Constituency profile

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Scotland · Burgh constituency · East Lothian borough

Chris Murray MP
Sitting MP

Chris Murray

Labour

First elected July 2024

Current PollCheck projection

Region & type
Scotland
Burgh constituency, East Lothian council
Last 5 GE winners
LSSSL
SNP 3/5, Labour 2/5
EU referendum 2016
31.5% Leave
UK average 51.9%; -20.4pp below mean
Current outlook
SNP +4.2pp
Vulnerability score 9/10 (Labour projected to lose)
ScottishStrong Remain areaGraduate-heavy

About the Edinburgh East and Musselburgh constituency

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh is a burgh constituency in Scotland. The sitting MP is Chris Murray (Labour), first elected in July 2024. At the 2024 general election, Labour won with 41.2% to 33.1% for the SNP, a majority of 3,715 votes on a 59.8% turnout. PollCheck's current projection, at the seven-poll average, has the SNP on 34.6% and Labour on 30.4%, a margin of 4.2 points - a projected change of hands from Labour.

Who lives in Edinburgh East and Musselburgh? Constituency demographics

From the 2021 Census and 2016 EU referendum estimates. Constituency-level data on 2024 boundaries.

Leave vote 2016
31.5%
UK average ~52%
Degree or above
53.8%
UK average ~34%
No qualifications
11.1%
UK average ~18%
Owner-occupied
54.1%
UK average ~63%
Renting (social + private)
44.7%
UK average ~36%
Median age
35.1
UK median ~40
Age 65+
16.1%
UK average ~19%
Age 18-34
43.2%
UK average ~28%

How did Edinburgh East and Musselburgh vote in 2024 and how would it vote now?

2024 vote shares from the HoC Library. Current projection is at the 7-poll average.

2024 general election

Lab gain from SNP · majority 3,715 votes (8.1pp) · turnout 59.8%

Current projection

If a general election were held today, at current poll average

Map of Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Switch between GE2024 ward winners (modelled estimates, ~4pp average error) and a demographic view from Scotland's 2022 Census. Hover any area for detail. How the map is built ›

Holyrood 2026 layer

How Edinburgh East and Musselburgh voted at the Scottish Parliament election (7 May 2026)

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh crosses multiple Holyrood boundaries: Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent (56%), Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith (28%), Edinburgh Central (8%), Edinburgh Southern (4%), Midlothian North (2%). Scotland uses the Additional Member System: voters cast one ballot for a constituency MSP and a second for a regional list. The figures below are the constituency vote.

Holyrood constituencyShare of Edinburgh East and MusselburghWinnerRunner-upElected MSP
Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent56%SNP 44.7%Labour 28.9%Kate Campbell
Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith28%SNP 0.0%Labour 32.4%Ben Macpherson 13,630
Edinburgh Central8%Green 36.0%Labour 23.0%Lorna Slater
Edinburgh Southern4%Labour 42.9%SNP 30.3%Daniel Johnson
Midlothian North2%SNP 38.9%Labour 30.3%Colin Beattie

Holyrood 2026 constituency results from official declarations. Overlap percentages are area-based using the post-2024 Westminster boundary against the new Holyrood second-review boundary (in force from 7 May 2026).

Council layer (not Westminster)

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh within East Lothian

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh sits entirely within East Lothian Council. East Lothian was not due to vote in 2026, so the figures below are the most recent ward results available. About this layer ›

Council overlap

CouncilShare of seat
East Lothian
1 LSOAs
100%

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward - May 2026 results where the council voted, otherwise the most recent available result. How this table is sourced ›

Ward GE2024 winner Latest council winner Shift since GE2024 Turnout
City CentreLabour 37.9%vs SNP 28.1%2017 Conservative 32.7%vs SNP 25.1%--
Craigentinny / DuddingstonLabour 41.1%vs SNP 35.8%No council data--
LeithLabour 46.0%vs SNP 30.0%2017 SNP 36.2%vs Green 22.3%--
Leith WalkLabour 45.0%vs SNP 29.1%2017 SNP 34.5%vs Labour 22.5%--
Meadows / MorningsideLabour 50.6%vs SNP 14.7%No council data--
Musselburgh East and CarberryLabour 36.6%vs SNP 36.0%No council data--
Musselburgh WestLabour 36.6%vs SNP 36.0%No council data--
Portobello / CraigmillarLabour 45.2%vs SNP 34.7%No council data--
Southside / NewingtonLabour 50.9%vs SNP 18.0%No council data--

Projection trajectory

PollCheck's projection for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh at each of the last 60 GB polls. Hover the chart for the underlying poll details.

Who has won Edinburgh East and Musselburgh at past general elections?

2024 and notional 2019 rows are on current boundaries; 2010-2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time. More on boundaries ›

Year Result MP Lab Con LD Right (Ref/UKIP) Green Other Majority Turnout
2010predecessorLab holdSheila Gilmore Edinburgh East MP43.4%10.9%19.4%-5.1%0.7%9,18165.4%
2015predecessorSNP gain from LabTommy Sheppard Edinburgh East MP29.9%9.9%2.8%1.9% UKIP6.0%0.2%9,10670.1%+4.7
2017predecessorSNP holdTommy Sheppard Edinburgh East MP34.7%18.6%4.2%---3,42566.0%-4.1
2019notionalScottish National Party winnerTommy Sheppard Edinburgh East MP, pre-review boundary26.4%14.1%7.0%--52.5%11,79669.0%
2024Lab gain from SNPChris Murray41.2%5.7%4.3%4.7% Ref10.2%0.8%3,71559.8%-9.2

Edinburgh East and Musselburgh was created or substantially redrawn by the 2023 boundary review. Pre-2024 rows below are for the predecessor seat Edinburgh East (the seat that covered most of this area), so vote shares and majorities aren’t directly comparable to the post-2024 figures.

Constituencies most like Edinburgh East and Musselburgh

Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Edinburgh East and Musselburgh. Politics shown for context.

What would change this seat?

Move the sliders to set national vote shares. The per-seat projection updates live. Reset returns to the current 7-poll average.

Related

Sources

Every figure on this page is computed from the sources below. Read the full methodology ›

Show full source list
  • 2024 general election results · UK Parliament Election Results portal and House of Commons Library briefing CBP-10009.
  • Notional 2019 results on 2024 boundaries · UK Parliament Election Results portal. Recalculated by Parliament; carries assumptions about how 2019 voters would have distributed across the redrawn boundaries.
  • Historic general election results (2010-2017) · House of Commons Library historic results files (on the boundaries in force at the time).
  • Ward-level GE2024 estimates · Britain Elects / New Statesman - article by Ben Walker, underlying spreadsheet. Modelled from constituency totals; average ~4pp per-ward MoE.
  • May 2026 council ward results · Democracy Club via PollCheck's locals 2026 dataset.
  • Earlier council ward results (2014-2024) · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (Jason Leman, drawing on Andrew Teale's LEAP dataset and Democracy Club).
  • Demographics · ONS Census 2021 (England and Wales), aggregated to constituency level using the ONS LSOA21 -> PCON24 best-fit lookup.
  • EU referendum 2016 estimates · Constituency-level Leave vote estimates (Hanretty 2017 method).
  • MP details and Cabinet roles · UK Parliament Members API. MP photos are fetched live from the same source.
  • Boundary geometry and lookups · ONS Open Geography Portal (PCON24 boundaries, LSOA21 boundaries, LSOA21-WD24-LAD24 best-fit lookup).
  • Current projection and trajectory · PollCheck's demographic swingometer applied to the rolling 7-poll average from aggregated GB polls. Not a true MRP - vote-share movements are applied through per-constituency sensitivity multipliers derived from demographic regressions.

If you spot a data issue, please let us know.