 | 'The First Minister remained expressionless as Edinburgh-born Connery extolled Scotland's virtues, telling dignitaries: 'Scotland is blossoming once again - coming into its own and, I believe, soon to be an equal and independent member of the community of nations.' BBC Scotland News, 6 th April 2001. |  |
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Kevin Pringle |  |
Sarah Boyack MSP |
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Peter Finnie |  | Andy Myles |
 | Catriona Grant |  | James O'Neill |
In 1983 Edinburgh lost one of its seven seats, and 19,000 voters were added to Edinburgh Central including the New town, Stockbridge and Murrayfield-Dean areas from the abolished Tory seat of Edinburgh North. In the changes for the 1997 election, the New Town and Stockbridge were transferred back to Edinburgh North & Leith, while Central finally gained the Labour Moat-Stenhouse area which the boundary commission first proposed to add in 1983.
Edinburgh Central is one of the most interesting seats culturally and historically in the entire United (sic) Kingdom, including as it does Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace, and the temporary Parliament on the Mound. And then there is the hole where one of the biggest and most expensive architectural disasters in Scotland's history is being thrown together. Is it really too late to stop building this £200 million pound white elephant? The only positive point is that Donald's Dome was designed so badly that, like high rise flats, it will probably either fall down on its own or need to be torn down within a few years. Whereupon an intelligently designed and properly costed building can then be built on an appropriate site - as should have been done from the start.
Edinburgh Central has always been a marginal constituency and in the 13 elections between 1950 and 1992, the largest majority was 4,661. From 1945 to 1983, Edinburgh Central was held by Labour. In 1950, A. Gilzean held the seat with a 2,937 majority over Tory F.C Watt. Unusually for those day, there were no less than five candidates with Labour taking 47.9 %, the Tories 39.4 %, the Liberals 10.0 %, the Communists 1.9 % and an Independent 0.8 %.
At the 1951 election, the seat was contested by Labour and the Tories with new Labour candidate T. Oswald being elected with a reduced majority of 1,582 over Tory W.J.M. Kean. In 1955, following boundary changes, Mr Oswald's majority was reduced to 939 over Conservative B. Harris.
By 1959, the seat became even more marginal with Mr Oswald's majority reduced to just 617 over Tory Norman Wylie who became MP for Edinburgh Pentlands in 1964.
In 1964, there was a swing to Labour and Mr Oswald was elected with a majority of 2,092 over Nicholas Fairbairn, who became MP for Kinross & West Perthshire in October 1974. In 1966, Mr Oswald increased his majority still further to 4,195 over Nicholas Fairbairn.
In 1970, Mr Oswald found himself again up against a future Tory MP, this time obtaining a 1,561 majority over Malcolm Rifkind, who went on to represent Edinburgh Pentlands between February 1974 and 1997. This time around there was a four-way contest and Mr Oswald's vote fell from 58.9 % in 1966 to 46.2 % in 1970, with the Tory vote down from 41.1 % to 38.6 %. The SNP took 8.0 % and the Liberals 7.2 %.
After 23 years of representing Edinburgh Central, Mr Oswald retired. In February 1974, 28 year-old 'Robin' Cook, took 37.9 % of the vote and was elected with a majority of 961 over Tory P. Jones who polled 34.6 %. Boundary changes had brought the Liberal stronghold of North Merchiston into Central and the Liberals polled well, with C. Scott taking third place with 13.9 %, 106 votes ahead of the SNP's A.W.S. Rae on 13.6 %.
The same four candidates contested the October 1974 election with the Tories and Liberals losing ground to Labour and the SNP. Robin took polled 40.3 %, up 2.4 % on February giving him a 3,953 majority over Conservative P. Jones whose vote was down 8.7 % to 26.0 %. Just 310 votes behind the Tories was the SNP's A.W.S Rae who increased their vote by 11.3 % to 24.9 %, while the Liberals dropped by 4.7 % to 8.9 %.
By 1979, Robin Cook's vote was up by exactly 10 % on February 1974 and he had a majority of 4,661 over Tory David McLetchie, since 1999 a Tory Lothians MSP and leader of the Scottish Conservatives in the Scottish parliament. The Tories were up to 29.6 %, with the Liberal Stewart Donaldson on 12.2 % and the SNP's Gavin Kennedy, who had contested Chelmsford for Labour in 1974, taking 9.8 %.
In 1979, Edinburgh Central had begun to look like a safe Labour seat, however, boundary changes altered that. Instead of adding Labour Moat-Stenhouse, the commission added Tory Murrayfield-Dean. The new seat was composed of 52 % from Edinburgh Central, 35 % from the abolished Edinburgh North, 7 % from West, 3 % from South and 3 % from Pentlands. More importantly, it had a notional Conservative majority of 1,971.
This had two effects, Robin Cook left Edinburgh Central to fight the new Linlithgow seat which had been carved from the massive Midlothian and West Lothian seats, while Conservative Alec Fletcher, the Tory MP from the abolished Edinburgh North sear contested the new Edinburgh Central.
In the event, the moves appeared sensible. In 1983, Alex Fletcher won Edinburgh Central for the Tories with a majority of 2,566 over Labour's Richard Kerley. The Tories took 38.0 %, Labour 31.1 %, Marion McLeod of the SDP took 25.6 % and the SNP's Ron Halliday 4.9 , with Communist David Carson on 0.3 %.
The Tory hold on Edinburgh Central did not last long. In the backlash against Margaret Thatcher's anti-Scottish policies, the Tories lost no less than eleven of their 21 Scottish seats with the newly knighted Sir Alex Fletcher being one of the victims. Ironically, Sir Alex's successor Alistair Darling, is the great nephew of another honourable knight, Sir William Darling, onetime Conservative MP for Edinburgh South from 1945 to 1957.
Alistair Darling won Edinburgh Central in 1987 with a 2,262 majority over Sir Alex Fletcher. Labour took 40.2 % of the vote, up 9.1 % on 1983 while the Tories were down 3.4 % to 34.7 %. Liberal Andy Myles took 17.9 %, while the SNP's Brian Shaw took 6.2 % and Linda Hendry polled 1.1 % for the Greens.
The 1992 election saw little change at the top with Alistair Darling being returned for the second time with a majority of 2,126 over Tory Paul Martin. Labour were down 1.4 % to 38.7 % with the Tories down 1.3 % to 33.3 %. Lynne Devine increased the SNP vote by 7.9 % to 14.1 % and moved into third place ahead of Lib Dem Andy Myles with 11.4 %, down 6.3 % on 1987. Also contesting the seat was Robin Harper with 1.6 % for the Greens, and Liberal Des Wilson with 0.6 %. In 1999, Robin Harper became Britain's first ever Green parliamentarian when he was elected as Green MSP for the Lothians.
The boundary changes in Edinburgh Central in 1997 exchanged a predominantly Conservative area for a predominantly Labour one. This undoubtedly helped Mr Darling's chances of re-election in the 1997 General election with a gorgeous little majority of 11,070, the likes of which would no doubt have had his predecessor Robin Cook drooling with envy. Labour took 47.1 %, Tory Mike Scott-Hayward polled 21.2 %, with the SNP's Fiona Hyslop on 15.8 % and Lib Dem Karen Utting on 13.1 %. Linda Hendry, standing again for the Greens, polled 1.4 % for the Greens.
In the 2001 general election, Andy Myles, a well known Lib Dem activist, increased the Lib Dem vote by 5.7 % to take second place behind Alistair Darling. Labour took 42.3 %, The Lib Dems 18.5 %, the Tories 16.4 %, the SNP 14.1 %, the Greens 5.3 % and the SSP 3.7 %.
Many people are unaware that Alistair Darling is, like Gordon Brown, Robin Cook (until he resigned over the invasion of Iraq), Helen Liddell and John Reid, a Cabinet Minister. From May 1997 until July 1998 he was Chief Secretary to the Treasury after which he became Secretary of State for Social Security.
Alistair Darling liked it to be known that he was one of the few Scottish Labour MPs who was in favour of a Scottish Assembly and proportional representation. It is therefor a complete mystery to us how Mr Darling forgot to include his name in the list of Labour candidates for the Holyrood parliament. In the 1999 Scottish election his replacement was Sarah Boyack, a member of SERA and Labour spokesperson on transport. It was considered very poor taste to ask her to comment on the chaotic mess which Labour Cllr David Begg had made of Edinburgh's transport system.
In the Scottish election there was a 9.5 % swing from Labour to the SNP and Sarah Boyack was elected with a 4,626 majority over the SNP's Dr Ian McKee. This was the first time ever the SNP had come second in Edinburgh Central, taking 25.7 % to Labour's 38.0 %. Lib Dem Andy Myles came third with 16.5 % while Tory Jacqui Low, living up to her name, saw the Tory vote sink to one of 16.1 %, 169 votes behind the Lib Dems.
In Donald Dewar's administration, Sarah Boyack was made Minister for Transport & the Environment. However, in Henry McLeish's reshuffle, her Environment portfolio was taken away from her and given to Sam Galbraith. The fact that this was a punishment can be confirmed by the fact that when Sam Galbraith resigned in March 2001, Henry McLeish did not appear to know what to do with Environment. Rather than return the portfolio to Ms Boyack, he attempted to give it to Wendy Alexander who allegedly threw a tantrum. This was denied by Henry McLeish, but later confirmed by his spin doctor, Peter McMahon. Finally McLeish dumped Environment brief on Ross Finnie, the Rural Affairs Minister, who already had his hands full with the Foot and Mouth outbreak. Sarah Boyack, like the rest of the Executive, had supported Henry McLeish against Jack McConnell in the 2000 leadership contest and when McConnell became First Minister following McLeish's resignation a year later, Boyack was sacked and returned to the back benches. Her Transport portfolio was given to Wendy Alexander, the 'Minister for Everything' who resigned six months later in May 2002.
Sarah Boyack is the daughter of the Labour home ruler Jim Boyack. She was born in 1961 and educated at the Royal High School. She obtained a MA in History and Politics from Glasgow University and a Diploma in Planning from the Heriot Watt. She worked as a town planner and a lecturer before her election in 1999.
The SNP candidate is Kevin Pringle, an SNP spokesman and headquarters staff member.
The Lib Dem candidate is Andy Myles contested the seat in 1999 and 2001. In 1999 he came third with 16.5 %, 169 votes ahead of the Tories.
The Tory candidate is Peter Finnie. The SSP have selected Catriona Grant, while James O'Neill is contesting the seat for the Scottish Peoples Alliance.
Assessment:
Rank on Scottish National Party hit list: 16
Swing required for Scottish National Party gain: 6.19 % from Labour to Scottish National Party
Rank on Liberal Democrat hit list: 6
Swing required for Liberal Democrat gain: 10.74 % from Labour to Liberal Democrat
Rank on Conservative hit list: 21
Swing required for Conservative gain: 10.97 % from Labour to Conservative
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | % change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Labour | Sarah Boyack | 14,224 | 38.02 % | - 9.07 % |
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Scottish National Party | Dr Ian McKee | 9,598 | 25.65 % | + 9.85 % |
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Liberal Democrat | Andy Myles | 6,187 | 16.54 % | + 3.42 % |
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Conservative | Jacqui Low | 6,018 | 16.09 % | - 5.10 % |
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Scottish Socialist Party | Kevin Williamson | 830 | 2.22 % | + 2.22 % |
| Ind Democrat | Brian Allingham | 364 | 0.97 % | + 0.97 % | |
| Braveheart | William Wallace | 191 | 0.51 % | + 0.51 % | |
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Lab win | Lab majority | 4,626 | 12.37 % | - 13.53 % |
| Logo | Party | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | 9,795 | 26.18 % |
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Scottish National Party | 8,386 | 22.41 % |
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Conservative & Unionist Party | 6,227 | 16.64 % |
|
Liberal Democrats | 5,769 | 15.42 % |
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Scottish Green Party | 4,537 | 12.12 % |
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Socialist Labour Party | 974 | 2.60 % |
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Scottish Socialist Party | 824 | 2.20 % |
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ProLife Alliance | 115 | 0.31 % |
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Natural Law Party | 93 | 0.25 % |
| Others: Liberal Party Witchery Tour Party Civil Rights Movement Braveheart Socialist Party of Great Britain Independent Voice for Scottish Parliament Independent Independent Anti-Corruption, Mobile Home Scandal, Roads (No breakdown available) |
699 | 1.87 % | |
|
Lab maj | 1,409 | 3.77 % |
| Logo | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Labour | Alastair Darling | 20,125 | 47.09% |
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Conservative | Mike Scott-Hayward | 9,055 | 21.19% |
|
Scottish National Party | Fiona Hyslop | 6,750 | 15.80% |
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Liberal Democrat | Karen Utting | 5,605 | 13.12% |
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Green | Linda Hendry | 607 | 1.42% |
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Referendum | Austin Skinner | 495 | 1.16% |
| Ind Dem | Mark Benson | 98 | 0.23% | |
| Lab hold | Lab majority | 11,070 | 25.90% |
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