East Lothian (UK Parliament constituency)

East Lothian is a constituency in Scotland which returns one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the first past the post voting system.

East Lothian
County constituency for the House of Commons
Boundary of East Lothian in Scotland
Major settlements	Dunbar, Longniddry, Musselburgh, North Berwick, Prestonpans, Wallyford, Haddington
Current constituency
Created	1983
Member of Parliament	Kenny MacAskill (SNP)
Created from	Berwick and East Lothian, Edinburgh East and Midlothian[1]

The seat is represented by Kenny MacAskill of the Scottish National Party who was elected at the 2019 general election, where he unseated the sitting Labour incumbent, Martin Whitfield with a majority of 3,886 votes.

History

The constituency was created for the 1983 general election. Until the SNP landslide victory in 2015, it had been continuously represented by an MP from the Labour Party since the constituency's creation 32 years earlier. From 2015 until the snap general election in 2017, the constituency was represented by George Kerevan of the Scottish National Party; who was defeated by Martin Whitfield of the Labour Party by 3,083 votes. In the 2019 general election Whitfield was defeated by former Scottish National Party MSP and Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

The East Lothian Constituency Labour Party voted on 22 January 2010 to deselect the previous MP Anne Moffat.[2] The National Executive Committee upheld the decision on 23 March 2010.[3] Fiona O'Donnell was elected in 2010 with an increased majority for the Labour Party compared to 2005.

In the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, a majority of voters 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.[4]

O'Donnell lost her seat to George Kerevan of the SNP at the 2015 general election; who was elected with a majority of 6,803 votes.

Boundaries

1983–1997: East Lothian District.

1997–2005: The East Lothian District electoral divisions of Fa'side, Haddington, Luffness, Preston/Levenhall, and Tantallon.

2005–present: East Lothian Council area (except for Musselburgh).

The constituency covers part of the East Lothian council area in Scotland. The East Lothian town of Musselburgh was added to part of Midlothian Council area to create Midlothian North and Musselburgh CC. Before the 1983 general election, the area lay in the Berwick and East Lothian constituency.

Members of Parliament

Election		Member[5]	Party
	1983	John Home Robertson	Labour
	2001	Anne Moffat
	2010	Fiona O'Donnell
	2015	George Kerevan	SNP
	2017	Martin Whitfield	Labour
	2019	Kenny MacAskill	SNP

Elections

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2019: East Lothian[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Kenny MacAskill	21,156	36.2	+5.6
	Labour	Martin Whitfield	17,270	29.5	-6.6
	Conservative	Craig Hoy	15,523	26.5	-3.1
	Liberal Democrats	Robert O'Riordan	4,071	7.0	+3.9
	UKIP	David Sisson	493	0.8	New
Majority			3,886	6.7	N/A
Turnout			58,513	71.7	+1.1
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+6.1

General election 2017: East Lothian[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Martin Whitfield	20,158	36.1	+5.1
	SNP	George Kerevan	17,075	30.6	-11.9
	Conservative	Sheila Low	16,540	29.6	+10.1
	Liberal Democrats	Elisabeth Wilson	1,738	3.1	+0.5
	Independent	Mike Allan	367	0.7	+0.4
Majority			3,083	5.5	N/A
Turnout			55,878	70.6	-3.6
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing	+8.6

General election 2015: East Lothian[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	George Kerevan	25,104	42.5	+26.5
	Labour	Fiona O'Donnell	18,301	31.0	−13.6
	Conservative	David Roach	11,511	19.5	−0.2
	Liberal Democrats	Ettie Spencer	1,517	2.6	−14.3
	Scottish Green	Jason Rose	1,245	2.1	+0.3
	UKIP	Oluf Marshall	1,178	2.0	+0.9
	Independent	Mike Allan	158	0.3	New
Majority			6,803	11.5	N/A
Turnout			59,014	74.2	+7.3
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	+20.1

General election 2010: East Lothian[11][12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Fiona O'Donnell	21,919	44.6	+3.1
	Conservative	Michael Veitch	9,661	19.7	+3.7
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Ritchie	8,288	16.9	−7.9
	SNP	Andrew Sharp	7,883	16.0	+2.9
	Scottish Green	James Mackenzie	862	1.8	−0.7
	UKIP	Jonathan Lloyd	548	1.1	+0.4
Majority			12,258	24.9	+8.2
Turnout			49,161	66.9	+2.4
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.3

Elections in the 2000s

General election 2005: East Lothian[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Moffat	18,983	41.5	−7.4
	Liberal Democrats	Chris Butler	11,363	24.8	+7.6
	Conservative	William Stevenson	7,315	16.0	0.0
	SNP	Paul McLennan	5,995	13.1	−1.8
	Scottish Green	Michael Collie	1,132	2.5	New
	Scottish Socialist	Gary Galbraith	504	1.1	New
	UKIP	Eric Robb	306	0.7	New
	Christian Vote	William Thompson	178	0.4	New
Majority			7,620	16.7	-12.9
Turnout			45,776	64.5	+3.6
	Labour hold		Swing	−7.5

General election 2001: East Lothian[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Anne Picking	17,407	47.2	−5.5
	Conservative	Hamish Mair	6,577	17.8	−2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Judith Hayman	6,506	17.6	+7.1
	SNP	Hilary Brown	5,381	14.6	−1.1
	Scottish Socialist	Derrick White	624	1.7	New
	Socialist Labour	James Herriot	376	1.0	New
Majority			10,830	29.4	-3.4
Turnout			36,871	62.5	−13.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Elections in the 1990s

General election 1997: East Lothian[15][16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	22,881	52.7	+6.2
	Conservative	Murdo Fraser	8,660	19.9	−8.3
	SNP	David R. McCarthy	6,825	15.7	+1.5
	Liberal Democrats	Alison MacAskill	4,575	10.5	−0.7
	Referendum	Norman S. Nash	491	1.1	N/A
Majority			14,221	32.8	+14.5
Turnout			43,432	75.6	-6.8
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1992: East Lothian[17][18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	25,537	46.5	−1.5
	Conservative	James P. Hepburne-Scott	15,501	28.2	−0.1
	SNP	George R. Thomson	7,776	14.2	+6.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tim McKay	6,126	11.2	−4.3
Majority			10,036	18.3	−1.4
Turnout			54,940	82.4	+3.7
	Labour hold		Swing	−0.7

Elections in the 1980s

General election 1987: East Lothian[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	24,583	48.0	+4.1
	Conservative	Stanley Langdon	14,378	28.3	−2.5
	Liberal	Andrew Robinson	7,929	15.5	−5.4
	SNP	Alexander Burgon-Lyon	3,727	7.3	+2.9
	Green	Angus Marland	451	0.9	New
Majority			10,105	19.7	+6.6
Turnout			51,068	78.7	+2.3
	Labour hold		Swing

General election 1983: East Lothian[21][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Home Robertson	20,934	43.9	-7.4
	Conservative	Michael Fry	14,693	30.8	-0.9
	Liberal	M. Kibby	9,950	20.9	+12.4
	SNP	Roger Knox	2,083	4.4	-4.1
Majority			6,241	13.1	N/A
Turnout			47,660	76.4	N/A
	Labour win (new seat)

References

1. "'East Lothian', June 1983 up to May 1997". ElectionWeb Project. Cognitive Computing Limited. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
2. "Moffat faces deselection after police called to club rebellion". Edinburgh Evening News. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
3. Carrell, Severin (23 March 2010). "Labour party upholds decision to deselect East Lothian MP Anne Moffat". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/events/scotland-decides/results
5. Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "E" (part 1)
6. "Notice of Poll". East Lothian Council. East Lothian Council. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
7. "East Lothian parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-12-16.
8. "Latest candidate announced for General Election". East Lothian Courier.
9. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
10. Jones, Matt. "UK Parliamentary General Election". www.eastlothian.gov.uk.
11. "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
12. "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | East Lothian". news.bbc.co.uk.
13. "Election Data 2005". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
14. "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
15. "Election Data 1997". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
16. "Aristotle: East Lothian", Guardian Unlimited
17. "Election Data 1992". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
18. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
19. "Election Data 1987". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
20. "Politics Resources". Election 1992. Politics Resources. 9 April 1992. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 6 Dec 2010.
21. "Election Data 1983". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.