Who is the MP for Lothian East?

Mr Douglas Alexander (Labour (Co-op)) is the MP for Lothian East. They were first elected in July 2024.

Who won Lothian East at the 2024 general election?

The 2024 general election in Lothian East was won by Labour with 49.0% of the vote, ahead of SNP on 21.4%.

Who is projected to win the next election in Lothian East?

PollCheck's current projection has Labour on 31.0% and SNP on 27.8% if a general election were held today. The projection updates as new polling is added.

What council is Lothian East in?

Lothian East sits within East Lothian council. Westminster constituencies and local councils are separate units, but East Lothian covers most or all of the Lothian East area.

What is the demographic profile of Lothian East?

Lothian East is in Scotland. The seat is Remain-voting (Leave vote estimated at 35.4% in 2016). Around 46.2% of residents have a degree, a median age of 45, and 68.0% of homes are owner-occupied (Census 2021).

When was the last general election in Lothian East?

The most recent general election was held on 4 July 2024. In Lothian East, Labour won with 49.0% of the vote. The next general election must be held by August 2029.

Which parties have won Lothian East in recent elections?

Recent general election winners in Lothian East: 2010 Labour, 2015 SNP, 2017 Labour, 2019 SNP, 2024 Labour.

Constituency profile

Lothian East

Scotland · County constituency · East Lothian borough

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 +3.2pp

vs SNP 27.8%

ScottishRemain-leaningGraduate-heavy

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 ward-level 2024 election winners and a demographic view. Ward winners are Britain Elects' / New Statesman modelled estimates with an average ~4pp margin of error per ward. The demographic view splits the seat into small neighbourhoods (around 800 residents each, from Scotland's 2022 Census). Hover any area for detail.

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 constituency	Share of Lothian East	Winner	Runner-up	Elected MSP
East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs	94%	SNP 32.7%	Labour 31.6%	Paul McLennan
Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent	4%	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

The Westminster constituency of Lothian East sits entirely within East Lothian Council. Local council elections are a separate ballot from Westminster general elections - the figures below are from the council elections held on Thursday 7 May 2026.

Council overlap

Council	Share of seat
East Lothian 1 LSOAs	100%

Most recent council ward results

Latest council winner per ward. Where May 2026 elections happened, those are shown; otherwise the most recent year on the ward’s pre-2026 boundary (via DCLEAPIL, 2014-2024). The "Shift since GE2024" column is only computed for May 2026 results - earlier council votes pre-date the GE, so no directional shift is shown.

Loading ward results...

Ward	GE2024 winner	Latest council winner	Shift since GE2024	Turnout

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 result is on current boundaries. The 2019 row is the UK Parliament's notional recalculation onto the 2024 boundaries (directly comparable to 2024). The 2010, 2015 and 2017 rows are on the boundaries in force at the time and aren't directly comparable.

Year	Result	MP	Lab	Con	LD	Right (Ref/UKIP)	Green	Other	Majority	Turnout
2010predecessor	Lab hold	Fiona O'Donnell East Lothian MP	44.6%	19.7%	16.9%	1.1% UKIP	1.8%	-	12,258	67.0%
2015predecessor	SNP gain from Lab	George Kerevan East Lothian MP	31.0%	19.5%	2.6%	2.0% UKIP	2.1%	0.3%	6,803	74.2%
2017predecessor	Lab gain from SNP	Martin Whitfield East Lothian MP	36.1%	29.6%	3.1%	-	-	0.7%	3,083	70.6%
2019notional	Scottish National Party winner	Kenny MacAskill East Lothian MP, pre-review boundary	30.5%	27.5%	6.3%	1.0% Brx	-	34.8%	2,207	71.2%
2024	Lab gain from SNP	Douglas Alexander	49.0%	11.5%	5.5%	6.3% Ref	5.1%	1.2%	13,265	63.7%

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.

Sources

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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