The 2012 Midlothian Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of

Midlothian Council Midlothian Council is the local authority for Midlothian, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, covering an area immediately south of the city of Edinburgh. The council is based in Dalkeith. Since the last boundary changes in 2017, eighteen ...

. The election used the six

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

created as a result of the

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 9) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system. The Commissi ...

, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using 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 form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, with 18 Councillors being elected. The election saw Labour retain their traditional position as the largest party on the council though they lost compared to the 2007 election. The

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 ...

significantly increased their representation with 2 net gains and a significant rise in vote share to have the same seat numbers as the Labour Party. 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 202 ...

gained a seat on the council for the first time and so too did

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 * Independe ...

, former Conservative member, Peter de Vink. 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 ...

were wiped out from this authority as well, losing all 3 of their seats (2 in the election, 1 by the defection of a member after 2007). Following the election the SNP formed a minority administration with the support of the Green Party and the Independent. This is the first time that Labour had not had a role in the running of Midlothian in 84 years.

Election result

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Penicuik

*2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem *2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab *2007-2012: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem

Bonnyrigg

*2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP *2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xGRN *2007-2012 Change: GRN gain one seat from Lab

Dalkeith

*2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP *2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP *2007-2012 Change: No change

Midlothian West

*2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem *2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab *2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem

Midlothian East

*2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem *2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent *2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Labour

Midlothian South

*2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP *2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP *2007-2012 Change: No change

Post-Election Changes

*† Midlothian East Independent and former Labour Cllr Peter Boyes resigned due to ill-health on 11 August 2014. A by-election was held on 27 November 2014 and was won by Labour's Kenny Young

*†† Midlothian West SNP Cllr Owen Thompson was elected as an MP for Midlothian (UK Parliament constituency), Midlothian on 7 May 2015. He resigned as Leader of Midlothian Council on 23 June 2015 and announced he would resign his Council seat with effect from 1 July 201

A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 10 September 2015 and the seat was held by the SNP's Kelly Parr

By-elections

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2012 Midlothian Council elections, 2012 2012 Scottish local elections