1974 City of Edinburgh District Council election

City of Edinburgh District Council election April 2025 April 2025 1974 City of Edinburgh Council election Scotland Flag of Edinburgh.svg parliamentary no 1973 Edinburgh Corporation election 1973 1974 5 7 y 1977 City of Edinburgh District Council election 1977 All 64 seats to Edinburgh City Council 33 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 30 71,957 41.4% Labour Party (UK) 29 62,911 36.2% Scottish Liberal Party 3 23,515 13.5% Scottish National Party 1 11,677 6.7% Independent (politician) 1 2,944 1.7% Council control Council control after election No overall control No overall control Elections to City of Edinburgh District Council were held on 7 May 1974, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the first election to the district council following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The election used the 64 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting.https://webarchive.nrscotland.gov.uk/20190111180051/http://www.lgbc-scotland.gov.uk/reports/ea_formation_1974.asp Formation Electoral Arrangements Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland 5 April 2025 The council was left in no overall control following the election. The Conservatives were the largest party after they won 30 of the 64 seats. Labour were the second-largest party after taking 29 seats while the Liberals won three seats. Background Following the local government reforms in 1890, Edinburgh became one of the four Counties of Cities and was administratively separate from Midlothian.Guide to local government in parishes, counties and burghs 1892 Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh xxiii–xxx https://archive.org/details/b21905678/page/n29/mode/2up 6 April 2025 Following the recommendations in the Wheatly Report, the old system of counties and burghs – which had resulted in a mishmash of local government areas in which some small burghs had larger populations but far fewer responsibilities than some large burghs and even countieshttps://boundaries.scot/sites/default/files/Local_government_Scotland_before_1975.pdf Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975 Boundaries Scotland 1 April 2025 – was to be replaced by a new system of regional and district councils. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 implemented most of the recommendations in the Wheatly Report. Edinburgh was combined with an area from Midlothian and an area from West Lothian which included the burgh of Queensferry and was placed into the City of Edinburgh district within the Lothian region.Turnock David 1970 The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland Area 2 2 10–12 Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers 20000437 Results 1974 City of Edinburgh District Council election result Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 30 N/A 46.9 41.4 71,957 N/A Labour Party (UK) 29 N/A 45.3 36.2 62,911 N/A Scottish Liberal Party 3 N/A 4.7 13.5 23,515 N/A Scottish National Party 1 N/A 1.6 6.7 11,677 N/A Independent (politician) 1 N/A 1.6 1.7 2,944 N/A Residents Association 0 N/A 0.0 0.2 422 N/A Communist Party of Great Britain 0 N/A 0.0 0.2 358 N/A All-in Democracy 0 N/A 0.0 0.1 116 N/A Source:https://www.electionscentre.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Scottish-Regional-and-District-Elections-1974.pdf The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics Edinburgh Scottish Academic Press J. M. Botchel D. T. Denver 1975 5 April 2025 Ward results Holyroodhttp://www.scottishelections.org.uk/scotland/lold/1974/edinburgh.php Scottish Elections.org.uk https://web.archive.org/web/20150210054031/http://www.scottishelections.org.uk/scotland/lold/1974/edinburgh.php City of Edinburgh District Council, 1974 dead 10 February 2015 Labour Party (UK) B. Rutherford 1,382 61.4 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party L. Taylor 616 27.4 Residents Association H. Gray 252 11.2 766 34.0 2,250 Labour Party (UK) Meadows Labour Party (UK) R. Cairns 850 38.0 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party T. MacLeod 693 31.0 Scottish Liberal Party M. Falchikov 466 20.8 Independent (politician) J. Forbes 227 10.2 157 7.0 2,236 Labour Party (UK) Aftermath The City of Edinburgh was the only district in the newly created Lothian region that was left in no overall control. The Conservatives were the largest party after winning 30 of the 64 seats. Labour were the second largest party after taking 29 seats. The Liberals won three seats, the Scottish National Party (SNP) took one and one independent candidate was elected. The regional council, which held its first election on the same day, was left in no overall control. Across Scotland, Labour won the most votes, the most seats and the most councils of any party. References 1974 Edinburgh District Council election, 1974 Category:Lothian