Midlothian North and Musselburgh (Scottish Parliament constituency)

Midlothian North and Musselburgh
county constituency for the Scottish Parliament
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Midlothian North and Musselburgh shown within the Lothian electoral region and the region shown within Scotland
Current constituency
Created	2011
Party	Scottish National Party
MSP	Colin Beattie
Council area	Midlothian East Lothian

Midlothian North and Musselburgh is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood). It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it is one of nine constituencies in the Lothian electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.

Before the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, Midlothian was abolished, with the creation of two new constituencies called Midlothian North and Musselburgh and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

Electoral region

See also: Lothian (Scottish Parliament electoral region)

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

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

Midlothian is represented by two constituencies in the Scottish Parliament, these are Midlothian North and Musselburgh and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale, the latter is part of the South Scotland region.

From the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the newly formed constituency of Midlothian North and Musselburgh is formed from the following electoral wards;

• In full: Musselburgh West, Musselburgh East and Carberry, Bonnyrigg, Dalkeith, Midlothian East
• In part: Midlothian West (shared with Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale)

Election results

Scottish Parliament election, 2016: Midlothian North and Musselburgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Colin Beattie	16,948	48.9	+1.6
	Labour	Bernard Harkins	9,913	28.6	-8.6
	Conservative	Jeremy Balfour	6,267	18.1	+9.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jacquie Bell	1,557	4.5	+0.3
Majority			7,035
Turnout			34,285	54.7
	SNP hold		Swing

Scottish Parliament election, 2011: Midlothian North and Musselburgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Colin Beattie	14,079	47.2	+11.9
	Labour	Bernard Harkins	11,083	37.2	-3.3
	Conservative	Scott Douglas	2,541	8.5	-0.5
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Younger	1,254	4.2	-9.6
	Independent	Alan Hay	861	2.9	+2.9
Majority			2,996	10
Turnout			29,818	51
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing	7.6

Scottish Parliament election, 2007 Notional Result: Midlothian North and Musselburgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour		11,670	40.5
	SNP		10,177	35.3
	Liberal Democrats		3,969	13.8
	Conservative		2,611	9.1
	Others		401	1.4
Majority			1,493	5.2
	Labour hold		Swing