Plans to move part of Musselburgh into a new Edinburgh East constituency for future UK Parliamentary elections will split the community in two, the council has warned.
The proposed change by the Boundary Commission aims to reduce the number of residents in the present East Lothian constituency.
However East Lothian council says it will "break strong community ties", split the community and "disregards the geographic, transport, business and community links between the two parts of community."
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In a draft response to the Boundary Commission proposals due to be approved by councillors next week, there is also strong criticism of plans to rename the remaining East Lothian constituency - minus west Musselburgh - East Lothian Coastal despite much of the county being inland.
The council response says: "There seems to be no rationale for renaming the remaining area of East Lothian as East Lothian Coastal.
"A significant part of the constituency is rural or inland towns with no immediate link to the coast. As such, we would propose that the current name of ‘East Lothian’ be retained."
The review of constituencies by the Boundary Commission aims to balance out the voters with each UK parliament constituency supposed to have a quota of between 69, 724 and 77,062 voters in it.
Currently East Lothian has 82, 479 people registered on the electorate.
While the council concedes it cannot argue with the numbers, it points out the Boundary Commission also has a responsibility towards communities.
It says: "Whilst geographically close to eastern Edinburgh, Musselburgh is a distinct and separate town with its own identity and history.
"It is one of East Lothian’s main towns and a significant place within the county. There is no history of a split within the town, as is now proposed and there is no rationale for such a division, other than the need to meet the electorate quota."
In its response to the commission the council asks that if the decision to move the west of the town into a new seat is taken it acknowledges Musselburgh's identity in the new name instead of calling it Edinburgh East.
It says: "If western Musselburgh is to be added to eastern Edinburgh, its place in that constituency should be reflected in the name. We would suggest ‘East Edinburgh and West Musselburgh’."
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