Editing Musselburgh (section)

=== Town Council ===
Prior to the [[Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973|local government reforms of 1975]], Musselburgh was a [[small burgh]] within the [[Midlothian (historic)|county of Midlothian]]. As such, it elected a town council responsible for a number of areas of local governance, including housing, lighting and street cleaning and drainage. Midlothian County Council was responsible for other areas, including education. The town council met at the [[Musselburgh Tolbooth]] and later, for a short period before its abolition, at the Brunton Hall. The town's civic head and chairman of the council was the [[Provost (civil)|provost]] and there were three [[bailie]]s and a treasurer.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scran Web Site|url=http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-470-881-C|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Scran|language=en}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Provost<ref>{{Cite web|title=Scran Web Site|url=http://www.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-000-470-384-C|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Scran|language=en}}</ref>
! colspan="2" |Party!!Term
|-
|David Lowe
| style="background-color: {{party color|Independent}}" |
|[[Independent politician|Independent]]
|1928-37
|-
|John Henry Paton
| style="background-color: {{party color|Independent}}" |
|[[Independent politician|Independent]]
|1937-40
|-
|Thomas White
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|1940-45
|-
|Daniel Feeney
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|1946-49
|-
|Robert Hunter
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|1949-56
|-
|Joseph H. F. Reid
| style="background-color: {{party color|Scottish Conservative Party}}" |
|[[Moderates (Scotland)|Moderate]]
|1956-57
|-
|James Lannan
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|1957-60
|-
|Peter Hamilton
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|1960-63
|-
|Robert Arthur
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
|1963-66
|-
|Thomas White
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
|[[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| 1966-69
|-
|William Caird
| style="background-color: {{party color|Scottish Conservative Party}}" |
| [[Ratepayers' Association|Ratepayers]]
| 1969-72
|-
|Jessie B. Burns
| style="background-color: {{party color|Labour Party (UK)}}" |
| [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| 1972-75
|}

After the local government reforms of 1975, Musselburgh was transferred to the [[East Lothian]] district of the new [[Lothian]] region, and subsequently became part of the East Lothian [[unitary council]] area in 1996.<ref>See also [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/Ukpga_19940039_en_1.htm ''Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994'', Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301043228/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/Ukpga_19940039_en_1.htm |date=1 March 2010 }} ([http://www.opsi.gov.uk/about/index.htm OPSI home page] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418011519/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/about/index.htm |date=18 April 2008 }})</ref>