Boundaries plan moves goalposts

A SHAKE-UP of boundaries for next year's Scottish Parliament elections is set to split Midlothian in two, link Musselburgh with Dalkeith and lump two former mining towns with rural communities in the Borders.

The final proposals from the Boundary Commission for Scotland reject the proposal of a local public inquiry for an alternative redrawing of constituencies which kept Midlothian intact.

Today, politicians and local representatives said the new electoral map was flawed and ignored natural communities.

Under the shake-up, Musselburgh will be linked with Dalkeith, Loanhead, Lasswade and Bonnyrigg in a constituency called Midlothian North & Musselburgh. The rest of East Lothian will form a constituency on its own.

Meanwhile, Newtongrange and Gorebridge will join Galashiels, Peebles and Lauder in a seat called Midlothian South, Tweeddale & Lauderdale.

In addition, as part of a redrawing of the regions – used to elect top-up MSPs – the Midlothian South constituency, together with East Lothian, would be in South of Scotland, while the Midlothian North seat will be part of Lothians, along with all the Edinburgh and West Lothian seats.

Alan Hay, vice-chair of Musselburgh & Inveresk Community Council, said the town had been repeatedly moved around.

"One minute we're in Midlothian, then we're in East Lothian, at the moment we're linked with Edinburgh East for Holyrood elections and now we're going to be put back with part of Midlothian. It's confusing.

"It would have been better if we could have been contained in East Lothian, but this is a numbers exercise."

Midlothian Provost Adam Montgomery said the Holyrood constituencies should have the same boundaries as Westminster ones to keep things simple.

He said: "Someone is drawing lines on a map and looking at population statistics without taking account of communities."

After an inquiry in 2008, Sheriff Principal Edward Bowen recommended making Midlothian a self-contained constituency, allowing Musselburgh and most of East Lothian to form another. However, the Boundary Commission stuck to its own scheme.

Jeremy Purvis, Liberal Democrat MSP for Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale, said the proposals were flawed, perverse and inconsistent. He said:

"Gorebridge and Newtongrange on the one hand and Galashiels, Peebles and Lauder on the other have a separate heritage and economy."

A commission spokesman said there was always "tension" when reorganising boundaries.

The report said: "The commission believes that these recommendations provide the best balance of the legal requirements for the design of constituencies and regions."