Liberton/Gilmerton (ward)

Liberton/Gilmerton 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 elects four Councillors.

Location of the ward within Edinburgh^[1]

As its name suggests, the ward's territory is based around the communities of Gilmerton and Liberton in the far south-east of the city's urban area up to the boundary with Midlothian, also including Alnwickhill, Burdiehouse, Craigour, Ferniehill, Fernieside, Gracemount, The Inch, Kaimes, Moredun, Mortonhall and Southhouse, forming a suburban cluster that is almost physically separate from the rest of Edinburgh. A minor 2017 boundary change in the north of the ward saw the loss of Nether Liberton village, the Cameron Toll Shopping Centre and Inch Park, but the overall population increased slightly due to housebuilding in several other areas (Heritage Grange, The Limes, Manor Wood, South Gilmerton Brae, etc.). In 2019, the ward had a population of 35,480.^[3]

Councillors

Election	Councillors
2007		Conor Snowden (Liberal Democrats)		Norma M Hart (Labour)		Ian Murray (Labour)		Tom Buchanan (SNP)
2010 by	Bill Cook (Labour)
2012			Nick Cook (Conservative)
2013 by					Keith John Robson (Labour)
2017	Stephanie Smith (Conservative)	Lezley Marion Cameron (Labour)		Derek Howie (SNP)		Lesley MacInnes (SNP)
2022	Philip Doggart (Conservative)		Martha Mattos Coelho (SNP)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 City of Edinburgh Council election

Liberton/Gilmerton - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Labour	Lezley Marion Cameron (incumbent)	27.5	3,419
	SNP	Lesley MacInnes (incumbent)	23.4	2,906
	Conservative	Philip Doggart[note 1]	18.0	2,239	2,313	2,317	2,374	2,389	2,414	2,537
	Scottish Green	John Nichol	8.2	1,023	1,069	1,092	1,111	1,138	1,227	1,357	1,361
	SNP	Martha Mattos Coelho	7.3	910	942	1,300	1,317	1,369	1,451	1,484	1,485	2,103	2,558
	Labour	Ishrat Measom	5.8	725	1,308	1,314	1,339	1,370	1,433	1,604	1,617	1,947
	Liberal Democrats	Madeleine Rani Frances Planche	4.1	507	548	551	565	580	608
	Scottish Socialist	Colin Fox	2.4	295	321	325	335	376
	Alba	Abu Meron	1.8	222	226	228	241
	Scottish Family	James Demare Christie	1.5	187	207	209
Electorate: 28,977   Valid: 12,433   Spoilt: 232   Quota: 2,487   Turnout: 43.7%

Source: ^[4][5]

2017 election

2017 City of Edinburgh Council election^[6]

Liberton/Gilmerton - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Lezley Marion Cameron	24.81%	2,911
	Conservative	Stephanie Smith	23.24%	2,726
	SNP	Derek Howie	17.49%	2,052	2,086	2,093	2,200	2,292	2,564
	SNP	Lesley Macinnes	16.17%	1,913	1,931	1,938	2,095	2,168	2,401
	Labour	Tim Pogson	7.46%	875	1,295	1,376	1,511	1,881
	Liberal Democrats	John Christopher Knox	5.52%	648	682	794	941
	Scottish Green	John Nichol	5.17%	606	617	637
Electorate: 25,648   Valid: 11,731   Spoilt: 264   Quota: 2,347   Turnout: 11,995 (46.8%)

On 30 July 2020, councillor Derek Howie resigned from the SNP Group to become an Independent.^[7]

2013 by-election

SNP councillor Tom Buchanan died on 3 April 2013. The by-election was held on 20 June 2013 and was won by Labour's Keith John Robson.^[8]

Liberton/Gilmerton By-election (20 June 2013)- 1 Seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Keith John Robson	39.47	2,892	2,896	2,906	2,941	3,070	3,255	3,448
	SNP	Derek Howie	30.69	2,249	2,251	2,256	2,287	2,403	2,523	2,633
	Conservative	Stephanie Murray	11.23	823	824	836	903	934	1,098
	Liberal Democrats	John Christopher Knox	8.26	605	611	616	625	708
	Scottish Green	Alys Mumford	5.62	412	430	440	471
	UKIP	Jonathan Stanley	3.21	235	239	251
	Independent	John Scott	0.87	64	70
	Pirate	Phil Hunt	0.64	47
Electorate: 24,177   Valid: 7,246   Spoilt: 81   Quota: 3,664   Turnout: 7,327 (30.6%)

2012 election

2012 City of Edinburgh Council election

Liberton/Gilmerton - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Labour	Norma Austin-Hart (incumbent)	21.4	1,941
	SNP	Tom Buchanan (incumbent)†	19.6	1,780	1,789	1,794	1,826
	Labour	Bill Cook (incumbent)	19.5	1,768	1,868
	Conservative	Nick Cook	12.3	1,111	1,112	1,115	1,124	1,125	1,171	1,455	1,696
	SNP	Derek Howie	12.0	1,084	1,086	1,090	1,127	1,138	1,268	1,441
	Liberal Democrats	John Knox	7.6	687	689	694	711	711	848
	Scottish Green	Joan Carter	5.2	469	473	480	549	550
	Scottish Socialist	Colin Fox	2.5	228	229	233
Electorate: 23,187   Valid: 9,068   Spoilt: 191 (2.06%)   Quota: 1,814   Turnout: 9,259 (39.9%)

2010 by-election

A by-election arose following the resignation of Ian Murray after his election as an MP on 6 May 2010. The seat was held by Labour's Bill Cook on 9 September 2010.^[9]

Liberton/Gilmerton By-Election (9 September 2010) - 1 seat^[10]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Labour	Bill Cook	44.8	2,974
	SNP	Richard Lewis	20.8	1,382
	Conservative	Stephanie Murray	15.4	1,020
	Liberal Democrats	John Christopher Knox	10.9	722
	Scottish Green	Peter McColl	3.0	201
	Scottish Socialist	Colin Fox	2.5	169
	Independent	Mev Brown	1.9	128
	Pirate	Philip Hunt	0.6	43
Electorate: 23,912   Valid: 6,639   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 3,320   Turnout: 6,704

2007 election

2007 City of Edinburgh Council election

2007 Council election: Liberton/Gilmerton

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SNP	Tom Buchanan	26.0	3,471
	Labour	Norma M Hart	18.9	2,524	2,610.82
	Labour	Ian Murray	15.8	2,104	2,142.45	2,143.08	2,156.82	2,176.04	2,207.78	2,252.96	2,356.10	2,569.78
	Conservative	Gavin Easton	14.3	1,912	1,976.74	1,976.76	1,985.00	1,991.48	2,017.96	2,032.43	2,101.05
	Liberal Democrats	Conor Snowden	14.2	1,902	2,028.26	2,028.29	2,049.51	2,068.47	2,113.43	2,161.85	2,449.48	3179.72
	Scottish Green	Joan E. Carter	3.5	464	589.02	589.04	605.50	639.44	639.44	788.50
	Scottish Socialist	Colin A Fox	1.6	208	265.30	265.31	268.05	310.22	330.45
	Independent	Max Volino	1.6	207	225.60	225.61	276.49	302.45
	Solidarity	John Wight	1.0	132	180.62	180.62	194.10
	Independent	Alex Scott	0.9	123	161.94	161.95
Electorate: 24,133   Valid: 13,047   Spoilt: 306   Quota: 2,610   Turnout: 55.3%

Notes

1. Sitting councillor for Colinton/Fairmilehead.