Politics of Edinburgh
The politics of Edinburgh are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of the City of Edinburgh Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. Also, as Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh is host to the Scottish Parliament and the main offices of the Scottish Government. The City of Edinburgh became a unitary council area in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Edinburgh district of the Lothian region. As one of the unitary local government areas of Scotland, the City of Edinburgh  has a defined structure of governance, generally under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with The City of Edinburgh Council governing on matters of local administration such as housing, planning, local transport, parks and local economic development and regeneration. For such purposes the City of Edinburgh is divided into 17 wards. The next tier of government is that of the Scottish Parliament, which legislates on matters of Scottish "national interest", such as healthcare, education, the environment and agriculture, devolved to it by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. For elections to the Scottish Parliament (at the Scottish Parliament Building , in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh), the city area is divided among six Scottish Parliament constituencies, each returning one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), and is within the Lothians electoral region. The Parliament of the United Kingdom (at the Palace of Westminster) legislates on matters such as taxation, foreign policy, defence, employment and trade. For elections to the House of Commons of this parliament, the city area is divided among five United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies, with each constituency returning one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. On 18 September 2014, Edinburgh voted  No in the Scottish Independence Referendum by 61.1% to 38.9% with an 84.4% turnout rate. The City of Edinburgh Council. The current Lord Provost of Edinburgh is Frank Ross, who replaced Donald Wilson in 2017. In Scotland, the Lord Provost fulfils many similar roles to that of a Mayor in some other countries. Elections to the Council are held every four/five years electing 63 councillors. The most recent elections took place in May 2017 and the next election will be in May 2022. Prior to May 2017, the Council was controlled by a Labour/Scottish National Party coalition which  continues following the 2017 election except that the SNP is now the single-largest party. The Council is currently the second-largest employer in Edinburgh, with a total of 18,617 employees. The Edinburgh Corporation and former local government. Prior to the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 Edinburgh was administered by the single tier "Edinburgh Corporation", which covered the "City and Royal Burgh of Edinburgh". As such, the Edinburgh Corporation was responsible for local government services, such as the Edinburgh Corporation Transport Department (Edinburgh Corporation Tramways until 1928). The Edinburgh Corporation had the power to make 'Burgess' (freemen) of the City  of Edinburgh and to grant "Seals of Cause" to Guilds and trade organisations. The Edinburgh Corporation awarded Burgess Ticket through the Lord Dean of Guild, an office in the Corporation. Like the Corporation of the City of London, Burgess Tickets were often awarded along with a 'Freedom Casket' – a container to hold the ticket. Bodies such as the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh and The High Constables of Edinburgh formed part of the corporation, contributing councilors and law enforcement officers. The Edinburgh Corporation had the power to institute these organisations via the granting of a "Seal  of Cause". This empowered the societies as "a legal corporation with power to hold property, make its own by-laws and regulations". Other organisations to receive the "Seal of Cause" include The Royal Burgess Golfing Society of Edinburgh, who received their seal on 2 July 1800. The history of the corporation lives on elsewhere around the city, for example in the name of the members of Muirfield golf club, who were granted a charter by the corporation in 1800 becoming "The Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers". Many of Edinburgh's ceremonies and traditions date back to the days of the  Edinburgh Corporation, such as the Edinburgh Ceremony of the Keys, where the Lord Provost symbolically hands the keys to the City of Edinburgh to the monarch, who hands them back to the Lord Provost proclaiming "that they cannot be placed in better hands than those of the Lord Provost and Councillors of my good City of Edinburgh". In 1975, Edinburgh Corporation was abolished. The new two-tier system consisted of Lothian Regional Council (with responsibility for water, education, social work and transport) and the City of Edinburgh District Council (with responsibility for cleansing and libraries). The City of Edinburgh  became a single-tier council area in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the City of Edinburgh district of the Lothian region. The district had been created in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to include the former county of city of Edinburgh; the former burgh of Queensferry, the district of Kirkliston and part of Winchburgh formerly within the county of West Lothian; and the district of Currie and the parish of Cramond formerly within the county of Midlothian. Parliament of the United Kingdom. For elections to the House of Commons  of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the city is divided among five constituencies, each of which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. All five constituencies are entirely within the city area. Prior to the 2005 United Kingdom general election, "Edinburgh" House of Commons constituencies had exactly the same names and boundaries as the Scottish Parliament constituencies listed above. However, in order to reduce Scotland's historical over representation in the House of Commons, Scotland's share of constituencies was reduced from 72 to 59, in accordance with proposals drawn up  by the Boundary Commission for Scotland. The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004 enabled Scottish Parliament constituencies to remain unaltered despite new arrangements for House of Commons constituencies, which resulted in the loss of one "Edinburgh" constituency and redrawing of boundaries for the others. As a result of the boundary review: Current political composition: Constituencies since 1708. "Edinburgh" has been used in ten different constituency names since 1708, the date of the first election to the Parliament of Great Britain (which was merged into the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1801). There have been up to six "Edinburgh" constituencies at  any one time. Two names, "Edinburgh South" and "Edinburgh West" have been in continuous use since 1885. One name, "Edinburgh East", also first used in 1885, fell out of use in 1997 and returned to use in 2005. Survival of a name does not in itself mean that a constituency's boundaries have been unaltered. Lists of constituencies: Scottish Parliament. For elections to the Scottish Parliament, the city is divided among six of the nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region. Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system of election , and the region elects seven additional members (also called "MSPs") to produce a form of proportional representation. Until the 2005 United Kingdom general election, "Edinburgh" Scottish Parliament and Parliament of the United Kingdom constituencies were coterminous (shared the same geographical boundaries). The Scottish Parliament (Constituencies) Act 2004, a piece of United Kingdom Parliament legislation, had removed the link, to enable Scottish Parliament constituencies to retain established boundaries despite the introduction of new boundaries for United Kingdom Parliament constituencies. In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the six "Edinburgh" constituencies elected 4 Scottish National Party MSPs, one Labour and one Liberal Democrat  MSP: The following additional members were elected to represent the Lothian electoral region: Scottish Independence referendum, 2014. At the 2014 Scottish independence referendum voters in Edinburgh rejected independence by a margin of 61.1% No to 38.9% Yes. Turnout was 84.4%. Numerically, Edinburgh had the largest number of No votes out of all 32 council areas in Scotland with 194,638 No votes to 123,927 Yes votes. The difference between the number of Yes and No votes was largest in Edinburgh by comparison to any other council area in Scotland at 70,711. The results were in marked contrast to those in Glasgow , where each of the city's constituencies voted Yes. UK European Union membership referendum, 2016. In 2016, Edinburgh voted in the European Union membership referendum. While the United Kingdom as a whole voted to leave the EU, Edinburgh overwhelmingly voted to Remain, giving the ninth highest Remain vote share of any counting area. Only Gibraltar and seven boroughs in London had higher vote shares for Remain.