Scottish election 2026: SNP edge victory over Labour in knife-edge battle for East Lothian
East Lothian hosted two counts for the first time following the redrawing of its constituency boundaries, but everyone’s attention was on one race
The SNP has retained its grip on East Lothian after a neck-and-neck race with Labour in the highly-contested East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs constituency.
The nationalists triumphed in both redrawn East Lothian seats, which were declared at the Indoor Bowling Centre next to Meadowmill Sports Centre on Friday afternoon.
All eyes were on the East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs seat - one of the tightest contests in eastern Scotland - where the former MSP for East Lothian Paul McLennan went head-to-head with former MP and regional MSP for South of Scotland Martin Whitfield.
Despite the loss of Tranent, traditionally one of Labour’s best areas, Mr Whitfield had been optimistic about his election-day prospects, looking to Labour strength in Prestonpans and Haddington.
As the day progressed, both parties appeared quietly confident they had pipped the other to the post, but ultimately the race was too close to call.
In the end, Mr McLennan held on to the seat for the SNP with a total of 11,677 votes, a narrow 418 votes ahead of Mr Whitfield who landed on 11,259.
The former Conservative MSP for the Lothian region, Miles Briggs, came in third with 4,719 votes, with Reform’s Nigel Douglas close behind on 4,611.
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Speaking after the result, Mr McLennan said: “I feel relieved, delighted and humbled. I’ve represented the area for five years and to get people’s faith again is a fantastic achievement.
“Coming into it we knew it would be tight, all the polling and canvassing had indicated that, but we were quietly confident. But you never know when the votes are coming through and being counted.
“It was still looking tight at the end.”
Mr Whitfield, who was Scottish Labour’s fifth candidate in the Edinburgh and Lothians East list, was seen hugging and thanking his team before promptly leaving the venue.
Portobello and Craigmillar councillor Kate Campbell delivered an earlier win for the SNP in the Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent seat. The former housing convenor won a comfortable 44.7 per cent share of the vote, almost 5,000 votes clear of Labour rival Katherine Sangster.
Reform’s Angela Ross, who appears first on the party’s list in the Edinburgh and Lothians East region, came third after Labour with 4,120 votes. She did not attend the count or declaration.
Speaking to the Edinburgh Evening News, Ms Campbell said: “I’m pretty happy as you would expect. It’s such a huge honour to represent people.
“My view is that you have to be prepared for any eventuality in politics, but throughout the campaign from the conversations I was having on the doors I’d say I was quietly confident.”
She added: “We ran a positive campaign with hope and optimism.”
She said she has not come to a decision about whether she will step down as a councillor as she takes up her role as an MSP.
“I need to take a moment and think about what the best thing to do is,” she said. “There’s pros and cons to both sides.
“I'm very fortunate that the whole of my ward is in the constituency that I now represent, so that means I will be able to support the same people and the issues are the same. But I haven’t made a decision.”
She said one of her main priorities heading into parliament is to help people feel “less scared” about things happening in the world.
“One of the things that came across on the doorstep was that, where there was a level of disengagement with politics, people were almost too terrified to look at the news,” she said.
“Things feel so precarious because of these global events that people have no control over but which have a huge impact on their life.
“So for me it's about how we do everything we can and use the powers we have in Scotland to protect people as much as possible.”
Turnout in the East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs constituency was 59.9 per cent, around 10 per cent down from 2021, while turnout in Edinburgh Eastern, Musselburgh and Tranent was 52.1 per cent.