SNP launches campaign to stop Leith being ‘wiped from electoral map’ at Holyrood

The party is demanding Boundaries Scotland overturn a proposal to delete Leith from the name of a proposed new Scottish Parliament seat.

Boundaries Scotland is in the process of updating the 73 constituency seats in the Scottish Parliament, with a consultation on its revised proposals running until May 15.

Existing plans would see the existing constituency of Edinburgh Northern and Leith split in two, with the new seat covering Leith named Edinburgh North Eastern.

Ben Macpherson, the MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith since 2016, said: “In its current review, Boundaries Scotland’s revised proposals would split my current Edinburgh Northern and Leith constituency across two new constituencies, from 2026 – Edinburgh Northern and Edinburgh North Eastern.

"Dropping ‘Leith’ as a description is a mistake and it should be added back into the name for the constituency that would include Leith – so something like Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith. Leith’s distinct identity and history matters. I encourage Leithers to help feed this message back to those considering these Scottish Parliament boundary changes. Please support the petition, and respond to the consultation, and encourage others to do so too.”

Deidre Brock, the MP for Edinburgh North and Leith at Westminster, said: “I don't know what the folk at Boundary Scotland were thinking, but they will have to think again about wiping Leith from the electoral map at Holyrood.

"Leith has always been a distinct, diverse community with a rich history and heritage of its own – we must make sure this remains the case for future generations. Previous attempts to absorb Leith into Edinburgh have never gone down well, and I expect the community will stand together again to protect Leith's unique identity, and I'll be right there with them. I will be making my objections clear and urge others to do the same"

Adam Nols-McVey, a councillor and former leader of Edinburgh Council, said: “It’s ridiculous that again the boundary commission are proposing to remove Leith from the name of the constituency. People in Leith are rightly proud and we’ve already seen a strong reaction from people in discussions we’ve had locally. We’ve seen this before and successfully fought it off before and I’m confident we will manage to do the same again this time.”

Revised proposals for Holyrood constituencies could see a total of 30 seats given new names and boundaries.