2007 East Lothian Council election

Main article: 2007 Scottish local elections

2007 East Lothian Council election

3 May 2007 (2007-05-03)
All 23 seats to East Lothian Council 12 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour SNP Liberal Democrats Last election 17 seats, 40.6% 1 seat, 19.2% 1 seat, 14.9% Seats before 17 1 1 Seats won 7 7 6 Seat change 10 6 5   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Conservative Independent Last election 4 seats, 23.1% 0 seats, 0.6% Seats before 4 0 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 2 1
The multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Labour Council Leader after election Paul Stewart McLennan SNP

Elections to East Lothian Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election.

The election was the first using seven new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Each ward elected three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system of proportional representation. The wards replaced 23 single-member wards which used the plurality (first past the post) system of election.

The Labour majority administration was replaced by a coalition between the SNP and Liberal Democrats, led by the SNP's Paul Stewart McLennan.

Election results

East Lothian Local Election Result 2007

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	7	N\A	N\A	-9	30.4	32.6	13,514
	SNP	7	N\A	N\A	+6	30.4	26.9	11,157
	Liberal Democrats	6	N\A	N\A	+5	26.1	15.4	6,391
	Conservative	2	N\A	N\A	-2	8.7	17.4	7,209
	Scottish Green	0	N\A	N\A	0	0.0	1.6	674
	Solidarity	0	N\A	N\A	0	0.0	0.5	221
	Scottish Senior Citizens	0	N\A	N\A	0	0.0	0.2	75
	Independent	1	N\A	N\A	0	4.3	5.3	2,200

Ward results

Musselburgh West

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	SNP	John Williamson	1,427	30.7	1	1
	Labour	John McNeil	1,144	24.6	2	2
	Liberal Democrats	Barry Turner	857	18.4	3	5
	Labour	John Ross	572	12.3
	Conservative	Robert Fairnie	499	10.7
	Solidarity	Jack Fraser	153	3.3

Musselburgh East and Carberry

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	SNP	Roger Knox	1,256	25.1	1	1
	Labour	Andy Forrest	1,057	21.1	2	5
	Independent	John Caldwell	937	18.7	3	6
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Mollison	809	16.2
	Labour	Pat O'Donnell	585	11.7
	Conservative	Ian Robertson	281	5.6
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Alan Eeles	75	1.5

Preston/Seton/Gosford

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	Labour	Willie Innes	2,205	30.5	1	1
	SNP	Peter MacKenzie	1,906	26.4	2	1
	Conservative	Michael Veitch	1,040	14.4
	Labour	Margaret Libberton	927	12.8	3	3
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Currie†	909	12.6	4	5
	Independent	Andy Spence	244	3.4

Fa'side

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	SNP	Kenny McLeod	2,065	30.4	1	1
	Labour	Jim Gillies	1,348	19.8	2	2
	Labour	Donald Grant	1,118	16.4	4	4
	Liberal Democrats	Ruth Currie††	892	13.1	3	4
	Labour	Robert McNeill	835	12.3
	Conservative	Henry Murray-Smith	540	7.9

North Berwick Coastal

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	Conservative	Neil Rankin	1,837	29.7	1	1
	SNP	David Berry	1,670	27.0	2	1
	Labour	Pat Hanson	980	15.8
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart MacKinnon	747	12.1	3	5
	Conservative	Kathryn Smith	565	9.1
	Scottish Green	Susan Moffat	393	6.3

Haddington and Lammermuir

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	Conservative	Ludovic Broun-Lindsay	1,317	22.6	1	4
	SNP	Tom Trotter	1,107	19.0	3	4
	Liberal Democrats	Sheena Richardson	1,041	17.9	2	4
	Independent	Charles Ingle	1,019	17.5
	Labour	Ann McCarthy	985	16.9
	Scottish Green	Eurig Scandrett	281	4.8
	Solidarity	Gary Galbraith	68	1.2

Dunbar and East Linton

Party		Candidate	FPv%	%	Seat	Count
	SNP	Paul McLennan	1,726	30.0	1	1
	Liberal Democrats	Jacquie Bell	1,136	19.8	3	3
	Conservative	Katie Mackie	1,130	19.7
	Labour	Norman Hampshire	1,033	18.0	2	3
	Labour	Herbert Coutts	725	12.6

Changes after 2007

• † Stuart Currie defected from the Liberal Democrats and joined the Scottish National Party on 11 August 2009
• †† Ruth Currie defected from the Liberal Democrats and joined the Scottish National Party on 11 August 2009