Edinburgh West (UK Parliament constituency)
Edinburgh West is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first contested at the 1885 general election. Before the 2005 general election, the boundaries were the same as the Scottish Parliament constituency with the same name, which had been created in 1999. See "Edinburgh West (Scottish Parliament constituency)". This commuter belt seat, distinctively in the city, was safely Unionist/Conservative for over 65 years, from the 1931 general election until the 1997 general election, after which the seat was held by the Liberal Democrats until the 2015  general election. The MP between the 2015 and 2017 general elections was Michelle Thomson, who was elected for the SNP in May 2015. In September 2015, she resigned the party whip and sat as an Independent. At the 2017 general election, Christine Jardine of the Liberal Democrats gained the seat with a majority of 2,988 votes. Thomson chose to neither seek re-election for the SNP, or as an Independent candidate and stood down. The seat has been relative to others a marginal seat since 2005, as the winner's majority has not exceeded 8.2% of the vote since the  30% majority won in that year. The seat has changed hands twice electorally since that year and once through resigning the party whip. Constituency profile. This is an affluent, left-leaning and pro-European seat covering the north western portion of Edinburgh. It is mostly suburban, but takes in rural areas within the council area including Kirkliston and South Queensferry. Edinburgh Airport is within the seat. Boundaries. The seat was created when the Edinburgh constituency was abolished, in 1885, replaced by four seats: Edinburgh East, Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh South and Edinburgh West. The Central constituency was abolished in 2005. The  East constituency was abolished in 1997, but a new Edinburgh East was created in 2005. The South and West constituencies have been in continuous use (with alterations to boundaries) since 1885. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 provided that the seat was to consist of the Municipal Wards of St. Andrew, St. Stephen, St. Bernard, and St. Luke. In 1918 the seat legally consisted of the Dalry, Gorgie, Haymarket and St. Bernard's Municipal Wards of Edinburgh. Before the 2005 general election, the seat was one of six covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Five were entirely within the  city council area. One, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, straddled the boundary with the East Lothian council area to take in Musselburgh. Constituency boundaries were revised for the 2005 election: Edinburgh West was enlarged, to include an area formerly within Edinburgh Central, and became one of five seats covering the city area. From 1997 to 2007 the seat comprised the following wards: Cramond, Dalmeny and Kirkliston, Davidson's Mains, East Craigs, Gyle, Muirhouse and Drylaw, Murrayfield, North East Corstorphine, Queensferry, South East Corstorphine and Stenhouse. As of 2007, as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, none of the  new Edinburgh wards were wholly within the constituency. Almond and Constorphine/Murrayfield are almost entirely within it except for a small corner of each one. The constituency also includes a majority of Drum Brae/Gyle, a minority of Pentland Hills and small sections of Forth, Inverleith, City Centre and Sighthill/Gorgie.