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 governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

. 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 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

. 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 Next Scottish Parliament election, election held since the devolved parliament was established in 1999. It ...

. Once again the local elections, held under 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, 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,

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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 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 who served as First Minister of Scotland and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2014 to 2023. She has served as a member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) sin ...

played down the threat posed by the

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

to her party, asserting that the good performance by the Conservatives was on account of Labour support going to the Conservatives and not because of any shift in SNP voters. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson 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 admitted the results were disappointing for her party, while 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 ...

leader

Willie Rennie William Cowan Rennie (born 27 September 1967) 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 (MSP) for North East Fife since 2016, ...

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

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

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, ...

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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

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; ...

. 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 football player and manager. He is currently Provost of Fife and an honorary director of Scottish Championship side Dunfermline Athletic ...

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; ) are a green party, green List of political parties in Scotland, political party in Scotland. The party has 7 MSPs of 129 in the Scottish Parliament, the party holds 35 of the 1226 ...

also made a couple of gains to reach their highest ever level in Glasgow. This council is the first without any Liberal 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 A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

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="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , SNP , 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="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

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

, 478,073 , 25.3% , 12.0% , 0 , , 115 , 112 , 276 , 22.5% , style="background-color:#dfd", 164 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Labour , 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="color:inherit;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="color:inherit;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="color:inherit;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 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

, 77,682 , 4.1% , 1.8% , 0 , , 14 , 14 , 19 , 1.6% , style="background-color:#dfd", 5 , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;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="color:inherit;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="color:inherit;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="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

UKIP 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 Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

, 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="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , TUSC , 1,403 , 0.1% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , A Better Britain – Unionist Party , 1,196 , 0.1% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;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="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

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

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, 776 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , RISE , 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="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish Unionist , 129 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

Social Democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

, 112 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Scottish Christian , 104 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , Socialist Labour , 76 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" , National Front , 39 , 0.0% , , 0 , , , , , 0.0% , , - , - style="text-align:right;" , style="color:inherit;background-color:", , style="text-align:left;" ,

No Overall Control In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom no overall control (NOC; ) is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparable to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for elec ...

, — , — , — , 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 (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...

, 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 Council elections in Scotland

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...