# Edinburgh Pentlands (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Edinburgh Pentlands (Gaelic: Dùn Èideann Pentlands) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Edinburgh. 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.
The seat has been held by Gordon MacDonald of the Scottish National Party since the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

## Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothian region are: Almond Valley, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh Eastern, Edinburgh Northern and Leith, Edinburgh Southern, 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.

## Constituency boundaries and 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 Pentlands 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.
The newly formed Edinburgh Pentlands uses the following electoral wards:
* In full: Pentland Hills, Colinton/Fairmilehead
* In part: Sighthill/Gorgie shared with (Edinburgh Central)

## Members of the Scottish Parliament

| Election | Member | Party |
| 1999 | Iain Gray | Labour |
| 2003 | David McLetchie | Conservative |
| 2011 | Gordon MacDonald | SNP |

## Election results
### 2020s

2021 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Pentlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Regional | Regional | Regional |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Gordon MacDonald | 16,227 | 42.4 | 2.9 | 12,916 | 33.7 | 1.2 |
| | Conservative | Gordon Lindhurst | 12,330 | 32.3 | 0.1 | 10,850 | 28.3 | 4.0 |
| | Labour | Lezley Cameron | 6,998 | 18.3 | 5.1 | 6,903 | 18.0 | 0.7 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 3,702 | 9.7 | 2.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Fraser Graham | 2,213 | 5.8 | 0.9 | 2,150 | 5.6 | 1.9 |
| | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | Alba | 523 | 1.4 | New |
| | Scottish Family | Richard Lucas | 462 | 1.2 | New | 297 | 0.8 | New |
| | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | All for Unity | 257 | 0.7 | New |
| | Animal Welfare | Animal Welfare | Animal Welfare | Animal Welfare | Animal Welfare | 210 | 0.5 | New |
| | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | 86 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| | Independent | Ashley Graczyk | Ashley Graczyk | Ashley Graczyk | Ashley Graczyk | 79 | 0.2 | New |
| | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | Abolish the Scottish Parliament | 73 | 0.2 | New |
| | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | Reform UK | 71 | 0.2 | New |
| | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | Freedom Alliance (UK) | 56 | 0.1 | New |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 50 | 0.1 | 1.7 |
| | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | Scottish Libertarian | 44 | 0.1 | New |
| | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | Communist | 31 | 0.1 | New |
| | SDP | SDP | SDP | SDP | SDP | 19 | 0.0 | New |
| | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | Renew | 6 | 0.0 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,897 | 10.1 | 2.8 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 38,230 | | | 38,323 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 119 | | | 43 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 38,349 | 64.9 | 4.3 | 38,366 | 64.9 | 4.2 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||

### 2010s

2016 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Pentlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Gordon MacDonald | 13,181 | 39.5 | 2.2 | 11,690 | 34.9 | 4.4 |
| | Conservative | Gordon Lindhurst | 10,725 | 32.2 | 0.8 | 10,796 | 32.3 | 12.6 |
| | Labour | Blair Heary | 7,811 | 23.4 | 3.2 | 6,251 | 18.7 | 2.2 |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 2,339 | 7.0 | 1.7 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Emma Farthing-Sykes | 1,636 | 4.9 | 0.3 | 1,252 | 3.7 | 0.2 |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 591 | 1.8 | 1.2 |
| | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | Women's Equality | 311 | 0.9 | New |
| | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | RISE | 126 | 0.4 | New |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 93 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,456 | 7.3 | 1.4 | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 33,353 | | | 33,449 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 137 | | | 67 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,490 | 60.6 | 3.3 | 33,516 | 60.7 | 3.3 |
| | SNP hold | SNP hold | Swing | Swing | | | | |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Elected on the party list |||||||||
2011 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Pentlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region |
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SNP | Gordon MacDonald | 11,197 | 37.3 | N/A | 11,846 | 39.3 | N/A |
| | Conservative | David McLetchie | 9,439 | 31.4 | N/A | 5,945 | 19.7 | N/A |
| | Labour | Ricky Henderson | 7,993 | 26.6 | N/A | 6,284 | 20.9 | N/A |
| | Independent | Margo MacDonald | Margo MacDonald | Margo MacDonald | Margo MacDonald | 2,206 | 7.3 | N/A |
| | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | Scottish Green | 1,588 | 5.3 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Clark | 1,420 | 4.6 | N/A | 1,041 | 3.5 | N/A |
| | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | All-Scotland Pensioners Party | 346 | 1.1 | N/A |
| | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | BNP | 201 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | UKIP | 175 | 0.6 | N/A |
| | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | Scottish Christian | 122 | 0.4 | N/A |
| | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | Socialist Labour | 117 | 0.4 | N/A |
| | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | Scottish Socialist | 102 | 0.7 | N/A |
| | CPA | CPA | CPA | CPA | CPA | 56 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal | Liberal | 49 | 0.2 | N/A |
| | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | Solidarity | 18 | 0.1 | N/A |
| | Independent | Ken O'Neil | Ken O'Neil | Ken O'Neil | Ken O'Neil | 14 | 0.0 | N/A |
| | Independent | David Hogg | David Hogg | David Hogg | David Hogg | 6 | 0.0 | N/A |
| | Independent | Mev Brown | Mev Brown | Mev Brown | Mev Brown | 4 | 0.0 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,758 | 5.9 | N/A | | | |
| Valid Votes | Valid Votes | Valid Votes | 30,049 | | | 30,120 | | |
| Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | Invalid Votes | 107 | | | 91 | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 30,156 | 57.3 | N/A | 30,211 | 57.4 | N/A |
| | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) | SNP win (new boundaries) |
| Notes ↑ Incumbent member for this constituency ↑ Incumbent member on the party list, or for another constituency |||||||||

### 2000s

2007 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Pentlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David McLetchie | 12,927 | 37.6 | +0.4 |
| | Labour | Sheila Gilmore | 8,402 | 24.4 | −6.5 |
| | SNP | Ian McKee | 8,234 | 23.9 | +7.1 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Clark | 4,814 | 14.0 | +2.2 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 4,525 | 13.2 | +6.9 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 34,377 | | |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | | |
2003 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Pentlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | David McLetchie | 12,420 | 37.2 | +8.3 |
| | Labour | Iain Gray | 10,309 | 30.9 | −5.3 |
| | SNP | Ian McKee | 5,620 | 16.8 | −5.4 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Simon Clark | 3,943 | 11.8 | −0.9 |
| | Scottish Socialist | Frank O'Donnell | 1,090 | 3.3 | New |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,111 | 6.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 33,382 | 57.1 | −8.9 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing | +6.8 | |

### 1990s

1999 Scottish Parliament election: Edinburgh Pentlands :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labour | Iain Gray | 14,343 | 36.2 | N/A |
| | Conservative | David McLetchie | 11,458 | 28.9 | N/A |
| | SNP | Stewart Gibb | 8,770 | 22.2 | N/A |
| | Liberal Democrats | Ian Gibson | 5,029 | 12.7 | N/A |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,885 | 7.3 | N/A |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 39,600 | 66.0 | N/A |
| | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) | Labour win (new seat) |