Sanne Dijkstra-downie projected to win Edinburgh Northern on 33%
Sanne Dijkstra-downie is projected to win Edinburgh Northern for the Liberal Democrats, with a new YouGov MRP poll putting her on 33% and the SNP’s Euan Hyslop on 27%. The result would move the seat from the SNP to the Liberal Democrats ahead of the 2026 Holyrood election.
Edinburgh Northern seat
Dijkstra-Downie is a Liberal Democrat councillor and candidate for Edinburgh Northern. In April, she told The Herald: “For the first time in a long time, we've actually got a real shot at beating the SNP because of the new boundaries.”
She also said: “If you look at the boundaries for the council elections last time around [in 2022], where people tend to vote for the party that they quite like because of the proportional system, we actually won.” That claim now sits alongside a poll that gives her a four-point lead over Hyslop.
The 2022 council elections are the comparison point Dijkstra-Downie pointed to when she argued the new boundaries could help her party. The poll projects that the Liberal Democrats would turn that argument into a seat gain in Edinburgh Northern.
Edinburgh Central pressure
The same YouGov MRP poll projects the SNP would lose Edinburgh Central to the Scottish Greens and would hold Edinburgh North Eastern and Leith with 33% of the vote. It also projects the SNP would hold Edinburgh South Western with 36% of the vote.
For the Liberal Democrats, the poll projects Alex Cole-Hamilton would easily hold Edinburgh North Western with 50% of the vote. For Labour, it projects the SNP would take Edinburgh Southern from Daniel Johnson.
That leaves Edinburgh Northern as one of the clearest seat changes in the poll. Dijkstra-Downie’s lead over Hyslop gives the Liberal Democrats a specific path to taking ground from the SNP in the city, while the SNP still leads in several other Edinburgh contests.
For voters in Edinburgh Northern, the practical change is straightforward: the poll points to a different party holding the seat if the result is repeated. The next test is whether Dijkstra-Downie can convert that 33% projection into an actual win when the Holyrood vote is held.
