Taking in some affluent suburbs and picturesque countryside south west of Edinburgh, Pentlands was the safest Tory seat in the Lothian region until 1997. This is a socially diverse seat, though the majority of inhabitants are comfortably-off and many are engaged in well-paid non-manual jobs. The problem Wester Hailes council estate is situated here. Though much of that estate was restructured in the 1980s it still houses many people in less than salubrious surroundings. It is in stark contrast to the smart owner-occupied residences of Fairmilehead, the middle-class districts of Colinton and Balerno, and the rustic charm of communities in the shadow of the Pentland Hills.
Former Cabinet Minister Malcolm Rifkind was first elected Conservative MP for Pentlands in February 1974. He managed to hold onto it until 1997 despite never winning a majority of more than 4,309 votes. Repeated predictions that he would lose his seat were finally proved right in 1997 when he lost to Labour's Lynda Clarke in the Tory wipe-out in Scotland.
This is one of the Conservative Party’s key target seats in Scotland, and their candidate is Malcolm Rifkind, attempting his Westminster comeback.
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