The first

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

regional council election took place on 7 May 1974, along with the first district council elections in Scotland. This new system was created by the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

, which saw the making of a two-tier system of local government. The area Dumfries and Galloway regional council covered also contained 4 district councils: *

Annandale and Eskdale Annandale and Eskdale is a committee area in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It covers the areas of Annandale and Eskdale, the straths of the River Annan and the River Esk respectively. From 1975 until 1996 it was a local government district ...

Nithsdale Nithsdale (''Srath Nid'' in Scottish Gaelic), also known as Strathnith, Stranith or Stranit, is the strath or dale of the River Nith in southern Scotland. Nithsdale was one of the medieval provinces of Scotland. The provinces gradually lost th ...

* Merrick *

Stewartry Stewartry was a local government district from 1975 until 1996 within the Dumfries and Galloway region in south-west Scotland. Under the name Stewartry of Kirkcudbright the area of the former district is still used as a lieutenancy area. Dumfr ...

As with many other councils in this election, independents formed the majority of councillors, with only

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

behind them with 2 seats. This was also reflected in the district council elections in Dumfries and Galloway and much of Scotland. Turnout was low, which is the norm for local elections, but what was shocking about this election is the amount of uncontested wards. 12 out of the 35 wards in Dumfries and Galloway were uncontested, meaning over a third of the electorate couldn't vote on their representative. Again, this was reflected in the district council elections in the region.

References

{{1974 United Kingdom local elections

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

Dumfries and Galloway Council elections