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Edinburgh Pentlands Scottish Parliament burgh constituency
Edinburgh Pentlands shown within the Lothians electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Created:	1999
MSP:	David McLetchie
Party:	Conservative
Council area:	City of Edinburgh

Edinburgh Pentlands 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 1 Electoral region 2 Constituency boundaries and council area 2.1 Wards 3 Description of the constituency 4 Members of the Scottish Parliament 5 Election results 6 Footnotes 6.1 See also

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 South, Edinburgh West, 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.

The Edinburgh Pentlands 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 south-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 West, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh North and Leith, and Edinburgh East and Musselburgh.

Edinburgh Pentlands has boundaries with the Edinburgh West, Edinburgh Central, and Edinburgh South constituencies.

The Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency 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.

Edinburgh Pentlands includes the wards of Balerno, Baberton, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Fairmilehead, Firrhill, Murrayburn, Parkhead and Sighthill, and part of the South Morningside ward, which is split with the South constituency. 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.

The constituency has an urban north and a suburban centre. The remaining area is rural, and runs into the Pentland Hills in the south. The constituency includes Balerno, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Parkhead, Sighthill and a southern area of Morningside.

Election		Member	Party
	1999	Iain Gray	Labour
	2003	David McLetchie	Conservative
	2007

Scottish Parliament election, 2007: Edinburgh Pentlands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative Party	David McLetchie	12,927	37.6	+0.4
	Labour Party	Sheila Gilmore	8,402	24.4	-6.5
	Scottish National Party	Ian McKee	8,234	24.0	+7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Clark	4,814	14.0	+2.2
Majority			4,525	13.2
Turnout			34,377	59.1	+2.1
	Conservative Party hold		Swing	3.5% from LAB to CON

Scottish Parliament election, 2003: Edinburgh Pentlands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative Party	David McLetchie	12,420	37.2	+8.3
	Labour Party	Iain Gray	10,309	30.9	−5.3
	Scottish National Party	Ian McKee	5,620	16.8	−5.3
	Liberal Democrats	Simon Clark	3,943	11.8	−0.9
	Scottish Socialist Party	Frank O'Donnell	1,090	3.3	+3.3
Majority			2,111	6.3
Turnout			33,382	57.03	−8.94
	Conservative Party gain from Labour Party		Swing	6.8% from LAB to CON

Scottish Parliament election, 1999: Edinburgh Pentlands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour Party	Iain Gray	14,343	36.2	N/A
	Conservative Party	David McLetchie	11,458	28.9	N/A
	Scottish National Party	Stewart Gibb	8,770	22.2	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Gibson	5,029	12.7	N/A
Majority			2,885	7.3	N/A
Turnout
	Labour Party hold		Swing

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

• Politics of Edinburgh

v • d • e Electoral regions and Constituencies of the Scottish Parliament
Central Scotland	Airdrie and Shotts · Coatbridge and Chryston · Cumbernauld and Kilsyth · East Kilbride · Falkirk East · Falkirk West · Hamilton North and Bellshill · Hamilton South · Kilmarnock and Loudoun · Motherwell and Wishaw
Glasgow	Glasgow Anniesland · Glasgow Baillieston · Glasgow Cathcart · Glasgow Govan · Glasgow Kelvin · Glasgow Maryhill · Glasgow Pollok · Glasgow Rutherglen · Glasgow Shettleston · Glasgow Springburn
Highlands and Islands	Argyll and Bute · Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross · Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber · Moray · Orkney · Ross, Skye and Inverness West · Shetland · Western Isles
Lothians	Edinburgh Central · Edinburgh East and Musselburgh · Edinburgh North and Leith · Edinburgh Pentlands · Edinburgh South · Edinburgh West · Linlithgow · Livingston · Midlothian
Mid Scotland and Fife	Central Fife  · Dunfermline East · Dunfermline West · Kirkcaldy · North East Fife · North Tayside · Ochil · Perth · Stirling
North East Scotland	Aberdeen Central · Aberdeen North · Aberdeen South · Angus · Banff and Buchan · Dundee East · Dundee West · Gordon · West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
South of Scotland	Ayr · Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley · Clydesdale · Cunninghame South · Dumfries · East Lothian · Galloway and Upper Nithsdale · Roxburgh and Berwickshire · Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale
West of Scotland	Clydebank and Milngavie · Cunninghame North · Dumbarton · Eastwood · Greenock and Inverclyde · Paisley North · Paisley South · Strathkelvin and Bearsden · West Renfrewshire