General election 2024: Labour wins Edinburgh East and Musselburgh from SNP

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Tommy Sheppard, the SNP MP in Edinburgh East since 2015, lost his seat to Labour’s Chris Murray by just over 3,000 votes.

Mr Sheppard - a former Labour official and co-founder of The Stand comedy club before he became an MP - said his nine years in the role had been “the best job of my life and one of the most wonderful experiences of my life”.

The SNP's Tommy Sheppard concedes defeat to Labour's Chris Murray at the election count in EdinburghThe SNP's Tommy Sheppard concedes defeat to Labour's Chris Murray at the election count in Edinburgh
The SNP's Tommy Sheppard concedes defeat to Labour's Chris Murray at the election count in Edinburgh | Katielee Arrowsmith / SWNS

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He continued: “Politics is a game of ups and downs, of good and bad, and this night belongs to the Labour party and I congratulate them for that. It has been a very bad night for my party - and there are two main reasons for that.

“One is that a large number of people in my constituency and throughout the country offered their vote to the Labour party because they were so sick and tired of the Conservative government they were prepared to do anything to get rid of it.

“The second reason why many people who voted for me in the past didn’t vote for me this time or stayed at home was because they were concerned at what my own party has been doing in recent years - and there are many, many factors involved here, some of which are contradictory.

“I want to say today ‘We get it, we understand that for some people we have lost your trust and your confidence and we are determined to listen and to restore it’. So believe me, this is not the end, it is a setback - we will be back.”

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New MP Chris Murray - the son of former Labour MP and MSP Margaret Curran - said people had voted for Labour to get change. “For many this was the first time they had voted Labour, for others they were coming back to Labour. I recognise you have lent your votes to me because you want to see real change in your lives.

“I have spoken to thousands of people in the course of this campaign, people who are looking for real change to deliver concrete improvements in their lives. They need a government on their side, tackling the cost of living, the climate crisis and issues in public services.”

The Greens came third in the seat, pushing the Tories into fourth place, with Reform UK fifth, ahead of the Lib Dems.

Chris Murray - Scottish Labour Party: 18,790

Tommy Sheppard - Scottish National Party (SNP): 15,075

Amanda Faye Grimm - Scottish Greens: 4,669

Marie-Clair Munro - Scottish Conservative and Unionist: 2,598

Derek Steven Winton - Reform UK: 2,129

Charles Dundas - Scottish Liberal Democrats: 1,949

Jane Mackenzie Gould - Independent: 365 

Labour majority  3,715

Turnout: 60.09%

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