Elections for the Scottish district councils were held on Tuesday 7 May 1974, for both the new
regional and district councils, between the two United Kingdom
general election
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
s of
February
February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''.
February is the third a ...
and
October
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus , October retained its name (from Latin and Greek ''ôctō'' meaning "eight") after Januar ...
in that same year.
These were the first elections held to the 53 district councils established by the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973
The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975.
The act followed and largely impleme ...
. The
Labour Party did reasonably well and the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic party. The party holds 61 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and holds 9 out of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, ...
(SNP) did not. The
councillor
A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
s acted as "shadow" councils until May 1975, when the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 came into effect.
Results
National results
, -
!colspan=2, Parties
!Votes
!Votes %
!Wards
, -
,
, 658,089
, 38.5
, 172
, -
,
, 488,905
, 28.6
, 112
, -
,
, 215,502
, 12.6
, 18
, -
,
, 87,333
, 5.1
, 11
, -
, style="width: 10px" bgcolor=,
, style="text-align: left;" scope="row" , Independent/Other
, 261,372
, 15.3
, 114/5
, -
!colspan=2, Total!! !! !!
, -
!colspan=2, Parties
!Votes
!Votes %
!Wards
, -
,
, 619,531
, 38.4
, 428
, -
,
, 433,287
, 26.8
, 241
, -
,
, 200,307
, 12.4
, 62
, -
,
, 80,232
, 5.0
, 17
, -
, style="width: 10px" bgcolor=,
, style="text-align: left;" scope="row" , Independent/Other
, 280,946
, 17.5
, 345/17
, -
!colspan=2, Total!! !! !!
Note: Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles were governed at the district level as unitary authorities, meaning they were not included in any larger region.
Council Results
Regional Councils
District Councils
The seats on each district council after the election were as follows:
=Borders
=
=Central
=
=Dumfries and Galloway
=
=Fife
=
=Grampian
=
=Highland
=
=Lothian
=
=Strathclyde
=
=Tayside
=
See also
*
Local government areas of Scotland 1973 to 1996
Local may refer to:
Geography and transportation
* Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand
* Local, Missouri, a community in the United States
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
*
Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland
Boundaries Scotland is an independent body in Scotland created as the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. According to its website, it is responsible for: carrying out reviews of bo ...
References
{{United Kingdom local elections, 1974
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; ...
May 1974 in the United Kingdom