Editing Politics of Edinburgh (section)

==The Edinburgh Corporation and former local government==
{{see also|Category:City of Edinburgh Council elections}}
Prior to the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973]] Edinburgh was administered by the single tier "Edinburgh Corporation", which covered the "City and Royal Burgh of Edinburgh". As such, the Edinburgh Corporation was responsible for local government services, such as the Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department ([[Edinburgh Corporation Tramways]] until 1928). The Edinburgh Corporation had the power to make [[Burgess of Edinburgh|'Burgess' (freemen) of the City of Edinburgh]] and to grant "Seals of Cause" to Guilds and trade organisations. The Edinburgh Corporation awarded Burgess Ticket through the Lord Dean of Guild, an office in the Corporation. Like the [[Corporation of the City of London]], Burgess Tickets were often awarded along with a 'Freedom Casket' – a container to hold the ticket. Bodies such as the [[Merchant Company of Edinburgh]], the [[Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh]] and [[High Constables of Edinburgh|The High Constables of Edinburgh]] formed part of the corporation, contributing councilors and law enforcement officers. The Edinburgh Corporation had the power to institute these organisations via the granting of a "Seal of Cause". This empowered the societies as "a legal corporation with power to hold property, make its own by-laws and regulations". Other organisations to receive the "Seal of Cause" include [[The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh]], who received their seal on 2 July 1800.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scottishgolfhistory.org/oldest-golf-clubs-societies/1735-royal-burgess-golf-society/|title=1735 Royal Burgess Golf Society - Scottish Golf History}}</ref> The history of the corporation lives on elsewhere around the city, for example in the name of the members of Muirfield golf club, who were granted a charter by the corporation in 1800 becoming [[Muirfield|"The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers"]]. Many of Edinburgh's ceremonies and traditions date back to the days of the Edinburgh Corporation, such as the [[Ceremony of the Keys#Edinburgh|Edinburgh Ceremony of the Keys]], where the Lord Provost symbolically hands the keys to the City of Edinburgh to the monarch, who hands them back to the [[List of Lord Provosts of Edinburgh|Lord Provost]] proclaiming "that they cannot be placed in better hands than those of the Lord Provost and Councillors of my good City of Edinburgh".

In 1975, Edinburgh Corporation was abolished. The new two-tier system consisted of Lothian Regional Council (with responsibility for water, education, social work and transport) and the City of Edinburgh District Council (with responsibility for cleansing and libraries). The City of Edinburgh became a single-tier [[council area]] in 1996, under the [[Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994]], with the boundaries of the City of Edinburgh [[Regions and districts of Scotland|district]] of the [[Lothian]] [[Regions and districts of Scotland|region]]. The district had been created in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to include the former [[Counties of Scotland|county of city]] of Edinburgh; the former [[burgh]] of [[South Queensferry, Edinburgh|Queensferry]], the district of Kirkliston and part of Winchburgh formerly within the [[West Lothian (historic)|county of West Lothian]]; and the district of Currie and the parish of Cramond formerly within the [[Midlothian (historic)|county of Midlothian]].