Editing Politics of Edinburgh (section)

==Parliament of the United Kingdom==
{{main|House of Commons of the United Kingdom}}

For elections to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom]], the city is divided among five [[United Kingdom constituencies|constituencies]], each of which elects one [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) by the [[first past the post]] system of election. All five constituencies are entirely within the city area.

Prior to the [[2005 United Kingdom general election]], ''Edinburgh'' House of Commons constituencies had exactly the same names and boundaries as the Scottish Parliament constituencies listed above. However, in order to reduce Scotland's historical over representation in the House of Commons, Scotland's share of constituencies was reduced from 72 to 59, in accordance with proposals drawn up by the [[Boundary Commission for Scotland]]. The [[Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004]] enabled Scottish Parliament constituencies to remain unaltered despite new arrangements for House of Commons constituencies, which resulted in the loss of one ''Edinburgh'' constituency and redrawing of boundaries for the others. As a result of the boundary review:<ref>''BBC News 2002'' [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/1805800.stm Political landscape set to change]</ref><ref>''Boundary Commission for Scotland, 2004'' [http://www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk/ Fifth Periodical Review of Constituencies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070921124603/http://www.bcomm-scotland.gov.uk/ |date=21 September 2007 }}</ref>

*[[Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Central]] constituency was abolished and split between the original [[Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh North and Leith]] and [[Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh West]] constituencies and an entirely new constituency that was created – [[Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South West]].
*[[Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh East and Musselburgh]] took in parts of the [[Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh North and Leith]] seat, with the town of [[Musselburgh]] being transferred into the [[East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency)|East Lothian]] constituency, with the new seat renamed [[Edinburgh East (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh East]].
*[[Edinburgh Pentlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Pentlands]] constituency was also divided between the new [[Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South West]] seat and the existing [[Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South]] seat.
*[[Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh North and Leith]] was increased in size by taking in parts of the old [[Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Central]] constituency.
*[[Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South]] was expanded in size taking in elements of the old [[Edinburgh Pentlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Pentlands]] seat.
*[[Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South West]] was an entirely new constituency created for the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 UK general election]] taking in elements of the old [[Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Central]] seat, the original [[Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh West]] seat and [[Edinburgh Pentlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Pentlands]] seat.
*[[Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh West]] was expanded to include some parts of the defunct [[Edinburgh Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh Central]] seat.

Current political composition:

{|class="wikitable"
|width="5"|
|width="170"|'''Party'''
|width="150"|'''Constituency'''
|width="150"|'''Member'''
|-
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Scottish National Party|Scottish Labour Party]]
|[[Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh East and Musselburgh]]
|[[Chris Murray (politician)|Chris Murray]]
|-
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Scottish Labour Party]]
|[[Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh North and Leith]]
|[[Tracy Gilbert]]
|-
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Scottish Labour Party]] 
|[[Edinburgh South (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South]]
|[[Ian Murray (Scottish politician)|Ian Murray]]
|-
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Scottish Labour Party]]
|[[Edinburgh South West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh South West]]
|[[Scott Arthur]]
|-
| style="color:inherit;background:{{party color|Liberal Democrats (UK)}}" |
|[[Scottish Liberal Democrats]]
|[[Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)|Edinburgh West]]
|[[Christine Jardine]]
|}

=== Constituencies since 1708 ===

''Edinburgh'' has been used in ten different constituency names since 1708, the date of the first election to the [[Parliament of Great Britain]] (which was merged into the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801). There have been up to six ''Edinburgh'' constituencies at any one time.

Two names, ''Edinburgh South'' and ''Edinburgh West'' have been in continuous use since 1885. One name, ''Edinburgh East'', also first used in 1885, fell out of use in 1997 and returned to use in 2005.

Survival of a name does not in itself mean that a constituency's boundaries have been unaltered.

Lists of constituencies:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Period
! Constituencies
|-
| 1708 to 1885
| Edinburgh
|-
| 1885 to 1918
| Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West
|-
| 1918 to 1950
| Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Leith, Edinburgh North, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West
|-
| 1950 to 1983
| Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Leith, Edinburgh North, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West
|-
| 1983 to 1997
| Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West 
|-
| 1997 to 2005
| Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West 
|-
| 2005 to present
| Edinburgh East, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh South West and Edinburgh West
|}