Edinburgh South West
2019 CANDIDATES
SNP: Joanna Cherry
Tories: Callum Laidlaw
Labour: Sophie Cooke
Lib Dems: Tom Inglis
Greens: Ben Parker
BACKGROUND
● Edinburgh South West roughly coincides with the old Edinburgh Pentland constituency – once a stronghold of Scottish Conservatism and the powerbase of former Cabinet minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
● Incumbent Joanna Cherry QC, whose profile was boosted by her involvement in various Brexit legal challenges in recent months, is defending the seat for the SNP with a majority of 1,097.
● The 2017 result suggests this is a genuine three-way marginal, but it is the Conservatives that are most confident of victory. Councillor Callum Laidlaw, who represents Portobello on the city council, is the Tory charged with turning this seat blue.