Scottish Parliament Constituency Edinburgh Southern

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

Edinburgh Southern
Burgh constituency for the Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh Southern shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Population	81,639 (2019)
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	Scottish Labour
MSP	Daniel Johnson
Council area	City of Edinburgh
Created from	Edinburgh South

The seat has been held by Daniel Johnson of Scottish Labour since the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.

The other eight constituencies of the Lothian region are: Almond Valley, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Western, Linlithgow and Midlothian North and Musselburgh.

The region includes all of the City of Edinburgh council area, parts of the East Lothian council area, parts of the Midlothian council area and all of the West Lothian council area.

Edinburgh is represented in the Scottish Parliament by six constituencies: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh Southern and Edinburgh Western.

The Edinburgh Southern constituency was created as a result of the First Periodic Review of Scottish Parliament Boundaries and largely replaced the Edinburgh South constituency.

For the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, Edinburgh South was redrawn and renamed "Edinburgh Southern". The electoral wards used in this seat are:

• Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart, Morningside, Southside/Newington (shared with Edinburgh Central)
• Liberton/Gilmerton, Portobello/Craigmillar (shared with Edinburgh Eastern)
• Sighthill/Gorgie shared with (Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Pentlands)

Edinburgh Southern is an extremely affluent suburban constituency wedged across the inner south of the City of Edinburgh. The constituency is largely composed of leafy Victorian townhousing based around the suburbs of Newington, Morningside, Craiglockhart, Blackford and Merchiston, with some social housing in parts of Prestonfield and Liberton.

Edinburgh Southern has a colourful mix of political traditions, with the equivalent Edinburgh South constituency at Westminster being represented by the Conservatives until being won by Labour's Nigel Griffiths in 1987. It has since returned Labour MPs, becoming Labour's only Scottish constituency at Westminster in 2015 following a landslide election for the Scottish National Party, who took 56 of 59 Westminster constituencies in Scotland. At the Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh South returned a Labour constituency MSP in 1999, voting Liberal Democrat in both 2003 and 2007 before being narrowly won by the SNP in 2011. In 2016, it became Labour's only constituency seat gain at the Scottish Parliament, despite the fact that the Conservative Party had the largest share of the vote on the regional list vote in the constituency.

2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Southern

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Regional
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Daniel Johnson	20,760	45.9	10.3	11,128	24.5	2.6
	SNP	Catriona MacDonald	16,738	37.0	4.4	11,053	24.3	1.1
	Conservative	Miles Briggs	5,258	11.6	14.5	9,357	20.6	8.6
	Scottish Green					8,605	18.9	2.1
	Liberal Democrats	Fred Mackintosh	2,189	4.8	1.0	3,373	7.4	2.2
	Alba					611	1.3	New
	All for Unity					250	0.5	New
	Women's Equality					194	0.4	1.4
	Scottish Family	Philip Holden	317	0.7	New	192	0.4	New
	Animal Welfare					170	0.4	New
	Communist					88	0.2	New
	Reform UK					83	0.2	New
	Freedom Alliance (UK)					81	0.2	New
	Abolish the Scottish Parliament					77	0.2	New
	Libertarian					59	0.1	New
	Independent	Ashley Graczyk				43	0.1	New
	SDP					34	0.1	New
	UKIP					21	0.0	1.0
	Renew					8	0.0	New
Majority			4,022	8.9	6.0
Valid Votes			45,262			45,427
Invalid Votes			204			55
Turnout			45,466	71.11	6.5	45,482	71.13	6.4
	Labour hold		Swing		3.0
Notes

2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Southern

Party		Candidate	Constituency			Region
			Votes	%	±%	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Daniel Johnson	13,597	35.5	8.1	8,425	21.9	3.0
	SNP	Jim Eadie	12,474	32.6	3.2	8,934	23.2	6.2
	Conservative	Miles Briggs	9,972	26.1	7.5	11,215	29.2	12.5
	Scottish Green					6,476	16.8	2.0
	Liberal Democrats	Pramond Subbaraman	2,216	5.8	18.8	1,982	5.2	3.8
	Women's Equality					689	1.8	New
	UKIP					376	1.0	0.5
	RISE					264	0.7	New
	Solidarity					98	0.3	0.2
Majority			1,123	2.9	N/A
Valid Votes			38,259			38,459
Invalid Votes			233			64
Turnout			38,492	64.6	2.6	38,523	64.7	2.9
	Labour gain from SNP		Swing
Notes