward - excluding Ratho and surrounding rural areas;
• a small part of Drum Brae/Gyle ward;
• the bulk of Sighthill/Gorgie ward - excluding the Saughton area;
• the majority of Colinton/Fairmilehead - excluding the Fairmilehead area;
• the whole of Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart ward;
• two small areas of Morningside ward; and
• the southwestern part of City Centre, including the West End and Tollcross areas.

• Politics of Edinburgh