Elections to Fife Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using

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 ...

(STV) – 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 ...

– in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference. For the second consecutive election, 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, ...

were returned as the largest party with 34 seats but remained shy of an overall majority. Despite a small increase in vote share, Labour lost four seats but again finished second 20 councillors. The Liberal Democrats leapfrogged 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 ...

into third place after gaining six seats to hold 13 while the Conservatives lost almost half their number to return eight members. For the second time since the local government reforms in the 1990s, no

independent candidates An independent politician or non-affiliated politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have polit ...

were elected. With support from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, Labour formed a minority administration to run the council, and David Ross was elected as council leader in his own right, having previously been co-leader after the 2017 election.

Background

Previous election

At the previous election in 2017, the

(SNP) won the most seats for the first time in a Fife election after gaining three seats to hold 29. Labour lost 11 seats to hold 24 as they were replaced as the largest party. The

made a net gain of 12 to hold 15 seats while the Liberal Democrats lost three seats to hold seven. Source:

Electoral system

The election used the 22 wards created by the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements, with 75 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the

(STV) electoral system – a form of

– where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Composition

Several changes in the composition of the council occurred between the 2017 and 2022 elections. Most were changes to the political affiliation of councillors including SNP councillor Kate Stewart who left the party to become an independent, Conservative councillor Linda Holt who resigned from the party to become an independent and SNP councillor John Docherty who stood as an independent in the 2022 elections. Three by-elections resulted in a Conservative gain from Labour, an SNP hold and an SNP gain from the Conservatives.

Retiring councillors

Source:

Candidates

The total number of candidates fell from 185 in 2017 to 179. As was the case five years previous, the SNP fielded the highest number of candidates at 39 (six less than in 2017) across the 22 wards. Both Labour and the Conservatives also fielded at least one candidate in every ward, but the 32 candidates fielded by Labour was four less than in 2017, whereas the Conservatives increased their total number of candidates from 22 to 23. The Liberal Democrats contested all but one ward, fielding a total of 26 candidates (up two from 2017). The Greens also contested all but one ward however, the 21 candidates fielded by the party were three less than the previous election. The number of independent candidates contesting the election fell from 29 in 2017 to just eight. As with the previous election, both the

Libertarians 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 ...

and the

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

(UKIP) fielded a single candidate. For the first time, the

Scottish Family Party The Scottish Family Party (SFP) is a socially conservative political party in Scotland. It was formed in 2017 and is led by former UKIP member and registered teacher Richard Lucas. When launched in 2017, the SFP said its "central goal" was to g ...

(14), the

Alba Party The Alba Party (; ''Alba'' being the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland) is a Scottish nationalist and Scottish independence, pro-independence political party in Scotland. Founded in February 2021, it was led by former First Minister of Scotland, ...

(11), the

Independence for Scotland Party The Independence for Scotland Party (ISP) (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàrtaidh Neo-eisimeileachd do dh'Alba'') is a minor political party in Scotland which supports Scottish independence within the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). History The ...

(ISP) (one), the

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cred ...

(TUSC) (one) and

Sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

(one) fielded candidates in a Fife election. Neither

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 ...

nor the

British Unionist Party The British Unionist Party (BUP) is a Scottish unionist political party founded in December 2015 as A Better Britain – Unionist Party by activists from the Better Together (campaign), Better Together campaign against Scottish independence. Unlik ...

(BUP), who had contested the 2017 election, fielded any candidates.

Election results

Source: Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 4 May 2017. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward summary

, - class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left", Ward ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs !rowspan=2, Total
Cllrs , - class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2, SNP !colspan=2, Lab !colspan=2, Lib Dem !colspan=2, Con !colspan=2, Others , - , align="left", West Fife and Coastal Villages , bgcolor="#efe146", 39.1 , bgcolor="#efe146", 1 , 32.5 , 1 , 6.7 , 0 , 17.1 , 1 , 7.9 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Dunfermline North , bgcolor="#efe146", 36.2 , bgcolor="#efe146", 1 , 28.5 , 1 , 6.4 , 0 , 17.4 , 1 , 8.2 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Dunfermline Central , bgcolor="#efe146", 33.4 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 24.6 , 1 , 24.7 , 1 , 9.4 , 0 , 7.9 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Dunfermline South , bgcolor="#efe146", 33.5 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 23.2 , 1 , 19.5 , 1 , 10.6 , 0 , 6.2 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left",

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

, bgcolor="#efe146", 39.4 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 26.3 , 1 , 6.5 , 0 , 16.8 , 0 , 11.1 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay , bgcolor="#efe146", 38.8 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 18.5 , 1 , 4.0 , 0 , 29.2 , 1 , 9.4 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left",

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, 36.6 , 2 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 38.0 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 1 , 1.4 , 0 , 28.9 , 1 , 5.0 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty , 43.2 , 2 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 43.6 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 2 , 1.8 , 0 , 7.7 , 0 , 3.8 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy , bgcolor="#efe146", 37.9 , bgcolor="#efe146", 1 , 29.4 , 1 , 3.5 , 0 , 21.0 , 1 , 8.3 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Kirkcaldy North , 38.9 , 1 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 39.0 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 1 , colspan="2" , 15.2 , 1 , 6.8 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Kirkcaldy Central , 37.9 , 1 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 41.6 , bgcolor="#eea2ad", 2 , 2.5 , 0 , 13.6 , 0 , 4.4 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Kirkcaldy East , bgcolor="#efe146", 40.3 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 39.7 , 1 , 2.9 , 0 , 11.7 , 0 , 5.3 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Glenrothes West and Kinglassie , bgcolor="#efe146", 49.5 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 32.5 , 1 , 3.8 , 0 , 11.6 , 0 , 2.6 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch , bgcolor="#efe146", 44.6 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 26.4 , 1 , 5.1 , 0 , 18.6 , 1 , 5.3 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Glenrothes Central and Thornton , bgcolor="#efe146", 48.7 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 27.9 , 1 , 3.9 , 0 , 12.1 , 0 , 7.4 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Howe of Fife and Tay Coast , 31.0 , 1 , colspan="2" , bgcolor="#ffa500", 44.9 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 2 , 14.6 , 0 , 9.5 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Tay Bridgehead , 28.4 , 1 , 4.3 , 0 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 48.2 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 2 , 8.4 , 0 , 10.7 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left",

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

, 22.2 , 1 , 8.4 , 0 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 48.1 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 2 , 14.7 , 1 , 6.6 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", East Neuk and Landward , 25.1 , 1 , 2.6 , 0 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 45.8 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 2 , 13.2 , 0 , 14.2 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left",

Cupar Cupar ( ; ) is a town, former royal burgh and parish in Fife, Scotland. It lies between Dundee and Glenrothes. According to a 2011 population estimate, Cupar had a population around 9,000, making it the ninth-largest settlement in Fife, and the ...

, 25.8 , 1 , 3.4 , 0 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 52.4 , bgcolor="#ffa500", 2 , 11.5 , 0 , 7.0 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Leven, Kennoway and Largo , bgcolor="#efe146", 42.4 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 24.7 , 1 , 19.3 , 1 , 10.4 , 0 , 4.5 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages , bgcolor="#efe146", 47.4 , bgcolor="#efe146", 2 , 40.8 , 2 , 2.3 , 0 , 6.5 , 0 , 3.5 , 0 , 4 , - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !Total !36.9 !34 !24.5 !20 !16.8 !13 !14.4 !8 !7.5 !0 !75 Source:

Seats changing hands

Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat. ;Notes Source:

Ward results

West Fife and Coastal Villages

Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Dunfermline North

Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Dunfermline Central

Labour retained one of the two seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP and Conservatives retained their seats and the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from Labour.

Dunfermline South

The Liberal Democrats, Labour and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Rosyth

The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay

The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Cowdenbeath

The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained one of their two seats and the SNP gained one seat from Labour.

Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy

The SNP, Labour and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Kirkcaldy North

The SNP retained the seat they had won at the previous election while Labour held one of their two seats and the Conservatives gained one seat from Labour.

Kirkcaldy Central

Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Kirkcaldy East

The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Glenrothes West and Kinglassie

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch

The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Glenrothes Central and Thornton

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Howe of Fife and Tay Coast

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Tay Bridgehead

The Liberal Democrats (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

St Andrews

The Liberal Democrats, the SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats also gained one seat from Labour.

East Neuk and Landward

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats also gained one seat from the Conservatives. Independent candidates Linda Holt and John Docherty were elected as Conservative and SNP candidates respectively in 2017.

Cupar

The Liberal Democrats and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Leven, Kennoway and Largo

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages

The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Aftermath

On 19 May 2022, a Labour-minority council was backed by 41 votes to 34, with Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors voting for it. Labour denied forming a coalition with either the Lib Dems or the Conservatives but said they would need the support of others in the council to provide an effective administration. A social media post put out by the local authority explaining how the three Unionist parties had voted together was later edited to remove any reference to different parties. SNP group leader, Councillor David Alexander, said that this outcome was "trampling on democracy" and said there was "no coherent defence for this gerrymandered motion" given that the SNP had won the most seats. Labour group leader Cllr David Ross was elected as council leader having previously been co-leader with Cllr Alexander prior to the election and Cllr Jim Leishman was re-elected as Provost. Cllr David Graham, councillor for the Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss villages, was suspended by Labour in August 2023 after he was arrested and subsequently charged over allegations of child sex offences. He appeared in court in connection with the allegations in September 2023 and is listed as a Labour councillor by Fife Council. In June 2024, Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy Labour councillor Julie MacDougall resigned from the party in protest over the way the party had selected candidates for the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

which she said was "blocking good local people" from standing.

West Fife and Coastal Villages by-election

Following his successful campaign during the 2024 United Kingdom general election, West Fife and Coastal Villages councillor

Graeme Downie Graeme James Downie is a Scottish politician, he is a member of the Labour Party and has served as the Member of Parliament for Dunfermline and Dollar since 2024. Downie began his political career as a Councillor for West Fife and Coastal ...

– who was elected as MP for

Dunfermline and Dollar Dunfermline and Dollar is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Created as a result of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, since when it has been represented b ...

– resigned his council seat in September 2024. A by-election took place on 28 November 2024 with Labour successfully retaining the seat.

Glenrothes Central and Thornton by-election

In February 2025, Glenrothes Central and Thornton councillor Ross Vettraino died. The subsequent by-election was won by Lynda Holton, who held the seat for the SNP.

Notes

References

{{2022 United Kingdom local elections

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

21st century in Fife