The constituency covers the southern suburbs around the Braid Hills[2] including Morningside, Comiston, Liberton and Gilmerton. This is a generally wealthy seat[3] with a significant student population.
Historyedit
Summary of results
A candidate fielded by the Labour Party has won the seat since 1987. Prior to that the political division for Westminster purposes voted for the Conservative and Unionist candidate, ahead of all other candidates by single preference, at each Westminster election from and including 1918. Back then, the electorates' single-most preferred candidate in simple voting was that of the Liberal Party, except in 1900 when a Liberal Unionist was returned. The 2015 result gave the seat the 23rd-smallest majority of Labour's 232 seats by percentage of majority.[4] In the 2017 general election, Ian Murray received the highest voteshare of any Scottish candidate and was also one of only two constituencies in Scotland where the winning candidate received a majority of the votes cast (the other one being Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk).
At the 2015 general election three of the seven parties' candidates standing retained their deposits, their votes exceeding 5%. Those doing so and not winning were SNP – 33.8% of the vote, and Conservative – 17.5% of the vote. At this election, the SNP increased their share of the vote by over 26%, coming a close second to Murray.
The Liberal Democrat candidate of 2005 fell within 0.9% of a winning majority. The Liberal Democrats' swing nationally was -15.2% swing in 2015. The swing in this seat against the party was however -30.3% resulting in the loss of their deposit[n 2], a fate not sustained by either of the party's two formative parties in the seat since 1970.
Turnout
Turnout has ranged between 81.1% in 1950 and 57.7% in 2001.
1885–1918: The St. George, St. Cuthbert, and Newington
municipal wards of the burgh of Edinburgh.[6]
1918–1950: The Merchiston, Morningside, and Newington municipal wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh.[7]
1950–1983: The Liberton, Morningside and Newington wards (as constituted by the Local Government (Scotland) (Edinburgh Wards) Order 1948, SI 1948/1138) of the county of the city of Edinburgh.[8]
1983–1997: Electoral divisions 32 (Merchiston/Morningside), 33 (Sciennes/Marchmont), 34 (Prestonfield/Mayfield), 37 (Alnwickhill/Kaimes) and 38 (Inch/Gilmerton) of the City of Edinburgh.[9]
1997–2005: Electoral divisions 32 (Merchiston/Morningside), 33 (Sciennes/Marchmont), 34 (Prestonfield/Mayfield), 36 (Alnwickhill/Kaimes) and 37 (Inch/Gilmerton) of the City of Edinburgh.[10]
2005–: The City of Edinburgh wards of Merchiston, North Morningside/Grange, Marchmont, Sciennes, Newington, South Morningside, Fairmilehead, Alnwickhill, Kaimes, Moredun, and Gilmerton.[11]
For the 2005 election, the constituency was enlarged to include areas from the former Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, and became one of five constituencies covering the city area, all entirely within that area.[12]
^"Men's wages in this Edinburgh constituency are up with London high-earners".
^"Labour Members of Parliament 2015". UK Political.info. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018.
^"Revised estimates of leave vote in Westminster constituencies". Retrieved 26 October 2016.
^"Chap. 23. Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885". The Public General Acts of the United Kingdom passed in the forty-eighth and forty-ninth years of the reign of Queen Victoria. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1885. pp. 111–198.
^Fraser, Hugh (1918). The Representation of the People Act, 1918: with explanatory notes. London: Sweet and Maxwell.
^Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
^"UK Parliamentary General Election - 12 December 2019". The City of Edinburgh Council. The City of Edinburgh Council. Archived from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
^"Edinburgh South parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
^"Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
^"Who you can vote for: UK Parliamentary General Election 8 June 2017 candidates". Edinburgh City Council. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
^"Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
^"Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
^Council, The City of Edinburgh. "UK Parliamentary election results 2015 | The City of Edinburgh Council". www.edinburgh.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
^"Edinburgh South parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
^"Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.