2012 East Lothian Council election

2012 Scottish local government election April 2022 2012 Scottish local elections 2012 East Lothian Council election Scotland Coat of arms of East Lothian.svg parliamentary no 2007 East Lothian Council election 2007 2012 05 03 y East Lothian Council election, 2017 2017 All 23 seats to East Lothian Council 12 Willie Innes Scottish Labour Party 7 seats, 30.4% Preston/Seton/Gosford 7 5 10 3 Paul Stewart McLennan Scottish National Party Dunbar and East Linton 7 seats, 30.4% 9 5 9 2 Ludovic Broun-Lindsay Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Haddington and Lammermuir 2 seats, 8.7% 2 10 3 1 John Murray Caldwell Independent (politician) Musselburgh East and Carberry 1 seats, 4.3% 1 11 1 0 Stuart MacKinnon Scottish Liberal Democrats North Berwick Coastal 6 seats, 26.1% 4 6 0 6 East Lothian Council election 2012.svg The multi-member wards Council Leader Paul Stewart McLennan Scottish National Party Council Leader after election Willie Innes Scottish Labour Party 2012 Elections to East Lothian Council were held on 3 May 2012, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 7 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 23 councillors elected. The election saw Labour strengthen their position on the council, regaining 3 of the seats they had lost in the 2007 Local Elections while also significantly increasing their vote share. The Scottish National Party also increased their representation with 2 net gains. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party increased their representation to 3 seats while Independents retained their single seat on the authority. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were decimated, losing all their six seats although two members had defected after 2007 and one of these councillors was re-elected as a Scottish Nationalist, the other failed to be re-elected as a Scottish Nationalist. Following the election the Labour Party formed a coalition with the Conservatives and the one Independent councillor, with Councillor Willie Innes of the Labour Party becoming leader of the council and experienced Conservative Councillor Ludovic Broun-Lindsay becoming provost, resigning as leader of the Conservatives on the council to hold the provost role in a non-partisan and non-party political way, with new councillor Michael Veitch becoming leader of the Conservative group. This new coalition replaced the previous SNP - Lib Dem coalition administration, which had existed from 2007 to 2012.https://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/15277585.labour-set-to-go-it-alone-on-east-lothian-council-says-willie-innes/ Labour set to go it alone on East Lothian Council Background The previous elections in 2007 had returned no one party with enough councillors to create majority single-party governance as there had been in East Lothian up until that point. The SNP and Labour both returned 7 councillors to the chamber, the Liberal Democrats won 6, the Conservatives 2 and a sole independent candidate was elected as councillor. After the election, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition, throwing Labour out of office, having previously controlled the council with a large majority for many years before that. The 2012 election was the first since Councillor David Berry had fallen only 151 votes short of winning East Lothian for the SNP in the 2011 Scottish Parliament Elections a major coup due to the seat being considered a traditional Labour stronghold seat and it being the seat of then leader of Scottish Labour, Iain Gray. While nationally at that election the SNP was the first party to gain an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament. With this result still fresh in the mind, the SNP predicted major gains, including taking overall majority control of many councils including East Lothian. The Labour Party, in many aspects still reeling from national electoral annihilation on a national level during the previous year's election, had come into the election with the hope of gaining seats, with a slim hope gaining a majority control of the council. The Liberal Democrats had struggled during the previous five years of leadership on the council with the SNP. They had suffered the defection of wife-and-husband councillor duo of Ruth and Stuart Currie on 11 August 2009 to their coalition partners, the SNP, due to "personal disagreements" with fellow Liberal Democrat councillors. This reduced their representation on the council from 6 to 4, weakening their hand in the rule coalition. It also had the effect of damaging the morale and effectiveness of the local party. This was also the Scottish Liberal Democrats' second election since the entering coalition with the Conservative Party in the UK Parliament. The party had suffered badly at the 2011 Scottish Parliament Election, and it was expected that this would continue in the 2012 local elections. For the Scottish Conservatives, it was the first election since the election of Ruth Davidson as leader of the party in Scotland. On a local level the Conservatives entered the election in East Lothian with a realistic hope of a gain in the election through Michael Veitch, who was the Conservative candidate in the 2010 general election in East Lothian, in the Dunbar and East Linton ward. Previously the Conservatives had come second in the 2010 General Election, a very good result. The party locally believed that it would be able to hold the balance of power in the new makeup of the council with the option of working with either the Labour Party or the SNP on a local level. Independent John Caldwell had first been elected in 2007, and the local media felt that he would keep his seat during this election. There was little chance of this changing due to him being considered an effective local politician by the majority of the public. He was joined by 3 other independent candidates who were standing in other wards, none of whom, it was felt, who stood a realistic chance of being elected. Two minor parties also took part in the election, UKIP and Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, each standing 2 and 1 candidates respectively. This was the first time that both of these parties were standing candidates in the East Lothian Council elections since the introduction of the current voting system. Since the election in 2012 Councillor David Berry has left the SNP and now sits as an Independent Nationalist councillor. In April 2013 Councillor Stuart Currie replaced Councillor Paul McLennan as SNP Group Leader and Leader of the Opposition. Election result East Lothian local election result 2012 Scottish Labour Party 10 3 0 +3 43.48 43.1 14,183 +10.5 Scottish National Party 9 2 0 +2 39.13 30.4 10,001 +3.5 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party 3 1 0 +1 13.04 14.4 4,724 -3.0 Independent (politician) 1 - - - 4.35 5.9 1,925 +0.23 Scottish Liberal Democrats 0 0 6 -6 - 5.6 1,835 -10.13 United Kingdom Independence Party 0 - - - - 0.47 156 +0.45 Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition 0 - - - - 0.3 105 New Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils. Ward results Musselburgh West 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem Musselburgh West - 3 seats 6 Scottish Labour Party Johnnie McNeil (incumbent) 1,427 41.93           Scottish National Party Fraser McAllister 692 20.33 746.9 766.5 780.9 822.6 910.5 Scottish National Party John Charles Williamson (incumbent) 472 13.87 526.1 542.5 551.7 581.6 671.2 Scottish Liberal Democrats Barry John Turner (incumbent) 284 8.35 363.1 382.1 452.6 563.2   Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Katie Mackie 217 6.38 243.6 246.9       Independent (politician) Robert Fairnie 206 6.05 279.5 323.1 393.3     Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition Jack Fraser 105 3.09 163.5         6 8,728 3,403 45 851 3,448 (38.99%) Musselburgh East and Carberry 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2007-2012 Change: No change Musselburgh East and Carberry - 3 seats 5 Independent (politician) John Murray Caldwell (incumbent) 1,052 26.72         Scottish National Party Stuart McDonald Currie * 1,036 26.31         Scottish Labour Party Andy Forrest (incumbent) 891 22.63 906.7 916.9 952.4 1,664.7 Scottish Labour Party Judith Dunn 718 18.24 734.3 747.8 811.3   Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Fred Lawson 240 6.10 251.3 255.9     5 9,569 3,937 34 985 3,996 (41.14%) = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward. Preston/Seton/Gosford 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem Preston/Seton/Gosford - 4 seats 7 Scottish Labour Party Willie Innes (incumbent) 2,312 38.76             Scottish National Party Steven Brown 1,104 18.51 1,149.5 1,204.8         Scottish Labour Party Margaret Libberton (incumbent) 922 15.46 1,871.2           Scottish National Party Peter Robert MacKenzie (incumbent) 829 13.89 850.8 900.9 910.1 926.9 997.7 1,166.5 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Lachlan Bruce 500 8.38 512.1 555.2 555.4 587.4 697   Scottish Liberal Democrats Hugh Reid 215 3.6 223.2 266.6 266.8 280.1     United Kingdom Independence Party Gordon Norrie 83 1.39 89.3 113.9 114.1       7 13,386 5,965 34 1,194 6,088 (44.56%) Fa'side 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem 2012: 3xLab; 1xSNP 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Lib Dem Fa'side - 4 seats 7 Scottish Labour Party Jim Gillies (incumbent) 1,539 27.4             Scottish Labour Party Donald Grant (incumbent) 1,308 23.2             Scottish National Party Kenny McLeod (incumbent) 907 16.2 935.1 955.2 983.8 1,035.4 1,038.7 1,686.1 Scottish National Party Ruth Catherine Linn Currie (incumbent) 663 11.6 676.2 680.3 700.6 742.9 747.7   Scottish Labour Party Shamin Akhtar 615 11.0 928.5 1,065.7 1,110.2 1,174.4     Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Robert McNab Cowe 411 7.2 419.4 423.1 468.6       Scottish Liberal Democrats Darren Maley 170 3.0 178.1 181.2         5 13,390 5,613 105 1,123 5,718 (41.92%) North Berwick Coastal 2007: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem 2012: 1xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Lib Dem North Berwick Coastal - 3 seats 4 Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Tim Day 1,465 30.65       Scottish Labour Party Jim Goodfellow 1,294 27.08       Scottish National Party David Stuart Berry (incumbent)† 1,018 21.30 1,043.8 1,059 1,253.9 Scottish Liberal Democrats Stuart Leitch MacKinnon (incumbent) 405 8.47 485.2 510.6 526.3 Independent (politician) Jeremy Douglas Findlay 350 7.32 426.8 444.4 464.9 Scottish National Party Ronnie Gurr 247 5.17 250.1 255.1   4 9,811 4,779 42 1,195 4,821 (48.71%) Haddington and Lammermuir 2007: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Lib Dem Haddington and Lammermuir - 3 seats 6 Scottish Labour Party John McMillan 1,522 33.38           Scottish National Party Tom Trotter (incumbent) 1,219 26.74           Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Ludovic Broun-Lindsay (incumbent) 908 19.92 961.7 971.8 1,004 1,076.1 1,483.3 Scottish Liberal Democrats Kelvin Logan Pate 610 13.38 723.2 743.9 755.9 867.7   Independent (politician) David Barrett 227 4.98 276.4 289.9 313.4     United Kingdom Independence Party Oluf George Marshall 73 1.60 86.1 90       6 9,948 4,559 38 1,140 4,597 (45.83%) Dunbar and East Linton 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xLab 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2007-2012 Change: Con gain one seat from Lib Dem Dunbar and East Linton - 3 seats 5 Scottish Labour Party Norman Hampshire (incumbent) 1,191 25.49         Scottish National Party Paul Stewart McLennan (incumbent) 1,158 24.78 1,160 1,195     Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party Michael George Veitch 983 21.04 983.8 1,072.9 1,074.7 1,185.9 Scottish National Party Isobel Margaret Knox 656 14.04 657.1 681.1 702.7 805.1 Scottish Labour Party Hayley Flanagan 444 9.50 460.1 516.3 517.3   Scottish Liberal Democrats Ann Burt Taylor 241 5.16 241.5       5 9,760 4,673 71 1,169 4,744 (47.88%) Post Election Changes † On 6 March 2013 North Berwick Coastal SNP Cllr David Stuart Berry resigned from the party and became an Independent Nationalist after comparing the Union to slavery on Twitter. See Also East Lothian Council elections References External links https://web.archive.org/web/20120507032037/http://www.eastlothian.gov.uk/info/200210/council_elections_thursday_3_may_2012/1431/council_election_results__thursday_3_may 2012 Category:2012 Scottish local elections