The 2017 Scottish local elections were held on Thursday 4 May, in all 32

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors, despite suffering minor losses. The Conservatives made gains and displaced Labour as the second largest party, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of councillors despite increasing their share of the vote. Minor parties and independents polled well; and independent councillors retained majority control over the three island councils. For the first time since the local government reforms in 1995, all mainland councils fell under no overall control.

Background

The previous election was in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. Normally these elections take place every four years, but this election was postponed for a year in order to avoid conflicting with the

2016 Scottish Parliament election The 2016 Scottish parliament election was held on Thursday, 5 May 2016 to elect 129 members to the Scottish Parliament. It was the fifth election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It was the first parliamentary electi ...

. Once again the local elections, held under the

Single Transferable Vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system, were counted electronically, using the same system used in 2012. The tender was awarded to CGI (formerly Logica) and Idox Elections (formerly Opt2vote), both of which delivered the 2012 elections successfully.

Eligibility to vote

All registered electors (

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Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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and

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citizens) who were aged 16 or over on polling day were entitled to vote in the local elections. A person who had two homes (such as a university student who has a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) could

register to vote In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ru ...

at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area and can vote for two different councils, albeit only in two different local elections; however, it is an offence to vote twice in the same type of election and doing so may incur a fine of up to £5,000. Individuals must have registered to vote by midnight twelve working days before polling day (17 April 2017). Anyone who qualified as an

anonymous elector An anonymous elector is generally a registered voter whose safety would be at risk if their details were available on a public electoral register. Australia In Australia, a voter anonymously registered is known as a silent elector. To be a silent ...

had until midnight on 25 April 2017 to register.

Party performance

Following the election, SNP leader

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon (born 19 July 1970) is a Scottish politician serving as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. She has been a member of ...

played down the threat posed by the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

to her party, asserting that the good performance by the Conservatives was on account of

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 ...

support going to the Conservatives and not because of any shift in SNP voters. Scottish Conservative leader

Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...

asserted a "Scottish fightback against the SNP" and said that the results represented a resurgence for the Conservatives, despite the fact that the SNP's 1st preference vote percentage had not changed since the 2012 election. Scottish Labour leader

Kezia Dugdale Kezia Alexandra Ross Dugdale (born 28 August 1981) is a Scottish former politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2015 to 2017. A former member of the Scottish Labour Party and Co-operative Party, she was a Member of th ...

admitted the results were disappointing for her party, while the

Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...

leader

Willie Rennie William Cowan Rennie (born 27 September 1967), commonly known as Willie Rennie, is a Scottish politician who served as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2011 to 2021. He has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MS ...

said the council results showed his party could stand against the SNP tide in key northern constituencies.

Aftermath

Aberdeenshire

The

Scottish Conservatives The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

returned the most councillors, the first time it has been the largest party in the region since the 1982 election, when the area was under the

Grampian Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region to ...

Regional Council, although they were stopped short of an overall majority. The number of

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

councillors fell by a quarter but remained the second largest group. The

picked up a couple of seats while the other parties gained roughly the same results as the previous election. On 18 May, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Aligned Independents formed an administration, with Jim Gifford (Conservative) elected as council leader and Bill Howatson (Liberal Democrat) was made Provost.

Argyll and Bute

The SNP became the largest party on the council for the first time, as the Independent group lost a third of its seats compared to the previous election. The Conservatives gained five seats and the Liberal Democrats gained two, but both remained in their respective places as the two smaller parties. Despite the SNP's position, a coalition was formed of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents, referred to as The Argyll Lomond and the Isles Group (TALIG). Aileen Morton, leader of the group, was elected as council leader.

Fife

The Scottish National Party replaced Scottish Labour as the largest party for the first time in the Fife region, although they did not gain enough seats to form a majority. The Scottish Conservatives made the most gains, replacing the Scottish Liberal Democrats as the third biggest party. The election also returned no

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

councillors, marking the first time the area will be without any Independent representation since the creation of Fife Regional Council in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

. On 18 May, the two largest parties of the new council, the SNP and Scottish Labour, signed a Power Sharing Agreement to co-run an administration. David Alexander (SNP) and David Ross (Labour) were made co-leaders, and

Jim Leishman Jim Leishman MBE (born 15 November 1953) is a Scottish Labour Party politician and former professional footballer who is currently Provost of Fife and an honorary director of Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic. Career Player ...

remained in his role as Provost.

Glasgow

The SNP replaced Labour as the biggest party; although without a majority it ended Labour's 37-year-long control of the council. The Conservatives increased its number of councillors from 1 to 8, their highest since 1984, while the

Scottish Green Party The Scottish Greens (also known as the Scottish Green Party; gd, Pàrtaidh Uaine na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Green Pairtie) are a green political party in Scotland. The party has seven MSPs in the Scottish Parliament as of May 2021. As of the 20 ...

also made a couple of gains to reach their highest ever level in Glasgow. This council is the first without any

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

representation since

. The SNP took control of the council as a minority administration with SNP members filling the positions of council leader, depute council leader, and Lord Provost.

Councils

Opinion polling

Results

, -style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:center;" !colspan="2" rowspan="2" width="175", Party !colspan="3" rowspan="2" width="175", First-preference votes ! scope="col" rowspan="2", Councils ! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width: 30px;", +/- ! colspan="2" , 2012 seats ! colspan="2" , 2017 seats ! colspan="2" , Seat change , - ! Seats won ! Notional ! Seats won ! Seat % ! vs Notional , - , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 610,454 , 32.3% , 0.0% , 0 , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 1 , 425 , 438 , 431 , 35.1% , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 7 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

, 478,073 , 25.3% , 12.0% , 0 , , 115 , 112 , 276 , 22.5% , style="background-color:#dfd", 164 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

, 380,957 , 20.2% , 11.4% , 0 , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 3 , 394 , 395 , 262 , 21.4% , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 133 , - , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Independents , 196,438 , 10.4% , 1.4% , 3 , , 196 , 198 , 168 , 14.1% , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 30 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Liberal Democrats , 130,243 , 6.9% , 0.3% , 0 , , 71 , 70 , 67 , 5.5% , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 3 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

, 77,682 , 4.1% , 1.8% , 0 , , 14 , 14 , 19 , 1.6% , style="background-color:#dfd", 5 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Orkney Manifesto Group , 894 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , 2 , 0.1% , style="background-color:#dfd", ''New'' , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , West Dunbartonshire Community , 2,413 , 0.1% , , 0 , , , , 1 , 0.1% , style="background-color:#dfd", ''New'' , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , The Rubbish Party , 784 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , 1 , 0.1% , style="background-color:#dfd", ''New'' , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

UK Independence Party The UK Independence Party (UKIP; ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two members of Parliament and was the largest par ...

, 2,920 , 0.2% , 0.1% , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Independent Alliance North Lanarkshire , 2,823 , 0.2% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

TUSC Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) is a socialist electoral alliance launched in Britain for the 2010 general election. TUSC's co-founder was the RMT union general secretary Bob Crow. Members of the PCS, NUT, FBU and POA uni ...

, 1,403 , 0.1% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , A Better Britain – Unionist Party , 1,196 , 0.1% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish Socialist , 928 , 0.0% , 0.3% , 0 , , 1 , , 0 , 0.0% , style="background-color:#ffe8e8;", 1 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

, 883 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

, 776 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

RISE Rise or RISE may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world * Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3'' * Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...

, 186 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish Independent Network , 145 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish Unionist , 129 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Social Democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

, 112 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish Christian , 104 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Socialist Labour , 76 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , National Front , 39 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - , - style="text-align:right;" , style="background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , No Overall Control , — , — , — , 29 , style="background-color:#dfd;", 4 , — , — , — , — , — , - ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" , Total , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 1,889,658 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 100.0 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ±0.0 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 32 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 1,223 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 1,227 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 1,227 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , 100.00 , style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , ''The table has been arranged according to popular vote, not the number of seats won.''

Boundary changes

Prior to the 2017 elections, changes were made to council ward boundaries in 25 council areas. This meant that comparisons with the actual results from 2012 were inaccurate due to a small increase in the total number of seats (from 1,223 to 1,227), different boundaries, and some wards having their number of councillors adjusted. These changes led BBC News, using work done by Professor David Denver of

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

, to estimate what the results would have been in 2012 if the new boundaries and seat numbers had been in place for that election.

Analysis

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Elections Scotland summary of results

Scottish Council election May 2017
{{United Kingdom local elections, 2017

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2017 elections in Europe May 2017 events in the United Kingdom