United Kingdom general election, 2015 (Edinburgh)

United Kingdom general election, 2015^[1]

7 May 2015

All 5 Edinburgh seats to the House of Commons   First party Second party Third party   Leader Nicola Sturgeon Jim Murphy Ruth Davidson Party SNP Labour Conservative Leader since 14 November 2014 13 December 2014 5 November 2011 Last election 0 Seats 4 Seats 0 Seats Seats before 0 4 0 Seats won 4 1 0 Seat change 4 3 Popular vote 107,132 71,978 39,850 Percentage 41.1% 27.6 15.3 Swing 28.6% 9.5% 3.9%   Fourth party   Leader Willie Rennie Party Liberal Democrats Leader since 17 May 2011 Last election 1 seat Seats before 1 Seats won 0 Seat change 1 Popular vote 25,870 Percentage 9.9% Swing 18.6%

Prime Minister before election David Cameron Conservative Subsequent Prime Minister David Cameron Conservative

These are the results of the United Kingdom general election, 2015 in the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The 2015 General Election was held on 7 May 2015, and saw momentous changes in the political landscape of Scotland, with the Scottish National Party winning the vast majority of seats and 50% of the popular vote.

In Edinburgh the SNP won 4 of the city's 5 seats, with Labour retaining control of the constituency of Edinburgh South, which was held by Ian Murray. Following the election Murray was the sole Labour MP in Scotland. Murray's main opponent, the SNP candidate for Edinburgh South Neil Hay, had incurred controversy after it was discovered that he had tweeted numerous offensive messages on Twitter under the pseudonym Paco McSheepie. Amongst the tweets were comments calling Scottish Unionists Quislings^[2] and claiming that elderly voters were too senile to vote.^[3]

The Liberal Democrats lost their only Edinburgh seat, Edinburgh West, which had been held by Michael Crockart.

The reasons for the increase in support for the SNP, and the decline in support for Labour, were numerous. Edinburgh had voted against independence in the referendum, with 61.1% of the city voting against, as opposed to 38.9% voting for. The election saw the SNP winning 41.1% of the vote in Edinburgh; some 10% below the national average, but still a momentous shift since 2010.

Turnout was 260,843, or 73.1%.

For individual results see Results of the United Kingdom general election, 2015 by parliamentary constituency.

Overall result

Party		MPs	+/-	Seats Contested	Votes	%	+/- %
	Scottish National Party	4	4	5	107,132	41.1	28.6
	Labour Party	1	3	5	71,978	27.6	9.5
	Conservative Party	0		5	39,850	15.3	3.9
	Liberal Democrats	0	1	5	25,870	9.9	18.6
	Scottish Green Party	0		5	11,144	4.3	2.1
	UKIP	0		5	4,433	1.7	1.6
	Scottish Socialist Party	0		1	197	0.1
	Left Unity	0		1	122	0.05	New
	Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition	0		1	117	0.04	0.16

Results in Full

See also

• 2015 United Kingdom general election result in Glasgow
• 2015 United Kingdom general election results in Scotland
• Next United Kingdom general election

References

Elections in Edinburgh
Edinburgh Corporation	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973
City of Edinburgh District Council	1974 1977 1980 1984 1988 1992
Lothian Regional Council	1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994
City of Edinburgh Council	1995 1999 2003 2007 2012 2017
General Elections	1997 2001 2005 2010 2015
Referendums	2005