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 The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. Also, as Scotland's

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...

, 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 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland. It abolished the two-tie ...

, with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Edinburgh

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

of the Lothian

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. 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 In the economics study of the public sector, economic and social development is the process by which the economic well-being and quality of life of a nation, region, local community, or an individual are improved according to targeted goals and ...

and regeneration. For such purposes the City of Edinburgh is divided into 17

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s. 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 The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. For elections to the Scottish Parliament (at the

Scottish Parliament Building ; sco, Scots Pairlament Biggin , native_name_lang = , former_names = , alternate_names = Holyrood , image = Scottish Parliament building - geograph.org.uk - 2469654.jpg , image_alt = , caption ...

, 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

(at the Palace of Westminster) legislates on matters such as

taxation A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...

, foreign policy,

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, employment and

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct excha ...

. For elections to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

of this parliament, the city area is divided among five

United Kingdom Parliamentary constituencies The Parliament of the United Kingdom currently has 650 parliamentary United Kingdom constituencies, constituencies across the constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), each electing a single Member of Parliament (Un ...

, with each constituency returning one

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) by the

first past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

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 Robert Aldridge, who replaced Frank Ross in 2022. In Scotland, the Lord Provost fulfils many similar roles to that of a Mayor in some other countries. Cllr Aldridge has been on the Council since 1984, previously leading the Liberal Democrat group, and was elected unanimously. He was the first Lord Provost to welcome a new monarch (Charles III) to Edinburgh with the Ceremony of the Keys since 1952. Elections to the Council are held every four/five years electing 63 councillors. The most recent elections took place in May 2022 and the next election will be in May 2027. Prior to May 2022, the Council was controlled by a Labour/ Scottish National Party coalition. Following the 2022 election, a minority Labour administration took control, with Cammy Day as the new council leader, replacing former leader Adam McVey. As of 2013, the Council was the second-largest employer in Edinburgh, with a total of 18,617 employees.

Council political composition

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 Royal Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh, previously known as the Merchant Company of Edinburgh is a mercantile company and Guild officially recognised in 1681, but dating back to at least 1260. The Company, or Confraternity, was ...

, 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 {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act. ...

in 1996, under the

, with the boundaries of the City of Edinburgh

of the Lothian

. The district had been created in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, to include the former

county of city County of city (or county of a city) was a term used for certain local government areas in Scotland between 1890 and 1975 which performed the functions of both a county council and the town council of a burgh. There were four such areas, covering t ...

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

of the

, the city is divided among five

constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

, each of which elects one

(MP) by the

system of election. All five constituencies are entirely within the city area. Prior to the

2005 United Kingdom general election The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 646 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Labour Party (U ...

, ''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 boundary commissions in the United Kingdom are non-departmental public bodies responsible for determining the boundaries of constituencies for elections to the House of Commons. There are four boundary commissions: * Boundary Commission fo ...

. 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:''Boundary Commission for Scotland, 2004'
Fifth Periodical Review of Constituencies
* Edinburgh Central constituency was abolished and split between the original Edinburgh North and Leith and Edinburgh West constituencies and an entirely new constituency that was created – Edinburgh South West. * Edinburgh East and Musselburgh took in parts of the Edinburgh North and Leith seat, with the town of Musselburgh being transferred into the East Lothian constituency, with the new seat renamed

Edinburgh East Edinburgh East is a burgh constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In present form, the constituency was first used at t ...

. * Edinburgh Pentlands constituency was also divided between the new Edinburgh South West seat and the existing Edinburgh South seat. * Edinburgh North and Leith was increased in size by taking in parts of the old Edinburgh Central constituency. * Edinburgh South was expanded in size taking in elements of the old Edinburgh Pentlands seat. * Edinburgh South West was an entirely new constituency created for the 2005 UK general election taking in elements of the old Edinburgh Central seat, the original Edinburgh West seat and Edinburgh Pentlands seat. * Edinburgh West was expanded to include some parts of the defunct Edinburgh Central seat. 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

in the Lothian electoral region. Each constituency elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the

system of election, and the region elects seven additional members (also called ''MSPs'') to produce a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. Until the

, ''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 Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

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.

Results by UK Parliament constituency

Edinburgh Scottish independence referendum

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.

References

{{Edinburgh de:City of Edinburgh