Holyrood elections 2026: Everything you need to know about Edinburgh South Western
It used to be known as Edinburgh Pentlands and included Fairmilehead and Ratho
New boundaries came with a name change for this seat which stretches from Gorgie to the hills. It used to be known as Edinburgh Pentlands and included Fairmilehead and Ratho. Now it’s Edinburgh South Western and those places have gone to other constituencies while Craiglockhart is added.
The seat still includes Stenhouse, Saughton, Kingsknowe, Colinton, Wester Hailes, Baberton, Juniper Green and out to Currie and Balerno.
The SNP candidate is Simita Kumar, leader of the SNP group on the council for the past two years and the first person of colour to lead any group on the council. She was born in Fiji, moved to Scotland as a teenager and worked for the NHS in public health, becoming a councillor for Southside/Newington in 2022.
She was selected after Gordon MacDonald, who had been SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands ince 2011, announced he would stand down at this election.
"The campaign is going really well," says Cllr Kumar. "We've had quite a few previous Labour voters who are voting SNP. And the strong message at the doors has been 'Definitely not Reform' which is so encouraging because they don't have policies apart from their divisive rhetoric."
She says the cost of living, the NHS and housing are hot topics on the doorstep, but she has been surprised and pleased that women's health has also been raised, including menopause support and endometriosis. "It's really encouraging people are talking about it, but it also showcases there's still a lot to be done when it comes to women's health."
She says the manifesto proposal to cap food prices has been well received. "That's one of the things people have said to me is going to make such a difference. People are asking, how quickly can we implement this?"
Asked about voters' views on the SNP's record over the past 19 years, she tells of meeting a woman in Stenhouse whose son is at university in Aberdeen. "She said to me: 'My son could not have gone to university had it not been for SNP policies. And she was beaming with pride because he is doing really well. It makes me so encouraged that things like free tuition are still policies that are helping people."
Labour candidate Catriona Munro says she is getting a “really positive” reception on the doorsteps. She notes the new boundaries make the seat very similar to the Westminster constituency of Edinburgh South West, which Labour’s Scott Arthur won from Joanna Cherry in 2024. And she claims the SNP vote is “very soft”.
Public services are a key talking point on the doorstep, she says “Most members of the public feel that public services are not as good as they need to be. Those who are still determined to vote SNP, it’s because they believe in independence, not because public services are good enough. Even they realise that the public have been let down and the SNP has not delivered in practice.
“One person told me she was voting SNP but if Scotland became independent she would then vote Labour because she agrees with Labour on issues other than independence.”
Ms Munro, who was a partner in a major law firm but has now retired from full-time practice, says she is “very optimistic” she will win. She expects to be helped by Tory and Lib Dem supporters voting tactically against the SNP. “They know the other unionist parties can't win.”
Ms Munro was nearly elected to the city council in last year’s Fountainbridge / Craiglockhart by-election, when she topped the poll on first preferences but lost narrowly to the Lib Dems when votes were redistributed.
Standing for the Conservatives is Sue Webber, a Lothians list MSP since 2021 and a councillor before that.
“I’ve got a good local profile,” she says. “I’ve worked hard both as a councillor and regional MSP, supporting the area for the last nearly 10 years. There is a lot of name recognition. I've got that strong local connection, given it's the area I grew up in and a lot of people know my family from all the work they've done in the community over the last 20 years or so.”
She says the number one issue for people is potholes and the state of the roads and pavements. “They really are in a poor state of repair and when they do the repairs with that slurry seal it's just shoddy.”
Other hot topics are improving the economy and reducing crime. “There's a lot of anti-social behaviour with the souped up ebikes and car thefts and people going around the scoping out the area for the cars on these ebikes with balaclavas and face-coverings.”
Cllr Webber says the priority for a lot of voters is just to stop the SNP, but she rejects the idea that necessarily means voting Labour. “For years we were always second. We didn't come second in the general election, but that was very different election. There's not really one party you should obviously vote for to stop the SNP.
“I think it's much more important people take the opportunity to vote for the person they believe will deliver the best for the area and stand up for the constituency. I have that track record of delivery, whether it be the schools in Currie an Wester Hailes or the green spaces in Baberton and Balerno.”
Reform’s candidate is Cameron Rose, who was a Tory councillor in Edinburgh for 15 years up until 2022, including a spell as leader of the group.
He says two things made him defect to Reform. "They were the only people speaking up against net zero and they were also the only people who were really challenging the government overreach during Covid. Being told we couldn't hug our grandchildren was taking away a freedom too far for me."
He names the cost of living, energy and housing as key issues. “There are things that could be done relatively quickly to get the economy going. Possibly the biggest one is our own energy. As Malcolm Offord says, we're floating on a sea of gas and oil and we're just not using it. The current Scottish Government has said no to everything that involves oil and gas and fracking. There is just an ideological opposition.”
Lib Dem candidate Andy Williamson, who works as a neurodiversity consultant, highlights the Lib Dems’ plan for helping people to insulate cold homes. “It will cut their energy bills, help with the cost of living and make Scotland greener.”
He is also enthusiastic about the party’s promise to invest in social care. “It will help get people out of hospitals, so it fees up beds and restores a bit of dignity rather than have people staying in hospital longer than needed.”
And he is a campaigner against mobile phones in schools. “I’m really proud the Lib Dems are the only party that has said they’re going to remove smartphones from schools rather than just from classrooms.”
Candidates
KUMAR, Simita - Scottish National Party (SNP)
MUNRO, Catriona - Scottish Labour Party
ROSE, Cameron - Reform UK
WEBBER, Sue - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
WILLIAMSON, Andy - Scottish Liberal Democrats
2021 result
Gordon Lindhurst Con 12,330