East Lothian (/ˈloʊðiən/; Scots: Aest Lowden; Scottish Gaelic: Lodainn an Ear) is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering most of the council area of East Lothian. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality (first past the post) method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the South Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to the nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The seat has been held by Paul McLennan from the Scottish National Party since the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.
The other eight constituencies of the South Scotland region are: Ayr, Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Clydesdale, Dumfriesshire, Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Galloway and West Dumfries, Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley and Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale.
The region covers the Dumfries and Galloway council area, part of the East Ayrshire council area, part of the East Lothian council area, part of the Midlothian council area, the Scottish Borders council area, the South Ayrshire council area and part of the South Lanarkshire council area.
The East Lothian constituency was created at the same time as the Scottish Parliament, in 1999, with the name and boundaries of an existing Westminster constituency. In 2005, however, Scottish Westminster (House of Commons) constituencies were mostly replaced with new constituencies.[2] Following their first Periodic Review into Scottish Parliament constituencies, the Boundary Commission for Scotland recommended the formation of a modified East Lothian, with the Musselburgh electorate wards part of a redrawn Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency, which was first used for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election.
The Holyrood constituency covers most of the East Lothian council area. The remainder is represented by the Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.
East Lothian is formed from the electoral wards listed below. All of these wards are part of East Lothian.
This was the only SNP gain from Labour at the 2021 Scottish Parliament election.