East Lothian (Scottish Parliament constituency)

East Lothian is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

East Lothian
county constituency for the Scottish Parliament
East Lothian shown within the South Scotland electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Current constituency
Created	1999
Party	Labour
MSP	Iain Gray
Council area	East Lothian

In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, a majority of voters in the East Lothian council area opted for Scotland to remain a part of the United Kingdom - with 61.72% casting their ballots for the Union and 38.28% voting for independence.[1]

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Galloway and West Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The East Lothian constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[2]

The Holyrood constituency covers most of the East Lothian council area. The remainder is represented by the Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.

Following their first Periodic Review into Scottish Parliament constituencies, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended the formation of a modified East Lothian, with the Musselburgh electorate wards part of a redrawn Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.

East Lothian is formed from the following electoral wards:

• Preston/Seton/Gosford, Tranent/Wallyford/Macmerry, North Berwick Coastal, Haddington and Lammermuir, Dunbar and East Linton

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election		Member	Party
	1999	John Home Robertson	Scottish Labour Party
	2007	Iain Gray

Election results

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Craig Hoy
	SNP	Paul McLennan
	Labour	Martin Whitfield
	Liberal Democrats	Euan Davidson
Majority
Turnout

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iain Gray	14,329	37.8	-1.2
	SNP	Douglas-James Johnston-Smith	13,202	34.8	-3.7
	Conservative	Rachael Hamilton	9,045	23.9	+7.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ettie Spencer	1,337	3.5	-2.4
Majority			1,127	3.0	+2.5
Turnout			37,913	62.3	+5.4
	Labour hold		Swing

2011 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iain Gray	12,536	39.0	N/A
	SNP	David Berry	12,385	38.5	N/A
	Conservative	Derek Brownlee	5,344	16.6	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Ettie Spencer	1,912	5.9	N/A
Majority			151	0.5	N/A
Turnout			32,177	56.9	N/A
	Labour win (new boundaries)

2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Iain Gray	12,219	35.4	-8.5
	SNP	Andrew Sharp	9,771	28.4	+11.8
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Hayman	6,249	18.1	+1.3
	Conservative	Bill Stevenson	6,232	18.1	+0.6
Majority			2,448	7.0	-19.2
Turnout			34,471	56.2	+3.5
	Labour hold		Swing

2003 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	13,683	43.9	−7.2
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Hayman	5,508	17.7	+ 6.7
	Conservative	Stuart Thomson	5,459	17.5	+ 1.7
	SNP	Tom Roberts	5,174	16.6	−5.4
	Scottish Socialist	Hugh Kerr	1,380	4.4	New
Majority			8,175	26.2	−2.9
Turnout			31,204	52.7	−11.5
	Labour hold		Swing

1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: East Lothian

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	19,220	51.1	N/A
	SNP	Calum Millar	8,274	22.0	N/A
	Conservative	Christine Richards	5,941	15.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Judy Hayman	4,147	11.0	N/A
Majority			10,946	29.1	N/A
Turnout			37,582	72.2	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

Footnotes

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results
2. See The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland Archived September 21, 2007, at the Wayback Machine