The City of Edinburgh Council Ceitie o Edinburgh Cooncil Comhairle Cathair Dhùn Eideann |
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Admin HQ | Edinburgh |
Government | |
• Body | The City of Edinburgh Council |
• Control | Lab + SNP (council NOC) |
• MPs |
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• MSPs |
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Area | |
• Total | 101.7 sq mi (263.4 km2) |
Area rank | Ranked 23rd |
Population (mid-2015 est.) | |
• Total | 498,800 |
• Rank | Ranked 2nd |
• Density | 4,910/sq mi (1,894/km2) |
ONS code | S12000036 |
ISO 3166 code | GB-EDH |
Website | http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/ |
The politics of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, are evident in the deliberations and decisions of the council of Edinburgh, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament, the House of Commons and the European Parliament.
Also, as Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh is host to the Scottish Parliament and the main offices of the Scottish Government.
The City of Edinburgh became a unitary council area in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Edinburgh district of the Lothian region.
As one of the unitary local government areas of Scotland, the City of Edinburgh has a defined structure of governance, generally under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, with The City of Edinburgh Council governing on matters of local administration such as housing, planning, local transport, parks and local economic development and regeneration. For such purposes the City of Edinburgh is divided into 17 wards.
The next tier of government is that of the Scottish Parliament, which legislates on matters of Scottish "national interest", such as healthcare, education, the environment and agriculture, devolved to it by the Parliament of the United Kingdom. For elections to the Scottish Parliament (at the Scottish Parliament Building, in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh), the city area is divided among six Scottish Parliament constituencies, each returning one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP), and is within the Lothians electoral region.