Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith
Data synced from Democracy Club.
6 candidates confirmed for 7 May 2026.
Result · declared
08/05/2026, 20:03 ✗ Forecast missed
— predicted Green
SNP wins
· majority 3,071 (8.1 pts)
| SNP Ben MacPherson | 13,630 | 35.9% |
| Green Kate Nevens | 10,559 | 27.8% |
| Labour Oliver Philip Thomas | 7,894 | 20.8% |
| Reform David Lees | 2,746 | 7.2% |
| Lib Dem Liss Owen | 1,895 | 5.0% |
| Conservative Haris Young | 1,297 | 3.4% |
Closest national poll on the winning party's share: Norstat (The Sunday Times) — off by 0.1 pts.
Quiz candidates · included in vote compass matching
Incumbent
Ben Macpherson
Scottish National Party (SNP)
MSP for Edinburgh Northern and Leith since 2016. A former commercial lawyer, Macpherson has held a series of ministerial roles covering migration, public finance, rural affairs, and social security. He returned to government as Minister for Higher and Further Education in September 2025 after two years on the backbenches.
David Lees
Reform UK
Reform UK candidate for Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith. Spent his formative years in the area, attending Duddingston Primary and Portobello High, and has worked in hospitality, retail, education and funeral services. Currently self-employed; married with two teenage daughters.
Haris Young
Conservative and Unionist Party
Standing for the Scottish Conservatives in Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith. We have not identified independent biographical sources for this candidate beyond the party listing.
Kate Nevens
Scottish Green Party
Former Middle East Manager at Chatham House and head of Saferworld's peacebuilding programme. Co-convenor of Edinburgh Greens.
Liss Owen
Liberal Democrats
Former teacher and now CEO of a charity supporting homeless young people. Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith, having also stood in Spennymoor, County Durham at the 2025 local elections.
Oliver Philip Thomas
Labour Party
NHS doctor for over a decade. Entering politics to address systemic healthcare problems.
Compare candidates side by side
Side-by-Side Comparison
Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith
Policy positions shown are based on party platforms. Individual candidates may hold different views.
What each candidate actually stands for on each issue
Scotland's Future
SNP: Support independence. An SNP majority at this election is framed as a mandate for a referendum. Independence cited as essential to Scotland's future prosperity.
Reform: Oppose independence. Strong unionist position rejecting another referendum as a distraction from Scotland's day-to-day problems.
Tory: Strong opposition to independence. Stand up for Scotland's place in the Union and stop another independence referendum.
Green: Support independence and full powers of a sovereign nation, while pressing ahead with change using devolved powers now.
Lib Dem: Oppose independence. Back a written constitution for a federal United Kingdom and a new bespoke UK-EU customs union.
Labour: Oppose independence. Focus on delivery within the UK and Scotland's strengths in the UK growth sectors. Frame the election as a choice between delivery and SNP-led constitutional distraction.
NHS & Health
SNP: Significant NHS investment. Expand GP walk-in clinics, shorten waiting times, deliver more operations and community diagnostics. NHS described as Scotland's most precious public service.
Reform: NHS Scotland stays free at the point of need and funded by general taxation, but needs major reform. A workforce plan to train more doctors and nurses and a shift to prevention.
Tory: Focus on faster GP appointments and reducing waiting lists by increasing NHS capacity for procedures. Efficiency-led NHS reform rather than new spending commitments.
Green: Introduce a £15 per hour minimum wage for social care, a network of free walk-in mental health support hubs, and invest in the NHS workforce.
Lib Dem: A 10-year NHS and care workforce plan, new neighbourhood health teams giving every GP practice the equivalent of an extra clinical staff member, walk-in mental health services and a Fair Deal for Rural Healthcare.
Labour: End the 8am GP rush, bring back the family doctor, cut waiting times with funding following the patient, introduce an NHS app and AI scanners, and deliver £15/hr for social care workers.
Housing
SNP: Build 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 (70% social rent), create a new housing agency, retain the rent control framework, and provide deposit support of up to £10,000 for first-time buyers.
Reform: Repeal SNP tenancy regulations and introduce a Rent-To-Buy model for young people, first-time buyers and working families. Restore a local connection requirement for social housing.
Tory: Market-led housing policy. Scrap SNP rent controls, stop costly housebuilding regulations, and abolish tax on buying a primary home (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax reform).
Green: Permanent rent controls, a higher tax rate on landlords' rental income, and stronger renters' rights to tackle the housing emergency.
Lib Dem: Return housebuilding to 25,000 new homes annually, create key worker housing, and replace the SNP's housing strategy with a new holistic data-driven approach.
Labour: Deliver 125,000 new homes by 2031 across all tenures. Build 20,000 mid-market rent homes to save tenants an average of £2,700 a year off market rents. Establish a Housing Bank and a private-rented-sector strategy (no new rent controls).
Climate & Transport
SNP: Continue the transition to net zero by 2045 with a focus on Scotland's renewable energy wealth. Interim 2030 climate targets were dropped in 2024; emphasis is on energy costs and a just transition.
Reform: Scrap all SNP Net Zero related targets, subsidies and quangos. End the ban on new nuclear in Scotland and rehabilitate North Sea gas as the primary energy system.
Tory: Scrap the SNP's 2045 net zero target and drop policies that impose costs on households to meet it. Back the oil and gas industry and scrap carbon pricing schemes.
Green: Get Scotland back on track to deliver net zero by 2045 with a coordinated climate action delivery programme across transport, energy, farming and buildings.
Lib Dem: Support net zero by 2045 with a programme for net zero new towns featuring rail links, district heating and 20-minute neighbourhoods.
Labour: Achieve net zero by 2045 ambitions. Double home retrofits, back GB Energy and the Scottish National Investment Bank, end the block on clean nuclear energy, and deliver a fair energy transition for oil and gas workers.
Tax & Public Spending
SNP: Keep Scotland's progressive income tax, the fairest and most progressive in the UK. Introduce a mansion tax on properties valued above £1m from 2028.
Reform: Cut income tax. Scrap Scotland's six income tax bands, mirror the rUK three bands at 1p below each, and aim for a 3p variation below rUK within the first five years.
Tory: Cut income tax — raise the point at which you start paying in line with inflation, uprate the Higher Rate threshold, and lower income tax to 19p in the £1 for low- and middle-income households.
Green: Tax wealth rather than work. More progressive income tax, higher taxes on second and empty homes, and new taxes on private jets and mansions.
Lib Dem: Where funds allow, lift tax thresholds in line with inflation and begin to close the tax differential with England in a balanced way that protects public services.
Labour: Commit to no income tax rate rises for five years, with the ambition to lower taxes as the economy grows.
Economy & Jobs
SNP: Grow the economy while protecting public services. Unlock £20 billion of pension fund investment, back a just transition, and use Scotland's renewable energy wealth to cut costs for households and businesses.
Reform: Cut £7.5bn of spending — £1bn from ideological Net Zero projects and £6.5bn from 132 quangos — to fund a new deal for Scotland that rewards work and aspiration.
Tory: Make economic growth the number one policy objective. Cut regulation, introduce Scottish Business Zones, and oppose tax rises and new taxes.
Green: Jobs in a green economy — clean industries, care, childcare and community wealth. Move away from expensive and volatile oil and gas.
Lib Dem: Reform business rates to stop sudden tax hikes on successful employers and help people upskill through new Job Transition Loans worth up to £5,000.
Labour: Sustained economic growth as the route to improving living standards. Establish a Scottish Board of Trade, partner with GB Energy and the UK National Wealth Fund, and cut a third of quangos to end government waste.
Education & Childcare
SNP: A transformational national expansion of childcare from 9 months to the end of primary school, 52 weeks a year. Protect free university tuition and free school lunches.
Reform: Direct school-leavers into trades via technical colleges rather than universities. Ban mobile phones in classrooms and give headteachers discretion over budgets and recruitment.
Tory: Raise school standards. Empower headteachers and reduce bureaucracy to lift Scotland back up international rankings.
Green: Universal free childcare guarantee from 6 months until children start school, with significant investment in the childcare workforce.
Lib Dem: Hire 2,000 more pupil support assistants, roll out speech and language therapy and make every school a smartphone-free environment.
Labour: Breakfast clubs in every primary school, 2,000 Education Recovery teachers and 1,500 more classroom assistants, ban mobile phones in classrooms, and top up tax-free childcare to £3,000 per child.
Social Issues
SNP: Uphold and protect the human rights of trans people within devolved powers. Scotland is the first country in the world to incorporate LGBTQI+ education in schools. Strong commitment to equality across all groups.
Reform: Socially conservative. Criticises existing gender policies as "woke" and argues the SNP has not protected women and girls in Scotland.
Tory: Socially conservative. Guarantee every woman has access to single-sex wards, affirm biological sex under the Equality Act, and oppose the Non-Binary Equality Action Plan.
Green: Strong LGBT+ rights advocacy. Revisit NHS policy changes made as a result of the Cass Review and publish a gender-affirming care action plan to bring down waiting times.
Lib Dem: Strong defence of LGBT+ and trans rights. Ban all forms of conversion therapies and practices, working in partnership with the UK Government.
Labour: Recommit the NHS to single-sex wards on the basis of biological sex. Deliver a four-nation conversion practices ban to protect LGBT+ people. Tackle long waits for gynaecological procedures as part of a women's health plan.