Constituency profile

Lothian East

Scotland · County constituency · East Lothian borough

Mr Douglas Alexander MP
Sitting MP

Mr Douglas Alexander

Labour (Co-op)

First elected July 2024Cabinet: Secretary of State for Scotland

Current PollCheck projection

Region & type
Scotland
County constituency, East Lothian council
Last 5 GE winners
LSLSL
Labour 3/5, SNP 2/5
EU referendum 2016
35.4% Leave
UK average 51.9%; -16.5pp below mean
Current outlook
Labour +13.6pp
vs SNP 23.8%
ScottishRemain-leaningGraduate-heavy

About the Lothian East constituency

Lothian East is a county constituency in Scotland. The sitting MP is Mr Douglas Alexander (Labour (Co-op)), first elected in July 2024. At the 2024 general election, Labour won with 49.0% to 21.4% for the SNP, a majority of 13,265 votes on a 63.7% turnout. PollCheck's current projection, at the seven-poll average, has Labour on 37.4% and the SNP on 23.8%, a margin of 13.6 points.

Who lives in Lothian East? Constituency demographics

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

Leave vote 2016
35.4%
UK average ~52%
Degree or above
46.2%
UK average ~34%
No qualifications
14.4%
UK average ~18%
Owner-occupied
68.0%
UK average ~63%
Renting (social + private)
30.7%
UK average ~36%
Median age
44.7
UK median ~40
Age 65+
25.3%
UK average ~19%
Age 18-34
25.2%
UK average ~28%

How did Lothian East 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 13,265 votes (27.6pp) · turnout 63.7%

Current projection

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

Map of Lothian East

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 Lothian East voted at the Scottish Parliament election (7 May 2026)

Lothian East sits almost entirely within the Holyrood constituency of East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs. 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 Lothian EastWinnerRunner-upElected MSP
East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs94%SNP 32.7%Labour 31.6%Paul McLennan
Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent4%SNP 44.7%Labour 28.9%Kate Campbell

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)

Lothian East within East Lothian

Lothian East 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
Dunbar and East LintonLabour 42.4%vs SNP 25.0%2022 SNP 26.8%vs Labour 25.3%-52.3%
Haddington and LammermuirLabour 51.0%vs SNP 23.8%2022 Labour 36.4%vs SNP 26.2%-33.9%
Musselburgh East and CarberryLabour 36.6%vs SNP 36.0%No council data--
Musselburgh WestLabour 36.6%vs SNP 36.0%No council data--
North Berwick CoastalLabour 40.3%vs SNP 22.1%2022 Conservative 39.0%vs Labour 21.1%-56.2%
Preston / Seton / GosfordLabour 52.7%vs SNP 25.4%2022 Labour 39.7%vs SNP 29.8%-42.5%

Projection trajectory

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

Who has won Lothian East 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 holdFiona O'Donnell East Lothian MP44.6%19.7%16.9%1.1% UKIP1.8%-12,25867.0%
2015predecessorSNP gain from LabGeorge Kerevan East Lothian MP31.0%19.5%2.6%2.0% UKIP2.1%0.3%6,80374.2%+7.2
2017predecessorLab gain from SNPMartin Whitfield East Lothian MP36.1%29.6%3.1%--0.7%3,08370.6%-3.6
2019notionalScottish National Party winnerKenny MacAskill East Lothian MP, pre-review boundary30.5%27.5%6.3%1.0% Brx-34.8%2,20771.2%
2024Lab gain from SNPDouglas Alexander49.0%11.5%5.5%6.3% Ref5.1%1.2%13,26563.7%-7.5

Lothian East was created or substantially redrawn by the 2023 boundary review. Pre-2024 rows below are for the predecessor seat East Lothian (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 Lothian East

Five seats with similar demographic profiles to Lothian East. 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.

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