Every ten years or so the boundaries of the parliamentary constituency have changed, but in the course of the past 100 years parts of what is now Midlothian have been represented at Westminster by a number of notable/colourful characters.

Midlothian's most famous MP was W.E. Gladstone, Prime Minister and the Grand Old Man of Liberalism, who represented Edinburghshire from 1880-1895. It may have been the Gladstone legacy, or the fact that the Scottish Miners were among the last organised workers to break their ties with the Liberals, but it was not until the breakthrough general elections of 1922 and 1923 that Labour MPs were first returned from what is now Midlothian.

An early Labour victory was won at the Midlothian and Peebleshire Northern Division by election of January 1929. That by election also saw the first ever political outing of the National Party of Scotland, the forerunner of the modern Scottish National Party. The SNP did not contest Midlothian again until 1966.

The Midlothian and Peebleshire Southern Division was not represented in the House of Commons between 1940 and 1945. Its Unionist (Conservative) MP, the Eton and Sandhurst educated Captain Archibald Maule Ramsay, was virulently anti-Jewish and a Nazi fellow traveller. He was detained in Brixton Prison from May 1940 to September 1944 under Emergency Defence Regulation 18b. The local Unionist Association immediately disowned him on his arrest. 

Midlothian's Labour MPs. A Biographical Note

Andrew B. Clarke (1868-1940)
Secretary of the Mid and East Lothian Miners and President of the Scottish Miners' Association from 1932-1940. First elected in Midlothian and Peebleshire Northern Division, in 1923 but was defeated the following year. Returned to Westminster as the result of a by election in January 1929, which was also the first outing for the National Party of Scotland (SNP), only to lose the seat four months later in the general election. 

Rt. Hon. Joseph C. Westwood (1884-1948)
Born in Kirkcaldy, Westwood was Industrial Organiser of the Fife Miners from 1916-1918, and Political Organiser for the Scottish Miners from 1918-1929. Elected for Midlothain and Peebleshire Southern Division in 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1929. Defeated in 1931, he returned to Westminster as the MP for Stirling. He held several senior positions in government, culminating in his appointment as Secretary of State for Scotland from July 1945 to October 1947. He continued to represent the people of Stirling until he died in a road accident in July 1948.

David J. Pryde (1890-1959)
Bonnyrigg man David Pryde was educated at Lasswade High School. he was Organiser of the Lothian Miners from 1927-1929 and their Vice President from 1929-1932. He was first elected for Midlothian and Peebleshire Southern Division in 1945, for Midlothian and Peebles in 1950 and for Midlothian from 1955 to his death just weeks before the 1959 general election.

James Meechan Hill (1899-1966)
Originally from Bellshill, miner Jimmy Hill was a member of Musselburgh Town Council, and Midlothian County Council, before being elected to represent Midlothian in October 1959. He retired from parliament in March 1966, just a matter of months before his death.

Alexander Eadie (Born 1920)
Midlothian's longest-serving Labour MP, Fifer Alex Eadie served for 20 years in local government, and worked as a miners' agent prior to entering parliament. He contested Ayr, unsuccessfully, in 1959 and 1964 before being first elected for Midlothian in 1966. During 25 years in parliament, he rose to become Under Secretary of State for Energy from 1974-1979. He was succeeded by Eric Clarke in 1992.

Eric L. Clarke (Born 1932)
Born in Edinburgh, Eric Clarke began work in the collieries of Midlothian as a teenager. The experience of representing his co-workers inevitably led to public office, and Eric Clarke served the people of Mayfield and Gorebridge on Midlothian County Council and the successor Lothian Regional Council. In 1975 he was selected as the parliamentary candidate for Clackmannan and East Stirling but events intervened and he was elected as the full time General Secretary of the Scottish Miners'. During the next dozen or so years he represented Scotland's miners through some of the greatest difficulties the industry had ever experienced. Elected to Westminster in 1992, he has served as a Scottish and Defence Whip and as a member of the Scottish Affairs Committee.

David Hamilton
David Hamilton was born in Dalkeith and continues to reside locally.  Married to wife Jean for 35 years, they have 2 married daughters and 5 grandchildren. Before being elected MP for Midlothian in 2001, David was a well respected trade unionist.  As a senior Midlothian Councillor, he held the important Economic Development portfolio.  During his 4 years at Westminster, David has been appointed to serve on 4 House of Commons Select Committees.  As an active back-bencher David has taken up a host of causes including the promotion of the Fireworks Bill, an issue of concern to many in Midlothian.  Following the tragedy of the cockle pickers deaths in Morecombe Bay, David was a sponsor of the “Gangmasters Bill” which also combats exploitation of migrant workers in the agricultural sector.

Midlothian MPs from 1955

• 1955 David Pryde Labour

• 1959 James Hill Labour

• 1964 James Hill Labour

• 1966 Alex Eadie Labour

• 1970 Alex Eadie Labour

• 1974 (F) Alex Eadie Labour

• 1974 (O) Alex Eadie Labour

• 1979 Alex Eadie Labour

• 1983 Alex Eadie Labour

• 1987 Alex Eadie Labour

• 1992 Eric Clarke Labour

• 1997 Eric Clarke Labour

• 2001 David Hamilton Labour