East Lothian (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency).

East Lothian
Scottish Parliament county constituency
1999
East Lothian shown within the South of Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created	1999
MSP	Iain Gray
Council area	East Lothian
Party	Labour

East Lothian is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the South of Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Electoral region

See also: South of Scotland Scottish Parliament region

The other eight constituencies of the South of Scotland region are Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Cunninghame South, Dumfries, Galloway and Upper Nithsdale, Roxburgh and Berwickshire and Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, part of the North 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.

The Holyrood constituency covers most of the East Lothian council area. A western (Musselburgh) portion of the council area is covered by the Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency, which also covers an eastern portion of the City of Edinburgh council area.

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh is within the Lothians electoral region.

Boundary review

See also: Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions from 2011

Following their first Periodic Review into Scottish Parliament constituencies, the Boundary Commission for Scotland has recommended the formation of a modified East Lothian, with the Musselburgh electorate wards part of a redrawn Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.

East Lothian is formed from the following electoral wards;

• In full: Preston / Seton / Gosford, Fa’side, North Berwick Coastal, Haddington and Lammermuir, Dunbar and East Linton

Member of the Scottish Parliament

It has been represented by Iain Gray of the Scottish Labour Party, since the 2007 election. Gray was previously MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands from 1999 to 2003.

Gray held the seat in the 2011 Holyrood election, though his majority was reduced to just 151 over the SNP candidate David Berry, making the seat a Labour-SNP marginal for the first time.

Member		Party	Took office	Left office
	Iain Gray	Labour	2007	present
	John Home Robertson	Labour	1999	2007

Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: East Lothian
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iain Gray	12,536	38.95	+4.5%
	SNP	David Berry	12,385	38.49	+10.7%
	Conservative	Derek Brownlee	5,344	16.60	-2.6%
	Liberal Democrats	Ettie Spencer	1,912	5.94	-12.6%
Majority			151	0.5%
Turnout			32,177	56.9%

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: East Lothian
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iain Gray	12,219	35.4	-8.4
	SNP	Andrew Sharp	9,771	28.4	+11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Hayman	6,249	18.1	+1.3
	Conservative	Bill Stevenson	6,232	18.1	+0.6
Majority			2,448	7.1
Turnout			34,471	56.2	3.5

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: East Lothian
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	13,683	43.85	−7.29
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Hayman	5,508	17.65	+ 6.62
	Conservative	Stuart Thomson	5,459	17.49	+ 1.68
	SNP	Tom Roberts	5,174	16.58	−5.44
	Scottish Socialist	Hugh Kerr	1,380	4.42	+ 4.42
Majority			8,175	26.20	−2.93
Turnout			31,204,	52.69	−11.47
	Labour hold		Swing

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: East Lothian
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	19,220	51.14	n/a
	SNP	Calum Millar	8,274	22.02	n/a
	Conservative	Christine Richards	5,941	15.81	n/a
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Hayman	4,147	11.03	n/a
Majority			10,946	29.13	n/a
Turnout					n/a