2007 Scottish local elections

none October 2020 2007 Scottish local elections Scotland parliamentary no 2003 Scottish local elections 2003 2012 Scottish local elections 2012 All 1,222 seats to Scottish councils yes 2007 05 03 First preferences First preferences (%) Swing (pp) 52.8% (3.2%)https://archive2021.parliament.scot/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S4/SB12-38.pdf SPICe Briefing: Local government elections 2012 8 June 2012 SPICe 11 Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland (cropped).jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Alex Salmond 3 September 2004 Scottish National Party 181 seats, 24.1% 363 182 585,885 27.9% 3.8% Jack McConnell Official Portrait 2001.jpg 120 120 160 0 0 Jack McConnell 22 November 2001 Scottish Labour 509 seats, 32.6% 348 161 590,085 28.1% 4.5% AnnabelGoldieMSP20110510.JPG 150 120 160 0 10 Annabel Goldie 8 November 2005 Scottish Conservatives 122 seats, 15.1% 143 21 327,591 15.6% 0.5% Nicol Stephen.jpg 150 120 160 0 12 Nicol Stephen 23 June 2005 Scottish Liberal Democrats 175 seats, 14.5% 166 9 266,693 12.7% 1.8% 350px Popular vote by council areas. 350px Council controls post elections Council controls post elections Scottish local elections 2007 (largest party).svg 250px Colours denote the party with the most seats Scottish local elections, 2007 (Ward results).svg 250px Colours denote the party with largest share of first preference votes by ward The 2007 Scottish local elections were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as Scottish Parliament elections and local elections in parts of England. All 32 Scottish councils had all their seats up for election – all Scottish councils are unitary authorities. New electoral system This was the first election for local government in Great Britain to use the single transferable vote (the system is used in Northern Ireland), as implemented by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Under the Act, council seats were allocated in ward contests of one, two, three, four or five seats in each. The voter had the right to mark as many or as few preferences as desired.Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2004/9#commentary-key-53e67b85f1d842e29cb79d9ad959f7ae accessed December 24, 2025 All in all, 1222 seats were filled using more than 350 separate wards. The use of Scotland's new electoral system resulted in most councils being under no overall control, a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats.https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/stv-scotland/ STV in Scotland shows us that voters can adapt to preferential voting systems – but political parties may take longer to fully grasp the new system Clark Alistair 28 March 2011 London School of Economics 19 February 2023 eCounting fiasco Scanners supplied by DRS Data Services Limited of Milton Keynes, in partnership with Electoral Reform Services (ERS), the trading arm of the Electoral Reform Society, were used to electronically count the paper ballots in both the Scottish council elections and the Scottish Parliament general election.Lock Russell Storer Tim Harvey Natalie Hughes Conrad Sommerville Ian 2008 Kor Ah‐Lian Observations of the Scottish elections 2007 https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17506160810876185/full/html Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy en 2 2 104–118 10.1108/17506160810876185 12455813 1750-6166 19 February 2023https://www.businessweekly.co.uk/news/consultancy-and-services/919-drs-e-counts-tripled-first-half-profits DRS 'e-counts' tripled first half profits Staff Reporter 13 September 2007 Business Weekly 19 February 2023 Because of the fiasco in 2007 of holding parliamentary (Holyrood) and local elections simultaneously, the following Scottish local elections were held in 2012 instead of 2011. Party performance The Labour party lost control of all but two of its councils, Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, but received the largest number of votes, while the SNP were the main beneficiaries of the new voting system, picking up over 180 new seats. The Scottish Greens elected their first-ever councillors, winning eight seats.https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2007/05/scottish-pr-elections-herald-coalition-politics Scottish PR elections herald coalition politics 10 May 2007 Public Finance2007 Scottish Local Elections Results thumb|right|Colours denote the winning party with outright control Summary of the May 2007 Scottish council election results yes |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9; ! scope="col" colspan="2" rowspan=2 | Party ! scope="col" colspan="3" | First-preference votes ! scope="col" colspan="2" | Councils ! scope="col" colspan="2" | 2003 seats ! scope="col" colspan="3" | 2007 seats |- ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Of total (%) ! scope="col" | Change ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Change ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Of total (%) ! scope="col" | Count ! scope="col" | Of total (%) ! scope="col" | Change |- | style="background-color:No Overall Control"| | style="text-align:left;" |No overall control | colspan=3 | 27 | style="background-color:#dfd;"| 20 | colspan=2 | colspan=3 |- | Scottish Labour | 590,085 | 28.1 | 4.5% | 2 | | colspan=2 | 348 | 28.5% | style="background-color:#ffe8e8;"| 161 |- | Scottish National Party | 585,885 | 27.9 | 3.8% | 1 | | colspan=2 | 363 | 29.7% | style="background-color:#dfd;"| 182 |- | Scottish Conservatives | 327,591 | 15.6 | 0.5% | 2 | | colspan=2 | 143 | 11.7% | style="background-color:#dfd;"| 21 |- | Scottish Liberal Democrats | 266,693 | 12.7 | 1.8% | 0 | | colspan=2 | 166 | 13.6% | style="background-color:#ffe8e8;"| 9 |- | Independent politician | 228,894 | 10.9 | 0.8% | 0 | | colspan=2 | 192193 according to the BBC website | 15.7% | 38 |- | style="width: 10px" style="background-color:Other" | | style="text-align: left;" scope="row" | Other | 102,897 | 4.9 | 1.3% | 0 | | colspan=2 | 108 Scottish Greens, 1 Scottish Socialist and 1 Solidarity councillor. Separate vote figures not found | 0.8% | 6 |- |- class=sortbottom style="background-color:#E9E9E9; font-weight:bold;" ! colspan="2" style="text-align:left;" | Total | 2,099,945 | 100.0 | ±0.0 | 32 | | 1,222 | 1,222 | 1,222 | 100.00 | |} Councils The notional results in the following table are based on a document that John Curtice and Stephen Herbert (Professors at the University of Strathclyde) produced on 3 June 2005, calculating the effect of the introduction of the Single Transferable Vote on the 2003 Scottish local elections.http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/briefings-05/SB05-31.pdf STV IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS: MODELLING THE 2003 RESULT 3 June 2005 6 June 2016 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20080911044554/http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/briefings-05/SB05-31.pdf 11 September 2008 Council 2003 result Notional control(based on 2003 results) 2007 result Details Aberdeen City No overall control (LD + Con)NOC No overall control (LD + SNP)Details Aberdeenshire No overall control (LD + Ind)NOC No overall control (LD + Con)Details Angus Scottish National PartyNOC No overall control (Ind + Con + LD + Lab)DetailsArgyll and Bute Independent politicianIndependent No overall control (Ind + SNP)Details Clackmannanshire Scottish LabourNOC Scottish Labour (Lab minority)Details Dumfries and Galloway Scottish Labour (Lab minorityLabour minority control. The council was previously run by a coalition of Scottish Liberal Democrats, Independents and the SNP.)NOC No overall control (Con + LD)Details Dundee City No overall control (Lab + LD+ Con)NOC No overall control (Lab + LD+ Con)Details East Ayrshire Scottish LabourLabour Scottish National Party (SNP minority)Details East Dunbartonshire Scottish Liberal Democrats (LD minorityLiberal Democrats lack a majority (LD: 12 councillors; opposition: 12 councillors)NOC No overall control (Lab + Con)Details East Lothian Scottish LabourNOC No overall control (SNP + LD)Details East Renfrewshire No overall control (Lab + LD)NOC No overall control (Lab + LD + Ind + Con)Details City of Edinburgh Scottish Labour (Lab minorityLabour lacked a majority after by-election loss to the SNP (Lab: 29 councillors; opposition: 29 councillors))NOC No overall control (LD + SNP)Details Falkirk No overall control (SNP + Ind + Con)NOC No overall control (Lab + Ind + Con)Details Fife Scottish Labour (Lab minorityLabour minority administration)NOC No overall control (LD + SNP)Details Glasgow City Scottish LabourLabour Scottish LabourDetailsHighland Independent (politician)Independent No overall control (Ind + SNP)Details Inverclyde Scottish Liberal DemocratsNOC Scottish Labour (Lab minority)Details Midlothian Scottish LabourNOC Scottish Labour (Lab minority)DetailsMoray Independent (politician)Independent No overall control (Ind + Con)DetailsNa h-Eileanan Siar Independent (politician)Independent Independent (politician)Details North Ayrshire Scottish LabourLabour Scottish Labour (Lab minority)Details North Lanarkshire Scottish LabourLabour Scottish LabourDetailsOrkney Independent (politician)Independent Independent (politician)Details Perth and Kinross No overall control (SNP + LD + Ind)NOC No overall control (SNP + LD)Details Renfrewshire Scottish LabourNOC No overall control (SNP + LD)Details Scottish Borders No overall control (Ind + Con)NOC No overall control (Ind + Con + LD)DetailsShetland Independent (politician)Independent Independent (politician)Details South Ayrshire Scottish Conservatives (Con minorityConservative control, on a cut of the cards (Con: 15 councillors; opposition: 15 councillors))NOC Scottish Conservatives (Con minority)Details South Lanarkshire Scottish LabourLabour Scottish Labour (Lab minority)Details Stirling Scottish Labour (Lab minorityLabour lacked a majority after by-election loss to the SNP (Lab: 11 councillors; opposition: 11 councillors))NOC Scottish Labour (Lab minority)Details West Dunbartonshire Scottish LabourLabour No overall control (SNP + Ind)Details West Lothian Scottish LabourNOC No overall control (SNP + Ind)Details Notes 40em References 2007 Local elections|Local elections Category:May 2007 in the United Kingdom