The 2022 West Lothian Council election was held on 5 May 2022, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the nine wards created under 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 33 Councillors elected. Each ward elects either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral 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 ...

. Following the election, it was announced Labour would run the council as a minority administration with loose coalition support from the four Conservative councillors, the Independent Stuart Borrowman and Liberal Democrat, Sally Pattle.

Background

Previous election

At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats, forming the largest block, but were 4 seats short of a majority. Close behind the SNP were Labour, who won the next largest amount of seats, winning 12. 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 ...

won 7 seats, gaining 6 seats and increasing their vote share by 14.3%. The sole

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 ...

, Stuart Borrowman also held his seat. Following the result, the Labour and

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 ...

groups worked together in the chamber to hold a majority, although both parties denied this claim. This agreement led to Cllr Lawrence Fitzpatrick being appointed Council Leader and Conservative Cllr Tom Kerr was appointed Provost of West Lothian. However, in November 2021, SNP Councillors tabled a motion of no-confidence against Cllr Fitzpatrick's administration. The motion failed following support from the Conservatives. Source:

Electoral system

The election used the 9 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by

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 ...

in 2016, with 33 councillors elected. Each ward elected either 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 ...

(STV) electoral system – a form of

– where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Composition

There were two by-elections in 2021 which saw each main party field candidates. The Livingston South by-election held in March 2021 following the retirement of SNP Cllr Peter Johnston resulted in the SNP retaining the seat. Meanwhile in the October 2021 East Livingston and East Calder by-election which was called following the death of Labour Cllr Dave King resulted in a gain for the SNP. In the weeks following the by-election Labour Cllr Angela Doran-Timson joined the Conservatives.

Retiring Councillors

SNP Councillor Frank Anderson was deselected by his party. He announced that he would stand as an Independent candidate in East Livingston and East Calder.

Candidates

The total number of candidates increased from 67 in 2017 to 73. Like in 2017, the SNP stood the most candidates at 17, a decrease of 6, while Labour stood 16. The Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and Greens stood 9 candidates each. Unlike in 2017, the Scottish Family Party, Alba and the Independence for Scotland Party stood candidates, standing 5, 3 and 1 respectively. There were 4 independent candidates, an increase of 2.

Results

Source:

Ward summary

, - class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left", Ward !%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!rowspan=2, Total
Cllrs
, - class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2 bgcolor="" , SNP !colspan=2 bgcolor="" , Lab !colspan=2 bgcolor="" , Green !colspan=2 bgcolor="", Conservative !colspan=2 bgcolor="" , Lib Dem !colspan=2 bgcolor="white", Others , - , align="left",

Linlithgow Linlithgow ( ; ; ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt on a historic route between Edi ...

, bgcolor="" , 26.3 , bgcolor="" , 1 , 19.5 , 1 , 13.2 , 0 , 19.8 , 0 , 20.3 , 1 , 0.3 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh , bgcolor="" , 41.9 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 29.6 , 1 , 4.4 , 0 , 17.7 , 1 , 3.7 , 0 , 2.7 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Livingston North , bgcolor="" , 48.6 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 23.8 , 1 , 4.5 , 0 , 20.7 , 1 , 3.9 , 0 , 2.0 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Livingston South , bgcolor="" , 39.0 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 32.4 , 1 , 4.3 , 0 , 11.7 , 1 , 2.2 , 0 , 10.4 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", East Livingston and East Calder , bgcolor="" , 41.8 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 21.1 , 1 , 6.6 , 0 , 18.3 , 1 , 3.3 , 0 , 8.9 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley , 38.3 , 1 , bgcolor="" , 40.2 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 3.7 , 0 , 14.2 , 0 , 2.33 , 0 , 1.4 , 0 , 3 , - , align="left", Whitburn and Blackburn , bgcolor="" , 38.6 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 37.4 , 2 , 3.1 , 0 , 18.5 , 0 , 2.4 , 0 , colspan="2" , 4 , - , align="left",

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

, bgcolor="" , 40.4 , bgcolor="" , 2 , 38.7 , 2 , 3.8 , 0 , 14.1 , 0 , 2.0 , 0 , 0.9 , 0 , 4 , - , align="left", Armadale and Blackridge , 22.1 , 1 , 14.1 , 1 , 2.6 , 0 , 10.6 , 0 , 1.0 , 0 , bgcolor="", 49.7 , bgcolor="", 1 , 3 , - , - class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !align="left", Total !37.9 !15 !28.6 !12 !5.3 !0 !15.9 !4 !4.8 !1 !7.6 !1 !33 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. Source:

Ward results

Linlithgow

* 2012: 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP, 1 x Labour * 2017: 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP, 1 x Labour * 2022: 1 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Liberal Democrat * 2017-2022 Change: 1 x Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative

Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh

* 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP * 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Livingston North

* 2012: 2 x SNP, 2 x Labour * 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Livingston South

* 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP * 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2021 (by-election): 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2017-2022 Change: No Change

East Livingston and East Calder

* 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP * 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2021 (by-election): 3 x SNP, 1 x Conservative * 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative * 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley

* 2012: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP * 2017: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP * 2022: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP * 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Whitburn and Blackburn

* 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP * 2017: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP, 1 x Conservative * 2022: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP * 2017-2022 Change: 1 x SNP gain from Conservative

Bathgate

* 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP * 2017: 2xLabour; 1 x SNP; 1 x Conservative * 2022: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP *2017-2022 Change: 1 x SNP gain from Conservative

Armadale and Blackridge

* 2012: 1 x Independent, 1 x Labour, 1 x SNP * 2017: 1 x Independent, 1 x Labour, 1 x SNP * 2022: 1 x Independent, 1 x Labour, 1 x SNP * 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Aftermath

Although the SNP won the most seats, Labour were chosen to run the council after doing a deal with the Conservatives. The council resembles the set up after the previous election, with Labour running a minority administration with loose coalition support from the four Conservative councillors, the Independent Stuart Borrowman and Liberal Democrat, Sally Pattle. In response to the announcement, former Labour councillor and MSP

Neil Findlay Neil Findlay (born 6 March 1969) is a Scottish politician who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Lothian from 2011 to 2021. A member of Scottish Labour, he was previously a councillor in West Lothian from 2003 to 2012. Early li ...

, who represented Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley from 2003 to 2012, called his own party "shameful orvoting Tories into office", saying the Conservatives were "the enemy of my class".

Armadale and Blackridge by-election

In May 2024, independent councillor Stuart Borrowman died. A by-election was held on 22 August 2024 to elect his replacement, and was won by Labour candidate Susan Manion. Source:

Whitburn and Blackburn by-election

In September 2024, Labour councillor

Kirsteen Sullivan Kirsteen Ann Sullivan is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Bathgate and Linlithgow since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, she gained the seat from Martyn Day, a member of the Scottish National ...

resigned after being elected as the Member of Parliament for the

Bathgate and Linlithgow Bathgate and Linlithgow is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, when it was won by Kirsteen Sul ...

constituency at the 2024 general Election. A by-election has been scheduled for 14 November 2024.

Notes

References

{{2022 United Kingdom local elections

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

West Lothian Council elections