Midlothian was a

constituency An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of the

Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( ; ) is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. It is located in the Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood area of Edinburgh, and is frequently referred to by the metonym 'Holyrood'. ...

( Holyrood). It elected one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. Also, however, it was one of nine constituencies in the Lothians electoral region, which elected seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

for the region as a whole. For the 2011 Scottish Parliament election, the Midlothian constituency was abolished, with the creation of two new constituencies called Midlothian North and Musselburgh, and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.

Electoral region

The other eight constituencies of the Lothians region from 1999 to 2011 were: Edinburgh Central, Edinburgh East and Musselburgh, Edinburgh North and Leith, Edinburgh Pentlands, Edinburgh South, Edinburgh West, Linlithgow and Livingston. The region covered the

City of Edinburgh council area The City of Edinburgh Council (Scottish Gaelic: ''Comhairle Baile Dhùn Èideann'') is the Local government in Scotland, local government authority covering the City of Edinburgh council area. Almost half of the council area is the built-up are ...

, the West Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, and part of the East Lothian council area.

Constituency boundaries and council area

The Midlothian constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, with the name and boundaries of the then existing Westminster constituency. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, however, Scottish Westminster (

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.Se
''The 5th Periodical Report of the Boundary Commission for Scotland''
The Holyrood constituency was one of two covering the Midlothian council area. The other constituency, Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, covered a western portion of the Midlothian council area, and straddles its boundary with the Scottish Borders council area. Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale was within the South of Scotland electoral region.

Boundary review

Following their First Periodic review of constituencies to the Scottish Parliament, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended extending the current Midlothian constituency into a newly formed seat of Midlothian North and Musselburgh with the western boundary to the south of Auchendinny. The other constituency now covering the Midlothian council area is a modified Midlothian South, Tweedale, and Lauderdale constituency.

Member of the Scottish Parliament

Election results

Footnotes

{{Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999-2011 Scottish Parliament constituencies and regions 1999–2011 1999 establishments in Scotland Constituencies established in 1999 2011 disestablishments in Scotland Constituencies disestablished in 2011 Dalkeith Bonnyrigg and Lasswade Politics of Midlothian