Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)

Not to be confused with Edinburgh Central (Scottish Parliament constituency).

Edinburgh Central was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (at Westminster) from 1885 to 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Edinburgh Central
Former burgh constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of Edinburgh Central in Scotland for the 2001 general election
Subdivisions of Scotland	City of Edinburgh
1885–2005
Seats	One
Created from	Edinburgh
Replaced by	Edinburgh East Edinburgh North & Leith Edinburgh South West Edinburgh West

In 1999, a Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the same name and boundaries, and continues in use. See Edinburgh Central (Scottish Parliament constituency).

From 1925 until 1999, the Member of Parliament for the Westminster constituency was an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees of the National Library of Scotland. Since 1999, that role has been taken by the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Scottish Parliament constituency.

Boundaries

1885–1918: The Municipal Wards of St. Giles, George Square, and St. Leonard, except so much as is comprised in the Edinburgh East Division (being the part to the north of a line drawn along the centres of East and West Richmond Streets).

1918–1950: The George Square, St. Giles' and St. Leonard's Municipal Wards of Edinburgh.

1950–1955: The George Square, Holyrood, and St Giles wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh.

1955–1974: The George Square, Holyrood, and St Giles wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh; and part of Gorgie-Dalry ward.

1974–1983: The George Square, Gorgie-Dalry, Holyrood, and St Giles wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh; and part of Merchiston ward.

1983–1997: The City of Edinburgh District electoral divisions of Dalry/Shandon, Haymarket/Tollcross, Murrayfield/Dean, New Town/Stockbridge, and St Giles/Holyrood.

1997–2005: The City of Edinburgh District electoral divisions of Dalry/Shandon, Fountainbridge/Tollcross, Moat/Stenhouse, Murrayfield/Dean, and St Giles/Holyrood.

The 1997–2005 boundaries covered a central portion of the City of Edinburgh council area, including Edinburgh Old Town, the West End, Holyrood and Murrayfield. The constituency was one of six covering the city council area.

At the 2005 general election, the constituency area was divided between Edinburgh East, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South West and Edinburgh West.^[1]

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[2]	Party
	1885	John Wilson	Independent Liberal
	1886	William McEwan	Liberal
	1900	George Mackenzie Brown	Liberal
	1906	Charles Edward Price	Liberal
	1918	William Graham	Labour
	1931	James Guy	Unionist
	1941 by-election	Frank Watt	Unionist
	1945	Andrew Gilzean	Labour
	1951	Thomas Oswald	Labour
	Feb. 1974	Robin Cook	Labour
	1983	Alex Fletcher	Conservative
	1987	Alistair Darling	Labour

Elections

Elections in the 1880s

General election 1885: Edinburgh Central^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent Liberal	John Wilson	2,930	41.9
	Liberal	James Hall Renton	1,683	24.1
	Conservative	John Scott Napier	1,606	23.0
	Independent Liberal	Adam William Black	770	11.0
Majority			1,247	17.8
Turnout			6,989	84.5
Registered electors			8,269
	Independent Liberal win (new seat)

McEwan

General election 1886: Edinburgh Central^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McEwan	3,760	62.7	+38.6
	Liberal Unionist	John Wilson	2,236	37.3	−4.6
Majority			1,524	25.4	N/A
Turnout			5,996	72.5	−12.0
Registered electors			8,269
	Liberal gain from Independent Liberal		Swing	+21.6

Elections in the 1890s

General election 1892: Edinburgh Central^[5][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McEwan	3,733	63.0	+0.3
	Liberal Unionist	Arthur Knatchbull Connell	1,758	29.7	−7.6
	Scottish Trades Councils (Scottish Socialist Federation)	John Wilson	434	7.3	New
Majority			1,975	33.3	+7.9
Turnout			5,925	76.7	+4.2
Registered electors			7,725
	Liberal hold		Swing	+4.0

Note: The John Wilson who stood as a candidate in 1892 is not the same John Wilson that stood in 1885 and 1886^[6][7]

General election 1895: Edinburgh Central^[8][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William McEwan	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Elections in the 1900s

Brown

Conan Doyle

General election 1900: Edinburgh Central^[8][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	George Mackenzie Brown	3,028	55.2	N/A
	Liberal Unionist	Arthur Conan Doyle	2,459	44.8	N/A
Majority			569	10.4	N/A
Turnout			5,487	71.9	N/A
Registered electors			7,630
	Liberal hold		Swing	N/A

Price

General election 1906: Edinburgh Central^[9][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Price	3,935	67.9	+12.7
	Liberal Unionist	J. Douglas G. Walker	1,857	32.1	−12.7
Majority			2,078	35.8	+25.4
Turnout			5,792	83.6	+11.7
Registered electors			6,926
	Liberal hold		Swing	+12.7

Elections in the 1910s

General election January 1910: Edinburgh Central^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Price	3,965	66.7	−1.2
	Liberal Unionist	David A. Scott	1,980	33.3	+1.2
Majority			1,985	33.4	−2.4
Turnout			5,945	84.9	+1.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	-1.2

General election December 1910: Edinburgh Central^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Charles Price	3,771	65.9	−0.8
	Conservative	Geoffrey Reynolds Yonge Radcliffe	1,947	34.1	+0.8
Majority			1,824	31.8	−1.6
Turnout			5,718	81.4	−3.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	-0.8

General Election 1914–15:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1915. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the July 1914, the following candidates had been selected;

• Liberal: Charles Price
• Unionist:
• Labour: William Graham

General election 1918: Edinburgh Central^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Graham	7,161	51.3	New
C	Liberal	Joseph Dobbie	6,797	48.7	−17.2
Majority			364	2.6	N/A
Turnout			13,958	45.2	−36.2
Registered electors			30,867
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing	N/A
C indicates candidate endorsed by the coalition government.

Elections in the 1920s

General election 1922: Edinburgh Central^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Graham	12,876	57.9	+6.6
	National Liberal	George McCrae	9,371	42.1	−6.6
Majority			3,505	15.8	+13.2
Turnout			22,247	71.8	+26.6
Registered electors			30,970
	Labour hold		Swing	+6.6

General election 1923: Edinburgh Central^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Graham	13,186	67.9	+10.0
	Liberal	Thomas Lamb	6,225	32.1	−10.0
Majority			6,961	35.8	+20.0
Turnout			19,411	59.7	−12.1
Registered electors			32,492
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.0

General election 1924: Edinburgh Central^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Graham	13,628	60.5	−7.4
	Unionist	Allan Beaton	8,897	39.5	New
Majority			4,731	21.0	−14.8
Turnout			22,525	68.8	+9.1
Registered electors			32,744
	Labour hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1929: Edinburgh Central^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Graham	16,762	59.0	−1.5
	Liberal	Harold Alexander	6,745	23.8	New
	Unionist	John Mackie	4,889	17.2	−22.3
Majority			10,017	35.2	+14.2
Turnout			28,396	69.3	+0.5
Registered electors			40,975
	Labour hold		Swing	+10.4

Elections in the 1930s

General election 1931: Edinburgh Central^[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	James Guy	17,293	59.3	+42.1
	Labour	William Graham	10,566	36.2	−22.8
	Communist	Fred Douglas	1,319	4.5	New
Majority			6,727	23.1	N/A
Turnout			29,178	74.2	+4.9
	Unionist gain from Labour		Swing	+29.1

General election 1935: Edinburgh Central^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	James Guy	12,612	54.0	−5.3
	Labour	Andrew Gilzean	9,659	41.4	+5.2
	Liberal	Richard Archibald Barlow	1,086	4.6	New
Majority			2,953	12.6	−11.5
Turnout			23,357	64.5	−9.7
	Unionist hold		Swing	-5.2

General Election 1939–40:

Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place from 1939 and by the end of this year, the following candidates had been selected;

• Conservative: James Guy
• Labour: Andrew Gilzean

Elections in the 1940s

1941 Edinburgh Central by-election^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Unionist	Frank Watt	4,771	71.0	+17.0
	Ind. Labour Party	Thomas Taylor	1,950	29.0	N/A
Majority			2,821	42.0	+29.4
Turnout			6,721	20.0	−44.5
	Unionist hold		Swing	N/A

General election 1945: Edinburgh Central^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Gilzean	10,921	54.3	+12.9
	Unionist	Frank Watt	6,701	33.3	−20.7
	Liberal	Norman Archibald Donald	2,262	11.2	+6.6
	Independent Scottish Nationalist	Hume Sleigh	232	1.2	New
Majority			4,220	21.0	N/A
Turnout			20,116	59.7	−4.8
	Labour gain from Unionist		Swing	+16.8

Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Andrew Gilzean	16,568	47.92	−6.4
	Unionist	Frank Watt	13,631	39.43	+6.1
	Liberal	Leonard Gellatly	3,446	9.97	−1.2
	Communist	Donald Fraser Renton	646	1.87	New
	Independent Scottish Nationalist	Hume Sleigh	283	0.82	−0.4
Majority			2,937	8.49	−12.5
Turnout			34,574	74.33	+14.6
	Labour hold		Swing	-6.2

General election 1951: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Oswald	18,429	52.24	+4.32
	Unionist	William J M Kean	16,847	47.76	+8.33
Majority			1,582	4.48	−4.01
Turnout			35,276	76.70	+2.37
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.01

General election 1955: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Oswald	16,735	51.44	−0.80
	Unionist	Ralph Harris	15,796	48.56	+0.80
Majority			939	2.88	−1.60
Turnout			32,531	68.85	−7.85
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.8

General election 1959: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Oswald	15,849	50.99	−0.45
	Unionist	Norman Wylie	15,232	49.01	+0.45
Majority			617	1.98	−0.90
Turnout			31,081	72.65	+3.80
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.45

Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Oswald	14,124	53.9	+2.91
	Unionist	Nicholas Fairbairn	12,082	46.1	−2.91
Majority			2,042	7.8	+5.82
Turnout			26,206	71.62	−1.03
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.91

General election 1966: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Oswald	13,682	58.6	+4.7
	Conservative	Nicholas Fairbairn	9,667	41.4	−4.7
Majority			4,015	17.2	+9.4
Turnout			23,349	68.86	−2.76
	Labour hold		Swing	+4.7

Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Thomas Oswald	9,561	46.16	−12.44
	Conservative	Malcolm Rifkind	8,000	38.62	+2.78
	SNP	Rena Moore	1,666	8.04	New
	Liberal	Anthony Oliver	1,486	7.17	New
Majority			1,561	7.54	−9.66
Turnout			20,713	66.00	2.86
	Labour hold		Swing	-8.61

General election February 1974: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robin Cook	11,354	37.85	−8.31
	Conservative	P Jones	10,393	34.64	−3.98
	Liberal	Christopher Scott	4,180	13.93	+6.76
	SNP	AW Stephen Rae	4,074	13.58	+5.54
Majority			961	3.19	−4.35
Turnout			30,001	73.57	+7.57
	Labour hold		Swing	-2.17

General election October 1974: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robin Cook	11,129	40.27	+2.42
	Conservative	P Jones	7,176	25.97	−8.67
	SNP	AW Stephen Rae	6,866	24.85	+11.27
	Liberal	Christopher Scott	2,463	8.91	−5.02
Majority			3,953	14.30	+11.11
Turnout			27,634	67.47	−6.10
	Labour hold		Swing	+5.55

General election 1979: Edinburgh Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Robin Cook	12,191	47.8	+7.5
	Conservative	David McLetchie	7,530	29.5	+3.5
	Liberal	Stewart Donaldson	3,096	12.1	+3.2
	SNP	Gavin Kennedy	2,486	9.8	−15.0
	SLP	Colin Boyd	176	0.7	New
Majority			4,661	18.3	+4.0
Turnout			25,479	67.5	0.0
	Labour hold		Swing	+2.0

Elections in the 1980s

Although the Edinburgh Central seat had been won by the Labour Party in 1979, had that election been fought on the new boundaries it was estimated that the Conservatives would have won the seat by a majority of 1,971.^[18]

General election 1983: Edinburgh Central^[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Alexander Fletcher	14,095	38.0	−2.6
	Labour	Richard Kerley	11,529	31.1	−4.7
	SDP	Dr Marion Macleod	9,498	25.6	+14.2
	SNP	Ronald Halliday	1,810	4.9	−6.9
	Communist	D.W. Carson	119	0.3	New
Majority			2,566	6.9	−1.9
Turnout			37,051	64.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

General election 1987: Edinburgh Central^[20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alistair Darling	16,502	40.2	+9.1
	Conservative	Alexander Fletcher	14,240	34.7	−3.3
	Liberal	Andrew Myles	7,333	17.9	−7.7
	SNP	Brian Shaw	2,559	6.2	+1.3
	Green	Linda Hendry	438	1.1	New
Majority			2,262	5.5	N/A
Turnout			41,072	69.0	+4.1
Registered electors			59,529
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Edinburgh Central^[21]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alistair Darling	15,189	38.8	−1.4
	Conservative	Paul Martin	13,063	33.4	−1.3
	SNP	Lynne J. Devine	5,539	14.2	+8.0
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew B. Myles	4,500	11.5	−6.4
	Scottish Green	Robin Harper	630	1.6	+0.5
	Liberal	Richard Wilson	235	0.6	New
Majority			2,126	5.4	−0.1
Turnout			39,156	69.3	+0.3
Registered electors			56,527
	Labour hold		Swing	-0.1

Hyslop

General election 1997: Edinburgh Central^[22]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alistair Darling	20,125	47.1	+8.3
	Conservative	Mike D.A. Scott-Hayward	9,055	21.2	−12.2
	SNP	Fiona Hyslop	6,750	15.8	+1.6
	Liberal Democrats	Karen J. Utting	5,605	13.1	+1.6
	Scottish Green	Linda Hendry	607	1.4	−0.2
	Referendum	Austin G. Skinner	495	1.2	New
	Independent	Mark E. Benson	98	0.2	New
Majority			11,070	25.9	+20.5
Turnout			42,735	66.8	−2.5
Registered electors			63,969
	Labour hold		Swing	+8.4

Elections in the 2000s

Darling

General election 2001: Edinburgh Central^[23][24]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Alistair Darling	14,495	42.1	−5.0
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew B. Myles	6,353	18.5	+5.4
	Conservative	Alastair Orr	5,643	16.4	−4.8
	SNP	Ian McKee	4,832	14.1	−1.7
	Scottish Green	Graeme Farmer	1,809	5.3	+3.9
	Scottish Socialist	Kevin Williamson	1,258	3.7	New
Majority			8,142	23.6	−2.3
Turnout			34,390	52.0	−14.8
	Labour hold		Swing	−5.2

See also

• Politics of Edinburgh

Notes and references

1. "Fifth Periodical Review". Boundary Commission for Scotland. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007.
2. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
3. Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench, 1889
4. Craig, FWS, ed. (1974). British Parliamentary Election Results: 1885-1918. London: Macmillan Press. ISBN 9781349022984.
5. Whitaker's Almanack, 1893
6. London Daily News, 1885-11-27
7. The Late Mr John Wilson, Linlithgowshire Gazette, 1910-04-12
8. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1901
9. Whitaker's Almanack, 1907
10. Debrett's House of Commons and the Judicial Bench, 1916
11. Craig, F. W. S. (1983). British parliamentary election results 1918–1949 (3 ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
12. The Times, 8 December 1923
13. Oliver and Boyd's Edinburgh Almanack, 1927
14. Whitaker's Almanack, 1934
15. Whitaker's Almanack, 1939
16. Whitaker's Almanack, 1944
17. Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
18. The Times Guide to the House of Commons June 1983. London: Times Newspapers Ltd. 1983. p. 279. ISBN 0-7230-0255-X.
19. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
21. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
22. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
23. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
24. Vote 2001: Edinburgh Central, BBC News