# Edinburgh Leith (UK Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh Leith was a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1950 to 1997. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
There was also an earlier Leith constituency, 1918 to 1950, and a yet earlier Leith Burghs constituency, 1832 to 1918.

## Boundaries
### 1950 to 1955

The constituency was first defined by the House of Commons (Redistribution of Seats) Act 1949, and first used in the 1950 general election, as one of seven constituencies covering the city of Edinburgh and the Midlothian burgh of Musselburgh. The other six constituencies were Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East, Edinburgh North, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, and Edinburgh West, and the rest of the county of Midlothian was covered by the Midlothian and Peebles constituency, which also covered the county of Peebles.
The Edinburgh Leith constituency was entirely within the city, and covered the Central Leith, South Leith, and West Leith wards. Therefore, the area of the constituency was similar to that of the former burgh of Leith, as merged into the city in 1920.
1950 boundaries were used also for the 1951 general election.

### 1955 to 1983

The results of the First Periodical Review of the Boundary Commission were implemented for the 1955 general election, and Edinburgh Leith was again one of seven constituencies covering the city of Edinburgh and the burgh of Musselburgh, all named as during the 1950 to 1955 period. The rest of the county of Midlothian was now covered, however, by the new Midlothian constituency.
The Edinburgh Leith constituency again covered wards named Central Leith, South Leith, and West Leith, but the overall boundary of the constituency was different.
For the county of Midlothian, inclusive of the city of Edinburgh, the general pattern established by the First Periodical Review was maintained for the general elections of 1959, 1964, 1966, 1970, February 1974, October 1974 and 1979. There were boundary adjustments, however, which became effective for the 1964 election and, as a result of the Second Periodical Review, for the February 1974 election.
Edinburgh Leith was not affected by the 1964 changes. For the February 1974 election, the constituency was designed to cover the Central Leith, South Leith, and West Leith wards and part of the Pilton ward of city.

### 1983 to 1997

The results of the Third Periodical Review, which took account of the abolition of Scottish counties and burghs in 1975 and the creation of two-tier regions and districts and unitary islands council areas under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, were implemented for the 1983 general election, and 1983 boundaries were used also in the general elections of 1987 and 1992.
Between 1983 and 1997 the electoral wards used to create Edinburgh Leith were 12–14, 17, and 18, and part of 23
As a result of the Fourth Periodical Review, Edinburgh Leith was abolished, and Edinburgh North and Leith was created for the 1997 general election.

## Members of Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1950 | James Hoy | Labour |
| 1970 | Ronald King Murray | Labour |
| 1979 | Ron Brown | Labour |
| 1991 | Ron Brown | Independent |
| 1992 | Malcolm Chisholm | Labour |
| 1997 | constituency abolished | constituency abolished |

## Elections
### Elections in the 1950s

General election 1950: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hoy | 18,111 | 49.22 | |
| | National Liberal | Eoin Cameron Mekie | 15,841 | 43.05 | |
| | Liberal | Thomas McGill Frew | 2,846 | 7.73 | |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,270 | 6.17 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 36,798 | 80.71 | |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |
General election 1951: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hoy | 19,308 | 50.09 | +0.87 |
| | National Liberal | Eoin Cameron Mekie | 19,236 | 49.91 | +6.86 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 72 | 0.18 | −5.99 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,544 | 84.05 | +3.34 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -3.00 | |
General election 1955: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hoy | 16,337 | 49.38 | −0.71 |
| | National Liberal | Janet Sutherland Shearer | 10,693 | 32.32 | −17.59 |
| | Independent Liberal | Andrew Murray | 6,055 | 18.30 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 5,644 | 17.06 | +16.87 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,085 | 77.79 | −6.26 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +8.44 | |
General election 1959: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hoy | 15,092 | 47.78 | −1.60 |
| | National Liberal | Gershom Stewart | 12,018 | 38.05 | +5.73 |
| | Liberal | Andrew Murray | 4,475 | 14.17 | −4.13 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,074 | 9.73 | −7.33 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,585 | 79.46 | +1.67 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -3.67 | |

### Elections in the 1960s

General election 1964: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hoy | 15,934 | 55.50 | +7.72 |
| | National Liberal | Gershom Stewart | 12,777 | 44.50 | +6.45 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,157 | 11.00 | +1.27 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 28,711 | 77.86 | −1.60 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +0.64 | |
General election 1966: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | James Hoy | 15,407 | 56.79 | +1.29 |
| | Conservative | Archie Elliott | 11,443 | 42.18 | −2.32 |
| | Communist | Honor Arundel | 279 | 1.03 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,964 | 14.61 | +3.61 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,129 | 76.09 | −1.77 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.81 | |

### Elections in the 1970s

General election 1970: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ronald Murray | 12,066 | 46.29 | −10.50 |
| | Conservative | Archie Elliott | 10,682 | 40.98 | −1.20 |
| | SNP | Mary G Thomson | 1,827 | 7.01 | New |
| | Liberal | Joyce Shein | 1,490 | 5.72 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,384 | 5.31 | −9.30 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 26,065 | 73.11 | −2.98 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -4.15 | |
General election February 1974: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ronald Murray | 12,604 | 40.58 | −5.71 |
| | Conservative | William Robert Victor Percy | 11,883 | 38.26 | −2.72 |
| | SNP | Hugh Miller | 6,569 | 21.15 | +14.14 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 721 | 2.32 | −2.99 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 31,056 | 79.31 | +6.20 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -1.50 | |
General election October 1974: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ronald Murray | 11,708 | 39.69 | −0.89 |
| | Conservative | William Robert Victor Percy | 8,263 | 28.01 | −10.25 |
| | SNP | Robert John Dinwoodie Scott | 7,688 | 26.07 | +4.91 |
| | Liberal | Arthur John Heley Squair | 1,836 | 6.22 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,445 | 11.68 | +9.36 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,495 | 74.85 | −4.46 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +4.68 | |
General election 1979: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ron Brown | 12,961 | 46.30 | +6.61 |
| | Conservative | Aidan Joseph McLernan | 8,944 | 31.95 | +3.94 |
| | Liberal | Keith Graeme Aitken | 3,382 | 12.08 | +5.86 |
| | SNP | William Richard Platt | 2,706 | 9.67 | −16.40 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,017 | 14.35 | +2.67 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 27,993 | 75.24 | +0.39 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | +1.34 | |

### Elections in the 1980s

General election 1983: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ron Brown | 16,177 | 39.71 | −7.33 |
| | SDP | David Graham | 11,204 | 27.51 | +14.30 |
| | Conservative | Brian Cooklin | 10,706 | 26.28 | −2.70 |
| | SNP | John Young | 2,646 | 6.50 | −4.26 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,973 | 12.20 | −2.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,733 | 67.26 | −9.9 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |
General election 1987: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Ron Brown | 21,104 | 49.3 | +9.6 |
| | Conservative | Duncan Menzies | 9,777 | 22.9 | −3.4 |
| | SDP | Shelia Wells | 7,843 | 18.3 | −9.2 |
| | SNP | William Morrison | 4,045 | 9.5 | +3.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 11,327 | 26.4 | +14.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 42,769 | 70.9 | +3.6 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | | |

### Elections in the 1990s

General election 1992: Edinburgh Leith :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Malcolm Chisholm | 13,790 | 34.2 | −15.1 |
| | SNP | Fiona Hyslop | 8,805 | 21.8 | +12.3 |
| | Conservative | Mohammed Rizvi | 8,496 | 21.1 | −1.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Hilary C. Campbell | 4,975 | 12.3 | −6.0 |
| | Independent Labour | Ron Brown | 4,142 | 10.3 | −39.0 |
| | Natural Law | Alan J. Swan | 96 | 0.2 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,985 | 12.4 | −14.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,304 | 71.1 | +0.2 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing | -13.8 | |