Key facts and advice as polls open in Edinburgh

Ivy the puppy waits patiently outside a polling place in Edinburgh.
Ivy the puppy waits patiently outside a polling place in Edinburgh.

Polling places across Edinburgh are open until 10pm this evening for residents to vote, with photo ID being compulsory at this UK Parliament General Election.

Our emergency postal votes facility at the City Chambers will also remain open today from 9am-5pm. If you need a replacement postal vote pack for any reason, please attend and bring photo ID.

Further guidance on voting in person, photo ID and more are available on our website.

Five Members of Parliament (MPs) will be elected across Edinburgh’s five UK parliamentary constituencies. A full list of the 44 candidates standing for election across these constituencies is on our website.

Some key facts and figures around the election and our city can be found below.

The 2024 UK Parliament General Election:

  • Edinburgh’s population is approximately 530,000
  • 375,712 people are registered to vote in this General Election
    • 269,151 will vote at a polling place
    • 103,581 of those are postal voters
  • For context in 2019 only 72,664 postal votes were issued, this represents an increase for 2024 of over 30,000 or around 41%.
  • Edinburgh West has the greatest proportion of postal voters of anywhere in Scotland for this election, with 25,560 or 33% of the eligible electorate. 
  • Voter turnout for Edinburgh was 73% at the 2019 General Election
  • This election will see 140 polling places in 138 buildings
  • 319 polling stations with 955 polling booths
  • 1004 people working at polling places
  • 825 people working at the count
  • 10,000 elastic bands
  • 130 calculators
  • 480 post it pads = 43,000 actual post-its

Edinburgh:

  • Edinburgh is the UK’s fastest growing major city
  • The City of Edinburgh Council is the second largest council in Scotland and the ninth largest in the UK
  • The city’s population has grown by 10% in the last decade to 530,000 people and is projected to grow to 586,000 by 2043
  • There are three Universities and one Further Education College
  • 94,000 students including more than 23,000 internationals study in Edinburgh
  • 62% of the city’s workforce is educated to degree level or higher
  • The total surface area in Edinburgh is 264 square kilometres (102 square miles)

Published: July 4th 2024