Post by john07 on Feb 16, 2021 22:27:01 GMT
The seat is the successor to Edinburgh Pentlands Constituency which operated from 1950 through to 2005. The name change was largely down to policy issues rather than as a result of major boundary changes. In the early years of the Scottish Parliament, the boundaries and seat names were the same for Holyrood and Westminster. The divergence came because of a reduction in Westminster Constituencies from 72 to 59. To avoid confusion, the Westminster and Holyrood seats were given different names. Edinburgh South became Edinburgh Southern, Edinburgh West became Edinburgh Western, etc. In this case Pentlands became Edinburgh South-West.
The Constituency stretches from Balerno in the far south-west through to Fountainbridge in the City Centre. Like Edinburgh South, it includes a variety of areas. There is largely modern semi-detached suburbia in Balerno and Currie, prosperous established areas such as Craiglockhart and Colinton, and the somewhat downmarket tenements of Gorgie and Dalry. It also includes one of the more notorious council-estate in Wester Hailes, and some more settled areas of municipal housing such as Firrhill and Sighthill. The tower blocks in Sighthill have now been demolished and replaced by new social and speculative housing.
Pentlands Constituency was held by the Unionists from its formation in 1950 although they were called Conservatives from 1966 onwards. From February 1974 the seat was held by the high-profile Malcolm Rifkind who was one of a handful of ministers to serve throughout the entire span of Margaret Thatcher’s and John Major’s premierships.
Labour had hopes of taking the seat given the construction of the massive council development at Wester Hailes. Initially this was within the Colinton Ward which was held years after year by excellent local sports journalist: Brian Meek, who mocked the imminent reports of his demise. Like Michael Ancram in Edinburgh South, Rifkind proved difficult to dislodge. Eventually Labour under advocate Lynda Clarke finally beat him in 1997. Rifkind came back as MP for Kensington and Chelsea in 2005.
The name-change in 2005 was accompanied by a change of MP as Lynda Clarke became a judge and was replaced by Alister Darling whose Edinburgh Central seat was wiped out by the Boundaries Commission. Darling became Chancellor of the Exchequer two years later. Darling stood down in 2015. The SNP came through from nowhere to take the seat, a familiar pattern that election in Scotland.
The seat looks very secure for the SNP at the moment although there were suggestions that Joanna Cherry aspired to move to the Scottish Parliament although she failed to be selected for the Edinburgh Central seat. Cherry was subsequently removed as an SNP Westminster front bencher. She appears to be aligned strongly to the Alex Salmond wing of the SNP. The split between the Sturgeon and Salmond factions appears to be the most serious since the 79 Group took on the SNP traditionalists 40 years ago.
The Constituency includes the Myreside Rugby stadium used by Watsonians and the Meggetland Sports Complex used by Boroughmuir. The Constituency also includes the stadium for First Division Heart of Midlothian Football Club. Craiglockhart houses a major tennis centre that in 1989 hosted a grass court final where John McEnroe beat Jimmy Connors 7-6, 7-6.
The Constituency stretches from Balerno in the far south-west through to Fountainbridge in the City Centre. Like Edinburgh South, it includes a variety of areas. There is largely modern semi-detached suburbia in Balerno and Currie, prosperous established areas such as Craiglockhart and Colinton, and the somewhat downmarket tenements of Gorgie and Dalry. It also includes one of the more notorious council-estate in Wester Hailes, and some more settled areas of municipal housing such as Firrhill and Sighthill. The tower blocks in Sighthill have now been demolished and replaced by new social and speculative housing.
Pentlands Constituency was held by the Unionists from its formation in 1950 although they were called Conservatives from 1966 onwards. From February 1974 the seat was held by the high-profile Malcolm Rifkind who was one of a handful of ministers to serve throughout the entire span of Margaret Thatcher’s and John Major’s premierships.
Labour had hopes of taking the seat given the construction of the massive council development at Wester Hailes. Initially this was within the Colinton Ward which was held years after year by excellent local sports journalist: Brian Meek, who mocked the imminent reports of his demise. Like Michael Ancram in Edinburgh South, Rifkind proved difficult to dislodge. Eventually Labour under advocate Lynda Clarke finally beat him in 1997. Rifkind came back as MP for Kensington and Chelsea in 2005.
The name-change in 2005 was accompanied by a change of MP as Lynda Clarke became a judge and was replaced by Alister Darling whose Edinburgh Central seat was wiped out by the Boundaries Commission. Darling became Chancellor of the Exchequer two years later. Darling stood down in 2015. The SNP came through from nowhere to take the seat, a familiar pattern that election in Scotland.
The seat looks very secure for the SNP at the moment although there were suggestions that Joanna Cherry aspired to move to the Scottish Parliament although she failed to be selected for the Edinburgh Central seat. Cherry was subsequently removed as an SNP Westminster front bencher. She appears to be aligned strongly to the Alex Salmond wing of the SNP. The split between the Sturgeon and Salmond factions appears to be the most serious since the 79 Group took on the SNP traditionalists 40 years ago.
The Constituency includes the Myreside Rugby stadium used by Watsonians and the Meggetland Sports Complex used by Boroughmuir. The Constituency also includes the stadium for First Division Heart of Midlothian Football Club. Craiglockhart houses a major tennis centre that in 1989 hosted a grass court final where John McEnroe beat Jimmy Connors 7-6, 7-6.
