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1974 Clackmannan District Council election
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Clackmannan District Council election
April 2025
April 2025
1974 05 07 yes 1977 Clackmannan District Council election 1977 parliamentary 7 All 12 seats to Clackmannan District Council Scottish National Party 6 45.4% 7,931 Labour Party (UK) 5 39.9% 6,980 1 Independent (politician) 11.4% 1,994
Elections to Clackmannan 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 12 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 Scottish National Party (SNP) were the largest party after they won six of the 12 seats. Labour took five seats and one independent candidate was elected.
Background
Prior to 1974, the area that was to become Clackmannan, was split between three counties – the County of Clackmannan, the County of Kinross and the County of Perth. Within that were the four burghs of the County of Clackmannan (Alloa, Alva, Dollar and Tillicoultry). These were all small burghs so the burgh council had limited powers which included some control over planning as well as local taxation, building control, housing, lighting and drainage with the rest of the local government responsibility falling to the county council.https://boundaries.scot/sites/default/files/Local_government_Scotland_before_1975.pdf Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975 Boundaries Scotland 1 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 counties – 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. The County of Clackmannan which included the four burghs was combined with an area from the southeast of the County of Perth and a small area from the County of Kinross and was placed into the Clackmannan district within the Central 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 Clackmannan District Council election result
Scottish National Party 6 N/A 50.0 45.4 7,931 N/A
Labour Party (UK) 5 N/A 41.7 39.9 6,980 N/A
Independent (politician) 1 N/A 8.3 11.4 1,994 N/A
Scottish Liberal Party 0 N/A 0.0 3.3 578 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
Aftermath
Clackmannan, like the other two districts in the newly created Central region, was left in no overall control. The Scottish National Party (SNP) were the largest party after winning six seats and Labour were the second-largest after they took five seats. One independent candidate was elected. Labour won control of the regional council which held its first election on the same day. Across Scotland, Labour won the most votes, the most seats and the most councils of any party.
References
Category:Clackmannanshire Council elections
Clackmannan District Council election