Edinburgh Pentlands was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, first used in the general election of 1950, and abolished prior to the general election of 2005. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
In 1999, the Edinburgh Pentlands Scottish Parliament constituency was created with the same name and boundaries, and continues in use.
Boundaries
1950–1955: The Colinton, Gorgie-Dalry, Merchiston and Sighthill wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh.
1955–1974: The Colinton, Merchiston and Sighthill wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, and part of the Gorgie-Dalry ward.
1974–1983: The Colinton and Sighthill wards of the county of the city of Edinburgh, and part of the Merchiston ward.
1983–1997: Electoral divisions 10 (Balerno/Baberton), 24 (Hailes), 25 (Sighthill/Longstone), 35 (Colinton/Firrhill) and 36 (Braidburn/Fairmilehead) in the City of Edinburgh.
1997–2005: Electoral divisions 10 (Balerno/Baberton), 22 (Longstone/Craiglockhart), 30 (Sighthill/Broomhouse), 31 (Colinton/Firrhill), and 35 (Braidburn/Fairmilehead) in the City of Edinburgh.
In 2005, prior to the general election, the Westminster constituency 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. Edinburgh Pentlands covered a south-western portion of the city council area.
In terms of wards used for elections to the City of Edinburgh Council, 1999 to 2007, Edinburgh Pentlands included wards named Balerno, Baberton, Colinton, Craiglockhart, Fairmilehead, Firrhill, Murrayburn, Parkhead, and Sighthill. The South Morningside ward was split between Edinburgh Pentlands and Edinburgh South. The seat had an urban north and a suburban centre. The remaining area was rural, and included a Pentland Hills area in the south.
In 2005, most of the constituency became part of Edinburgh South West. The Fairmilehead and South Morningside wards went to Edinburgh South. For the 2005 election, there were five constituencies covering the city area, all entirely within that area.
Members of Parliament
thumb|300px|[[Malcolm Rifkind was the longest serving MP for Edinburgh Pentlands, serving from 1974 to 1997.]]
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"|Election!!Member!!Party
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|| 1950
|| Lord John Hope
|| Unionist
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|| 1964
| rowspan="2" | Norman Wylie
|| Unionist
|-
|style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
| 1965
| Conservative
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: "|
|| Feb 1974
|| Malcolm Rifkind
|| Conservative
|-
| style="color:inherit;background-color: " |
|| 1997
|| Lynda Clark
|| Labour
|-
|colspan="2" align="center" | 2005
|colspan="2" | constituency abolished: see Edinburgh South West & Edinburgh South
|}
Elections
Elections in the 1950s
Elections in the 1960s
Elections in the 1970s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1970 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 17,000 ||align=right| 45.70
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 14,800 ||align=right| 39.78
|-
|
| Liberal ||align=right| 3,200 ||align=right| 8.60
|-
|
| SNP ||align=right| 2,200 ||align=right| 5.91
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|37,200
|align=right|76.79
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|48,445
|}
Elections in the 1980s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1979 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 20,064 ||align=right| 44.3
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 13,635 ||align=right| 30.1
|-
|
| Liberal ||align=right| 6,138 ||align=right| 13.6
|-
|
| SNP ||align=right| 5,393 ||align=right| 11.9
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 54 ||align=right| 0.1
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|45,284
|align=right|
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|
|}
Elections in the 1990s
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="4" | 1992 notional result
|-
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="130px" colspan="2" | Party
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="50px" | Vote
! bgcolor="#DDDDFF" width="30px" | %
|-
|
| Conservative ||align=right| 18,474 ||align=right| 40.2
|-
|
| Labour ||align=right| 14,326 ||align=right| 31.2
|-
|
| SNP ||align=right| 7,203 ||align=right| 15.7
|-
|
| Liberal Democrats ||align=right| 5,828 ||align=right| 12.7
|-
|
| Others ||align=right| 127 ||align=right| 0.3
|-
|colspan="4" bgcolor="#EAECF0"|
|-
|colspan="2"|Turnout
|align=right|45,958
|align=right|77.3
|-
|colspan="2"|Electorate
|align=right|59,432
|}
Election in the 2000s
See also
- Politics of Edinburgh