Parliamentary Election Results in South Edinburgh

There are two Edinburgh South Constituencies. The Scottish Parliament Constituency is represented by Liberal Democrat MSP, Mike Pringle. On 3rd May 2007 Mike Pringle gained a majority of 1929 over Labour. The Westminster Seat - 83% of which is also part of the Edinburgh South Scottish Parliament constituency - is currently held by Labour. At the last UK General Election the Labour MP had a majority of just 405 over the Liberal Democrats in the Edinburgh South Westminster Constituency.

Edinburgh South is one of the most marginal constituencies in the House of Commons. It is the closest Labour/Liberal Democrat marginal.

The Candidates for the General Election

The sitting MP - Nigel Griffiths - voted for the Iraq war, for Identity Cards, tuition fees and is a close supporter of the Prime Minister.

Liberal Democrat Challenger - Fred Mackintosh lives locally, has a record of working hard for local people as the Councillor for Newington from 1999 to 2007 when he stood down to concentrate on the General Election campaign. An Advocate in private practice Fred has been campaign hard for fair pensions, action on global warming and an end to Labour's ID Cards.

In October 2007 the Conservatives chose their candidate - Neil Hudson. Mr Hudson contested Newcastle North at the 2005 General Election where he came third behind Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

The SNP have chosen financial consultant Sandy Howat as their candidate. In 2005 they came within 511 votes of loosing their deposit in Edinburgh South.

How Edinburgh South Voted in May 2007

Handily on 1st May 2008 the Scotland Office published the number of votes won by each party in every polling district in Scotland. When the figures are totted up in the polling districts that make up the Edinburgh South Westminster Constituency the Liberal Democrats won more constituency votes than any other party on 3rd May 2007.

The aggregated vote for the polling districts that make up the Edinburgh South Westminster Constituency show the Liberal Democrats winning 30.2% of the vote to Labour's 26.6%. The Tories would have come third on 20.4% with the nationalist in fourth place on 18.7%.

There are two Edinburgh South Constituencies. The Scottish Parliament Constituency is represented by Liberal Democrat MSP, Mike Pringle. On 3rd May 2007 Mike Pringle gained a majority of 1929 over Labour. The Westminster Seat - 83% of which is also part of the Edinburgh South Scottish Parliament constituency - is currently held by Labour. At the last UK General Election the Labour MP had a majority of just 405 over the Liberal Democrats in the Edinburgh South Westminster Constituency.

What the results on May 2007 suggest...

At the Scottish Parliament Election in May 2007 the Liberal Democrats increased their vote across the whole of the Edinburgh South Westminster Constituency.

The Labour vote fell across the whole of Westminster Constituency.

The Tories barely increased their share of the vote across the whole of Westminster Constituency and dropped to fourth place in the Edinburgh South Scottish Parliament Constituency which makes up 83% of the Westminster Constituency.

The SNP vote increased across the whole of Westminster Constituency, but not by enough for the Nationalists to be in contention at the General Election.

Edinburgh South Scottish Parliament Constituency - 3rd May 2007

By far the largest part of the Edinburgh South Westminster Constituency (83% of the electors) is covered by the Edinburgh South Scottish Parliament Constituency.

Votes %

Mike Pringle (Lib Dem) 11,398 35%

Labour 9,469 29%

SNP 6,117 18%

Conservative 5,589 17%

Lib Dem Majority 1,929

Turnout: 1,929 votes cast 56.6%

This represents a 2.9%% increase in the Liberal Democrat vote in Edinburgh South. The Labour vote dropped by -2.5% and there was an 4.7% increase in the SNP vote who moved into third place ahead of the Tories whose vote stayed roughly static with an small increase of 0.4%.

Edinburgh Pentlands Scottish Parliament Constituency - 3rd May 2007

The significantly smaller part of the Westminster Constituency (17% of the electors) is a small part of the Edinburgh Pentlands Scottish Parliament Constituency. This small area comprises the communities of Fairmilehead and the southern part of Morningside south of Balcarres Street and the Hermitage of Braid.

Conservative 12,927 37%

Labour 8,402 24%

SNP 8,234 24%

Liberal Democrat 4,814 14%

Conservative Majority 4,525

Turnout 34,377 votes cast 59%

Here there was a small increase in the vote for the Conservative incumbent in Edinburgh Pentlands of 0.4%. This contrasts with the big increase in Mike Pringle's share of the vote for the Liberal Democrats in Edinburgh South on the same day. The Tory majority increased because of a big fall in the Labour vote of - 6.5% and the SNP went up by 7.2% nearly pushing Labour into third. Responses to residents surveys and other campaigning by the Lib Dem team suggests that many Conservative voters in Fairmilehead and South Morningside intend to lend their votes to the Liberal Democrats to get Labour out at the General Election