Holyrood elections 2026 - All you need to know about East Lothian Coast & Lammermuirs
Parking charges and future of Torness on voters' minds as well as cost of living, NHS, etc
East Lothian was a Labour seat from the start of the Scottish Parliament in 1999 right up until the last election in 2021, when the SNP won with a 1,179 majority - just a 2.5 per cent margin separating the parties.
The constituency boundaries have been redrawn for this election, removing Tranent - one of Labour's best areas - and the seat has been given a new name: East Lothian Coast and Lammermuirs.
But the two main contenders are the same as last time: the SNP's Paul McLennan, who was an East Lothian councillor for 15 years before winning the seat five years ago, and Labour's Martin Whitfield, a former primary teacher who served as the area's MP at Westminster for two years, 2017-19, and has been a South of Scotland list MSP since 2021.
Despite the loss of Tranent, Mr Whitfield is optimistic about his prospects, looking to Labour strength in Prestonpans and Haddington and hoping to attract supporters of other parties who want to stop the SNP.
He says the cost of living and the state of education and the NHS are key issues here, as everywhere. But, especially around Dunbar and North Berwick, the future of Torness also features among people's concerns.
The nuclear power plant, which was commissioned in 1988 and employs around 800 people, is due to close in 2030. Mr Whitfield says apprenticeship schemes at the site will soon stop because there won't be enough time for new entrants to complete their training. And the prospect of losing a significant source of jobs in the area is already resonating. "Parents are worried about their children going away and never coming back."
He wants mini-nuclear reactors - known as small modular reactors (SMRs) - to replace the current power station. "If they put in three of these, that would produce more electricity than Scotland needs." But the SNP is opposed to nuclear power. Mr Whitfield says: "They need to end their anti-scientific, ideological ban on nuclear power."
Another hot topic is the parking charges East Lothian Council plans to introduce in North Berwick, Dunbar, Haddington and Tranent. The row has even led to parking machines in North Berwick being vandalised before they could start operating.
Mr Whitfield says: “There is anger and concern about the parking charges, but there is also a recognition that it’s a council decision.”
Paul McLennan says the SNP's campaign is going well and he is "quietly confident". He claims the national polls, which show the SNP in the lead and voters concerned most about the cost of living and the NHS, accurately reflect the picture in East Lothian, though he adds there seem to be more people than usual still undecided about how to vote.
He acknowledges the anger over the parking charges and says he is against the scheme. "I was a councillor for 15 years and the way this has been put together has been bad politics.
“They didn't know how much it was going to cost, they didn't know how much it was going to raise and they didn't how much it would reduce traffic and emissions. Now the council's own figures show that between Dunbar and North Berwick it's only going to raise £20,000 a year and the consultation cost £850,000 - they should have done that work before the process started."
He argues that if the council had sat down with the community councils and traders they could have come up with an acceptable traffic management scheme. "But the whole way this has been handled is a complete lack of engagement and the communities just don't trust the council on the issue at all.”
He says the future of Torness is raised by some people. "The key thing for me is what's the best deal for the consumers and the strike price for nuclear is more expensive than it is for renewables."
He argues there needs to be a just transition, not just from oil and gas to renewables but also from nuclear to renewables, though he adds that half the Torness workforce would still be needed for another three or four years once decommissioning starts.
He says East Lothian seen an increase in employment around renewables, with engineering company Had-Fab taking on an extra 200 people in the last 18 months or so.
And he says the area already benefited from the Inch Cape offshore wind farm connecting to the grid in East Lothian and was set to benefit more with further wind farms including the massive Berwick Bank, also due to land in East Lothian.
"There's a real opportunity for energy in East Lothian. I have been running an energy forum for the last five years - I set that up when I was elected - which brings together SSE, EDF, the community councils, local colleges and schools and the council to see how we can maximise community benefits and job expansion."
Tory candidate Miles Briggs - a Lothian list MSP since 2016 - says parking charges are the biggest issue he picks up on the doorstep. "We don't support it and would scrap it. Most businesses and residents just don't see the argument that it's needed.
“A lot of good local small businesses are worried for their future. A lot of them are struggling at the minute anyway, so the impact of footfall reducing will potentially make them rethink whether or not they want to carry on in business."
He says the future of Torness is important for Scotland’s energy policy. “Labour and the Conservatives and the Lib Dems all now support the potential for two small reactors to be built in Scotland and Torness has the space and capacity to locate one of those, so continuing the well-paid jobs, the apprenticeships and the positive impact it has had for generations of workers in Dunbar and the surrounding area.”
Mr Briggs also talks about trying to get more health services provided at the East Lothian Community Hospital in Haddington.
“I think NHS Lothian need to look at whether there are ways of locating some clinics during the weeks in that hospital which would mean patients aren't having to travel as much. Currently there's no minor injuries unit. I think there is a real appetite to have more local services located there, including neonatal services.”
Independent candidate Morgwn Davies is fighting the election on the sole issue of the parking charges. “I am standing to provide an opportunity for voters to send a message to all the East Lothian councillors, SNP, Labour and Scottish Greens, who voted to impose parking charges on the town of North Berwick, and the planned parking charges for Dunbar and Haddington.
An ex-Alba candidate and a former community councillor in Haddington, he says: “East Lothian Council has ignored all public feedback saying that there is no need for parking charges, they also ignored the finding of their own commissioned survey that didn't support the need for parking charges.”
The Reform candidate is Nigel Douglas, a businessman with a background in IT, AI and environmental and energy projects. He says people are disillusioned. “I don’t think there has ever been such a low moment in politics.”
Candidates
BRIGGS, Miles - Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
DAVIES, Morgwn Carter - Independent
DOUGLAS, Nigel - Reform UK
MCKAY, Tim - Scottish Liberal Democrats
MCLENNAN, Paul - Scottish National Party (SNP)
WHITFIELD, Martin - Scottish Labour Party
2021 result
Paul McLennan SNP 17,968
Craig Hoy Con 9,470
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