EDINBURGH WEST (SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT CONSTITUENCY)

'Edinburgh West' 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 Lothians 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.

Contents

Electoral region

Constituency boundaries and council area

Wards

Description of the constituency

Members of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

Footnotes

See also

Electoral region

:''See also ''Lothians Scottish Parliament region
The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region are Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, Linlithgow, Livingston and Midlothian.
The region covers the City of Edinburgh council area, the West Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, and part of the East Lothian council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Edinburgh West 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^[1].
The Holyrood constituency covers a western portion of the City of Edinburgh council area. The rest of the city area is covered by five other constituencies, all also in the Lothians electoral region: Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh and Edinburgh South,
Edinburgh West has boundaries with the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency, the Edinburgh Central constituency, and the Edinburgh Pentlands constituency.
Edinburgh East and Musselburgh also covers the Musselburgh portion of the East Lothian council area. The rest of the East Lothian area is covered by the East Lothian constituency, which is in the South of Scotland electoral region.

Wards

Edinburgh West includes the wards of Cramond, Dalmeny and Kirkliston, Davidson's Mains, East Craigs, Gyle, Muirhouse and Drylaw, Murrayfield, North East Corstorphine, South Queensferry, South East Corstorphine, and Stenhouse, part of the Craigleith ward, which is split with Edinburgh Central, and part of the Pilton ward, which is split with Edinburgh North and Leith. The wards were created in 1999, at the same time as the constituency, and are due to be replaced with new wards in 2007, without change to constituency boundaries.

Description of the constituency

Edinburgh West is mostly suburban, but takes in rural areas to the west. It includes Cramond, Davidson's Mains, East Craigs, Gyle, Murrayfield, Ratho, South Queensferry, a part of the Craigleith area and a part of the Pilton area.

Members of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Margaret Smith	Liberal Democrat
	2003
	2007

Election results

Footnotes

1. See ''The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland''

See also

★ Politics of Edinburgh