Edinburgh Northern and Leith

Edinburgh Northern and Leith (Gaelic: Dùn Èideann a Tuath agus Lite) was a constituency of the Scottish Parliament covering part of the council area of Edinburgh. Under the additional-member system used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the seat elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election, and was also one of nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole. The constituency was formed ahead of the 2011 Scottish Parliament election as a result of the first periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries. Prior to this review most of the area covered by the constituency was part of the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency, which was abolished.

As a result of the second periodic review of Scottish Parliament boundaries in 2025, Edinburgh Northern and Leith was abolished ahead of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election. The areas covered by the constituency became part of the new constituencies of Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith and Edinburgh Northern.^[2][3]

The seat was held by Ben Macpherson of the Scottish National Party from the 2016 Scottish Parliament election until its abolition.

Electoral region

During the period Edinburgh Northern and Leith was in existence, the other eight constituencies of the Lothian region were: Almond Valley, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern, Edinburgh Western, Linlithgow and Midlothian North and Musselburgh.

In this period the region included all of the City of Edinburgh council area, parts of the East Lothian council area, parts of the Midlothian council area and all of the West Lothian council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

During the period Edinburgh Northern and Leith was in existence, Edinburgh was represented in the Scottish Parliament by six constituencies: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western.

The Edinburgh North and Leith constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, for the 1999 Scottish Parliament election, using the name and boundaries of the existing Edinburgh North and Leith constituency of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. Ahead of the 2005 United Kingdom general election the boundaries of constituencies for the House of Commons were reviewed, whilst being retained for elections to the Scottish Parliament. There is now no longer any link between the two sets of boundaries.^[4]

When defined in 2011, Edinburgh Northern and Leith consisted of the following electoral wards of the City of Edinburgh Council:^[5]

• In full: Leith Walk
• In part: Forth, Inverleith, Leith

Member of the Scottish Parliament

See also

• Politics of Edinburgh

Footnotes

1. ^ Scottish Parliamentary Constituency (SPC) Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based) Archived 6 May 2021 at the Wayback Machine, National Records of Scotland; retrieved 6 May 2021 (accompanying summary notes Archived 15 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine)
2. ^ "Second Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries: Report to Scottish Ministers". Boundaries Scotland. April 2025. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
3. ^ "Boundary Maps". Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
4. ^ See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived September 21, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ "First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries Final Report". Boundaries Scotland. May 2010. p. 138. Retrieved 7 July 2021.

External links

• "Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency map". Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 6 July 2021.