Leith Walk (ward)

Location of the ward ^[1]

Leith Walk is one of the seventeen wards used to elect members of the City of Edinburgh Council.^[2] Established in 2007 along with the other wards, it currently elects four councillors. Its territory spans the area between Edinburgh city centre and the port of Leith to its north-east, centred around Leith Walk, the primary thoroughfare between them.

Northern parts of the ward fall within the historic burgh of Leith, but other neighbourhoods such as Broughton, Powderhall, Hillside and Canonmills (divided between Leith Walk and Inverleith wards) were always part of Edinburgh. Bonnington and Pilrig are on the boundary between the two burghs^[3] but entirely within Leith Walk ward, which in 2019 had a population of 34,651.^[4]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		Louise A Lang (Liberal Democrats)		Deidre Brock (SNP)		Maggie Chapman (Greens)	Angela Blacklock (Labour)
2012		Nick Gardner (Labour)		Deidre Brock (SNP)		Maggie Chapman (Greens)
2015 by	Lewis Ritchie (SNP)	Nick Gardner (Labour)		Marion Donaldson (Labour)
2017			Susan Rae (Greens)	Marion Donaldson (Labour)		Amy McNeese-Mechan (SNP)
2019 by				Rob Munn (SNP)
2022		Jack Caldwell (Liberal Democrats)			James Dalgleish (Labour)

Election results

2022 election

Leith Walk - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
	Scottish Green	Susan Rae (incumbent)	25.9	2,847
	SNP	Amy McNeese-Mechan (incumbent)	20.4	2,248
	Labour	James Dalgleish	18.7	2,058	2,184	2,186	2,186	2,196	2,224
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Caldwell	12.0	1,317	1,400	1,402	1,413	1,433	1,446	1,456	1,469	1,506	1,563	1,995	2,513
	SNP	Rob Munn (incumbent)	10.3	1,132	1,405	1,447	1,449	1,459	1,485	1,488	1,534	1,580	1,633	1,648
	Conservative	Bonus Fombo	6.9	763	766	766	770	796	797	799	811	819	833
	Alba	Joe Smith	1.2	135	138	138	144	148	155	155
	Communist	Richard Charles Shillcock	1.1	119	141	141	145	147
	Socialist Labour	David Don Jacobson	1.0	113	139	139	141	148	184	187	206	242
	Scottish Family	Niel Deepnarain	1.0	106	108	108	119
	Women's Equality	David Renton	0.9	98	147	147	154	167	180	181	202
	Freedom Alliance (UK)	Jon Pullman	0.5	60	62	62
Electorate: 26,683 Valid: 10,996 Spoilt: 134 Quota: 2,200 Turnout: 41.7%

Source: ^[5]^[6]

2019 by-election

On 28 January 2019, Labour councillor Marion Donaldson announced she was resigning from the council citing reports of internal party tensions. A by-election was held on 11 April 2019 and was won by Robb Munn of the SNP.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Leith Walk By-election (11 April 2019)^[10]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	SNP	Rob Munn	35.7	2,596	2,598	2,598	2,598	2,612	2,616	2,630	2,721	2,763	3,021	4,487
	Scottish Green	Lorna Slater	25.5	1,855	1,856	1,856	1,856	1,865	1,869	1,904	2,093	2,223	2,765
	Labour	Nick Gardner	15.5	1,123	1,124	1,124	1,126	1,136	1,140	1,157	1,320	1,497
	Conservative	Dan McCroskrie	10.7	777	777	779	781	784	811	825	912
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Caldwell	8.6	623	624	624	626	628	633	652
	Independent	Kevin Illingworth	1.5	110	112	112	122	126	143
	UKIP	Steven Alexander	1.2	85	88	97	97	98
	Socialist Labour	David Jacobsen	0.8	56	56	56	56
	Independent	John Scott	0.2	16	16	17
	For Britain	Paul Stirling	0.2	14	14
	Scottish Libertarian	Tom Laird	0.2	12
Electorate: 24,197 Valid: 7,267 Spoilt: 67 Quota: 3,634 Turnout: 30.3%

2017 election

2017 City of Edinburgh Council election^[11]

Leith Walk - 4 seats^[12]
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Scottish Green	Susan Rae	19.69%	2,097	2,105	2,125	2,246
	SNP	Lewis Ritchie (incumbent)	17.84%	1,900	1,901	1,903	1,923	1,949.4	2,052.2	2,090.4	2,125.9	2,209.4
	SNP	Amy McNeese-Mechan	16.62%	1,770	1,772	1,777	1,788	1,817.5	1,870.9	1,912.9	1,971.4	2,107.7
	Labour	Marion Donaldson (incumbent)	15.04%	1,602	1,605	1,617	1,692	1,715.9	1,821.6	2,529.8
	Conservative	Cristina Marga	14.42%	1,536	1,541	1,544	1,600	1,602.6	1,683.2	1,719.3	1,784.5
	Labour	Nick Gardner (incumbent)	7.45%	793	795	803	839	849.3	912.7
	Independent	Harald Tobermann	4.06%	432	459	463	511	522.6
	Liberal Democrats	Vita Zaporozcenko	3.74%	398	400	403
	Socialist Labour	David Don Jacobsen	0.62%	66	67
	Independent	Alan Gordon Melville	0.52%	55
Electorate: 24,160 Valid: 10,649 Spoilt: 167 Quota: 2,130 Turnout: 10,816 (44.8%)

On 20 February 2018, SNP Cllr. Lewis Ritchie resigned from the party and became an Independent, following complaints about his behaviour arising out of allegedly punching someone in a taxi.^[13]

2015 by-election

SNP councillor Deidre Brock was elected as an MP for Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency) on 7 May 2015 and resigned her Council seat on 24 June 2015.^[14] Green Councillor Maggie Chapman resigned her seat on 30 June 2015 to focus her efforts on winning a Scottish Parliament seat in North East Scotland.^[15] A by-election for both seats was held on 10 September 2015, Lewis Ritchie defending the SNP seat and Labour's Marion Donaldson taking the other.^[16]

Leith Walk By-election (10 September 2015)[1]- 2 Seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	John Ritchie	36.2%	2,290
	Labour	Marion Donaldson	25.7%	1,623	1,650.1	1,653.1	1,659.6	1,661.7	1,680.4	1,697.6	1,798.2	1,990.2	2,717.3
	Scottish Green	Susan Rae	21.8%	1,381	1,464.6	1,469.8	1,483.4	1,495.3	1,502.7	1,576.1	1,653.3	1,729.9
	Conservative	Gordon Murdie	7.9%	501	503.8	505.8	506.9	507	540.2	541.2	574.6
	Liberal Democrats	Mo Hussain	4%	255	261.6	263	265.3	265.3	267.4	271.6
	UKIP	Alan Melville	1.6%	102	105.6	105.6	106.8	106.8
	Scottish Socialist	Natalie Reid	1.5%	97	107.7	107.7	108.2	122	125.2
	Left Unity	Bruce Whitehead	0.5%	32	33.6	33.7	33.9
	Independent	John Scott	0.4%	26	29	30
	Scottish Libertarian	Tom Laird	0.3%	17	17.9
Electorate: 25,521 Valid: 6,324 Spoilt: 83 Quota: 2,109 Turnout: 6,407 (25.1%)

2012 election

2012 City of Edinburgh Council election

Leith Walk - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	SNP	Deidre Brock (incumbent)†††	22.1	1735
	Labour	Angela Blacklock (incumbent)	21.3	1674
	Scottish Green	Maggie Chapman †††† (incumbent)	20.3	1593
	Labour	Nick Gardner	11.9	937	947	1029	1035	1050	1065	1089	1115	1225	1350	1519
	Conservative	Miles Briggs	8.1	637	640	644	645	651	653	656	675	784	816
	SNP	Seumas Ross Skinner	6.4	502	630	632	635	639	649	674	708	741
	Liberal Democrats	Jamie Paterson	5.1	400	403	406	410	424	429	434	445
	TUSC	John McArdle	1.4	109	110	111	113	119	128
	Independent	Alex Wilson	1.4	109	110	110	111	112	153	181
	Independent	Jimmy McIntosh	1.2	91	92	93	93	97
	Liberal	John Hein	0.9	69	71	72	72
Electorate: 22,147 Valid: 7,856 Spoilt: 156 Quota: 1572 Turnout: 35.47%

2007 election

2007 City of Edinburgh Council election

2007 Council election: Leith Walk
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
Party		Candidate	FPv%	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	Deidre Brock	22.3	2,550
	Liberal Democrats	Louise A Lang	19.0	2,170	2,217.17	2,217.29	2,240.22	2,291.06
	Labour	Angela Blacklock	16.9	1,937	1,965.54	1,966.54	1,975.35	1,997.40	2,003.09	2,041.43	2,173.28	2,215.25	3,161.41
	Scottish Green	Maggie Chapman	15.3	1,754	1,824.81	1,829.81	1,911.26	1,953.36	1,967.18	2,103.10	2,424.74
	Labour	Trevor Davies	10.0	1,144	1,156.81	1,156.81	1,165.28	1,180.09	1,183.88	1,196.35	1,312.35	1,333.29
	Conservative	Iain McGill	9.7	1,114	1,129.49	1,133.61	1,133.96	1,149.24	1,154.49	1,162.67
	Solidarity	Adrian Cannon	1.8	203	228.16	230.27	273.069	283.23	284.33
	Liberal	John Hein	1.7	193	207.33	207.44	211.02
	Scottish Socialist	Linda Somerville	1.6	182	192.95	193.06
	Independent	Peter Clifford	0.1	16	16.58
Electorate: 21,485 Valid: 11,263 Spoilt: 188 Quota: 2,253 Turnout: 53.3%

References

^ "Map of City of Edinburgh wards, councillors and MSPs". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ "United Kingdom: Scotland | Council Areas and Electoral Wards". City Population. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
^ Explore Leith with our interactive map, Leith Local History Society
^ Electoral Ward: Leith Walk, Scottish Government Statistics
^ "Ward 12 Leith Walk Results". City of Edinburgh Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Ward 12 Leith Walk Transfer Report". City of Edinburgh Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
^ "Edinburgh Labour councillor quits amid reports of internal party tensions". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
^ Council, The City of Edinburgh. "By-election for electoral ward 12: Leith Walk". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
^ "SNP candidate Rob Munn victorious in Leith Walk by-election". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
^ "By-election for electoral ward 12: Leith Walk result - The City of Edinburgh Council". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
^ "Local Government Election 2017 results". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ Council, The City of Edinburgh. "Local Government Election results 2017". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
^ "SNP councillor quits party amid punch claims". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
^ "BROCK STEPS DOWN FROM WARD 12". Broughtonspurtle.org.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ Brooks, Cameron. "Edinburgh councillor resigns to focus on becoming north-east MSP". Pressandjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
^ "Notices for the Leith Walk Ward By-Election | Leith Walk Ward By-Election | The City of Edinburgh Council". 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

External links

Listed Buildings in Leith Walk Ward, City of Edinburgh at British Listed Buildings

[1] "Map of City of Edinburgh wards, councillors and MSPs". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

[2] "United Kingdom: Scotland | Council Areas and Electoral Wards". City Population. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

[3] Explore Leith with our interactive map, Leith Local History Society

[4] Electoral Ward: Leith Walk, Scottish Government Statistics

[5] "Ward 12 Leith Walk Results". City of Edinburgh Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[6] "Ward 12 Leith Walk Transfer Report". City of Edinburgh Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2023.

[7] "Edinburgh Labour councillor quits amid reports of internal party tensions". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

[8] Council, The City of Edinburgh. "By-election for electoral ward 12: Leith Walk". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

[9] "SNP candidate Rob Munn victorious in Leith Walk by-election". Edinburghnews.scotsman.com. Retrieved 14 April 2019.

[10] "By-election for electoral ward 12: Leith Walk result - The City of Edinburgh Council". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 April 2019.

[11] "Local Government Election 2017 results". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

[Council_results-12] Council, The City of Edinburgh. "Local Government Election results 2017". Edinburgh.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

[13] "SNP councillor quits party amid punch claims". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 6 February 2019.

[14] "BROCK STEPS DOWN FROM WARD 12". Broughtonspurtle.org.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

[15] Brooks, Cameron. "Edinburgh councillor resigns to focus on becoming north-east MSP". Pressandjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

[16] "Notices for the Leith Walk Ward By-Election | Leith Walk Ward By-Election | The City of Edinburgh Council". 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

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