The Edinburgh Minute ⏰ Weekend edition 5 - 7 July 2024
Local General Election results: Labour win 4/5 seats, 98-year-old voter turned away from poll + your weekend guide
🌤️ Good morning Edinburgh. Here’s Friday’s Edinburgh Minute, starting with the election updates as of 7am, followed by the weekend guide.
🗳️ General Election headlines from overnight:
Labour win four out of five seats in Edinburgh.
Lib Dems win Edinburgh West.
Edinburgh council will need a new transport leader, as Scott Arthur becomes Edinburgh South West MP.
Outgoing SNP MP Joanna Cherry congratulated Arthur, but said she had received ‘death threats and rape threats’ during the campaign.
Outgoing SNP Leith MP Tommy Sheppard told Local Democracy Reporter Donald Turvill: “This has been the best job of my life and one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Politics is a game of ups and downs and good and bad and this night belongs to Labour … it has been a bad night for my party.”
The Scottish Greens won more votes than the Scottish Conservatives and Reform in three of Edinburgh’s five seats.
The full results are here. Tap to expand the graphics below.
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Winners:
Edinburgh East & Musselburgh (turnout: 60.9%): Chris Murray, Scottish Labour Party (majority 3,715)
Edinburgh North & Leith (turnout: 63.32%): Tracy Gilbert, Scottish Labour Party (majority 7,268)
Edinburgh South (turnout: 66.28%): Ian Murray, Scottish Labour Party (majority 17,251)
Edinburgh South West (turnout: 62.09%): Scott Arthur, Scottish Labour Party (majority 6,217)
Edinburgh West (turnout: 68.78%): Christine Anne Jardine, Scottish Liberal Democrats (majority 16,470).
Reporting from the count at Ingliston:
“It’s 6am and we are all done here in Edinburgh - like elsewhere, the story is of big win for Labour. They hold four of the five seats in the capital, ousting all the SNP MPs - Joanna Cherry, Tommy Sheppard and Deidre Brock. Joanna Cherry was clear, she believes part of the blame for what went wrong lies with the former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. She says the SNP lost its reputation for competent government and didn’t progress the case for independence.“ - Lisa Summers, BBC Scotland.
“Nationalist MPs insisted that a disastrous election night in Edinburgh should not be interpreted as a rejection of the cause of independence as the party was wiped out in the capital. Joanna Cherry, Tommy Sheppard, and Deidre Brock - all members of the SNP's bumper 2015 intake to Westminster - lost their seats to Labour candidates in an unexpectedly grim night for the nationalists.” - Helen McArdle reports from the count for The Herald.
“Joanna Cherry is a staunch defender of women's sex-based rights and had a poor relationship with former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Arthur, a Labour councillor in Edinburgh, came from a distant third place to win the seat.” - Paul Hutcheon, Daily Record.
🗳️ A 98-year-old Corstorphine resident said she was turned away from her local polling station and rendered unable to vote after her postal ballot didn’t arrive in time. - Local Democracy Reporter, Donald Turvill, Midlothian View.
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📰 Pulling this up from yesterday’s Community Noticeboard for anyone who missed it: This summer’s edition of The Portobello Reporter is here. The paper’s slogan is: ‘The independent voice of Portobello; your community newspaper produced by local people since 1980’. Their website and archive is here.
📌 Edinburgh Minute Community Noticeboard
📌 “Amazing music line-up announced for Fringe By The Sea on 10th August. The Big Top in North Berwick will host Ash, Idlewild with Honeyblood and DJ Steve Lamacq in an unforgettable night for music lovers.” - Thanks to the organisers for sharing this.
📌 “Our New York based brand MALIN+GOETZ will be in store at Lifestory this Sat 6th July 11-4pm to celebrate their new Eucalyptus line. It's a drop-in event, all are welcome, no rsvp is needed. We are offering - hand massage treatments using the NEW Eucalyptus range - product sampling, freebies + a giveaway - gift with purchase offer plus time to have a coffee/chat and answer any questions about the products.” - Thanks to Susan from Lifestory for sharing this.
📌 “Brand new French influenced restaurant Bistro Coco has just been taken over from Educated Flea by their head chef and his wife. Located in Broughton Street gives great options for affordable food and great service. Independent wee business.” - Thanks to the team for sharing this.
📆 Things to do this weekend:
Sorry to say I’ve hit the word limit! So no paywall, as it’s a shorter one today.
🌮 This weekend’s outdoor market traders are listed here.
⮑ It’s the first Saturday of the month, which means it’s the Vegan Quarter’s turn at Leith Market.
⮑ Saturday’s Grassmarket Market traders list is here. Open 10am to 5pm.
⮑ Saturday’s Castle Terrace Farmers’ Market is on from 9am to 2pm.
⮑ Sunday’s Stockbridge Market traders list is here. Open 10am to 4pm.
🍿 Edinburgh looks truly spectacular on screen in Sylvain Chomet's 2010 animation The Illusionist. If you didn’t see it on the big screen first time around, the Cameo is showing it at 11am on Sunday. Highly recommended.
🛝 This week’s Gayle’s Guide of family-friendly things to do in Edinburgh includes: Bluey at the Zoo, outdoor cinema at Dalkeith Country Park, Meet the Gruffalo and more.
🎭 What’s on Edinburgh’s stages this weekend?
Here’s Thom Dibdin of All Edinburgh Theatre:
Not much on Edinburgh's stages, but a big call out to the theatre community:
The summer slump of theatre is upon us with just the two shows on offer this week. At the Festival Theatre, Strictly favourites Anton and Giovanni are Together (Sun 7: tickets) and at the Storytelling Centre, Maria MacDonell (Miss Lindsay’s Secret) and Mark Coleman are staging a work-in-progress performance of their show LIFE (Sun 7: tickets) ahead of an appearance at the Fringe.
At All Edinburgh Theatre we are very busy, however, compiling big lists of shows at this year's Fringe that are Made in Edinburgh, which we hope to share in next week's Culture Minute. We are also on the hunt for more people to join our talented - but volunteer - reviewing team.
If you are an Edinburgh-based writer who would like to join the team, or in an Edinburgh-based company which would like to be on our listings, there are more details here: EdFringe 2024 Call Out for Writers and Shows.
💃 There’s way more happening in town this weekend than I can squeeze in here. For more gigs and exhibitions this weekend, check out Neil Cooper’s Shop Local guide:
📈 The most-visited links from the last newsletter:
⏰ Thank you for reading daily edition number 407.
The Minute will return on Monday at 7am.
Big thanks for your support and have a good weekend ✌️
Just to say, I deliberately decided to let The Edinburgh Minute inform me of the local General Election results in Edinburgh. Must admit, my morning coffee almost went down the wrong way—I didn't expect THAT!