2012 Elections to

Scottish Borders Council The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the ...

were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the other

Scottish local government Local government in Scotland comprises thirty-two local authorities, commonly referred to as ''councils''. Each council provides public services, including education, social care, waste management, libraries and planning. Councils receive the ma ...

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

. The election used the 11 wards 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 government in Scotland, local authorities in Scotland by the single transfera ...

, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the

single transferable vote The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...

system, a form of

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

, with 34 Councillors elected. The election saw the

Scottish Conservative Party The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party (), known as Scottish Tories, is part of the UK Conservative Party active in Scotland. It currently holds 5 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons, 30 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Par ...

remain the largest party on the Council though they lost 1 seat. 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, ...

replaced the

Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats () is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 5 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons and 86 of 1 ...

as the second largest party by gaining 3 seats at the expense of the latter. The Lib Dems were reduced to 6 seats. Independents increased their numbers to 7 seats while the Borders Party retained their 2 seats. Following the election the Scottish National Party formed a coalition with the support of the Independents and the Liberal Democrats. The Borders Party are also supporting this administration. This replaced the previous Conservative-Lib Dem-Independent coalition which existed from 2007-2012.

Election results

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

Tweeddale West

*2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP *2012: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP *2007-2012 Change: No change

Tweeddale East

*2007: 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon *2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem *2007-2012 Change: No change

Galashiels and District

*2007: 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xBP *2012: 2xSNP; 1xBP; 1xIndependent *2007-2012 Change: SNP and Independent gain one seat from Lib Dem and Con * = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward.

Selkirkshire

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

Leaderdale and Melrose

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

Mid Berwickshire

*2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xCon *2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem *2007-2012 Change: No change

East Berwickshire

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

Kelso and District

*2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xIndependent *2012: 2xCon; 1xLib Dem *2007-2012 Change: Con gain from Independent

Jedburgh and District

*2007: 2xCon; 1xSNP *2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent *2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con

Hawick and Denholm

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

Hawick and Hermitage

*2007: 1xIndependent; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem *2012: 1xIndependent; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon *2007-2012 Change: No change

Post Election Changes

*† On 4 February 2012 Leaderdale and Melrose Borders Party Cllr Nicholas Watson resigned his seat on the Council to pursue employment in Cumbria. The by-election was won by Iain Gillespie, also of the Borders Party, on 2 May 2013
Borders Party's Iain Gillespie wins Leaderdale and Melrose by-election
*†† On 29 July 2013 Tweedale West Conservative and Unionist Party Cllr Nathaniel Buckingham resigned his seat on the Council due to work pressures and family commitments. The by-election was held on 10 October 2013 and was held by the Conservatives Keith Cockburn
Tweeddale West by-election result 2013 - Scottish Borders Council
*††† On 22 February 2014 Hawick and Denholm Conservative and Unionist Cllr Zandra Elliot die
Hawick 'ambassador' Zandra Elliot dies
A by-election was held to fill the vacancy and was won by the Independent Watson McAteer. *†††† On 2 June 2016 Leaderdale and Melrose SNP Cllr Jim Torrance resigned from the party and became an Independent citing lack of support from Christine Grahame MSP over the Council's plans to house the Great Tapestry of Scotland at Tweedban
SBC Councillor quits over tapestry

By-elections since 2012

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 2012

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2012 Scottish local elections