2022 Scottish local elections
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All 1,219 seats[1] to 32 Scottish councils | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Council controls post elections | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2022 Scottish local elections are due to take place on 5 May 2022, as part of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections. All 1,219 seats across all 32 Scottish local authorities will be up for election.
In the previous elections in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) maintained its position as largest party in local government, while the Scottish Conservatives displaced Scottish Labour as the second-largest party. Independent candidates, the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens also won councillors across Scotland.
Background
The last election was in 2017, which was held five years after the 2012 election, instead of four was changed in order to avoid clashing with the 2016 Scottish Parliament election.
Boundaries Scotland have conducted a review of electoral arrangements for six councils under the terms of the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018.[2] The Scottish Parliament's Local Government Committee accepted the new boundaries in Na h-Eileanan an Iar, North Ayrshire, Orkney and Shetland, but recommended against approval of the changes in Argyll and Bute and Highland.[3]
Voting system and eligibility to vote
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Councillors are elected to represent multi-member wards using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) method, which has been used for all elections to local authorities in Scotland since the 2007 election. In all votes since 2007 wards have been sized such that either 3 or 4 councillors are elected per ward, however the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 and the Scottish Elections (Reform) Act 2020 have given Boundaries Scotland increased flexibility to vary the size of wards. Mainland wards may now have between 2 and 5 councillors, and single councillor wards are permitted where such a ward includes an inhabited island.[4] For these elections wards represented by one, two or five councillors will only be contested in the four council areas in which ward boundaries have been redrawn after 2017, namely Na h-Eileanan an Iar, North Ayrshire, Orkney and Shetland.
All registered electors (British citizens and all other foreign nationals with leave to remain, including refugees)[5] who are aged 16 or over on polling day are entitled to vote in the local elections.[6] A person who has two homes (such as a university student who has a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) can register to vote at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area, and can vote in the local elections for the two different local councils.[7]
Individuals must have been registered to vote by midnight on 18 April 2022. The deadline to register for a postal vote was 19 April 2022 and the deadline to register for a proxy vote is 26 April 2022.[8]
Councils
2017 results
The table shows the number of councillors won by each party in the 2017 Scottish local elections. Parties with coloured cells are part of governing coalitions or are the council administration. The party of the council leader is bold and marked with an asterisk (*).
Previous composition
This table shows the composition of councils directly prior to the 2022 election. Note that some seats are currently vacant and will not be filled before the election. Included in the Green totals are two councillors who have publicly joined the party since the election (denoted by †), but continue to sit as independents.
| Council | SNP | Con | Lab | Ind | Lib Dem | Green | Alba | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberdeen | 19 | 10 | 0 | 3 + 1[d] | 3 | – | – | 9*[e] |
| Aberdeenshire | 16 | 18* | 0 | 10+5+1+2[f] | 13 | 1 | 3 | 1[g] |
| Angus | 9 | 7 + 1 | – | 6* + 4 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Argyll and Bute | 11 | 7 + 1[h] | – | 5 + 2 + 3[i] | 5* | – | – | 1[j] |
| Clackmannanshire | 7* | 5 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 10 | 16 | 10* | 3 + 1[k] | 1 | – | – | 2[l] |
| Dundee | 13* | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | – | – | – |
| East Ayrshire | 13* | 5 | 9 | 4 | – | – | – | 1[a] |
| East Dunbartonshire | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6* | – | – | – |
| East Lothian | 6 | 7 | 9* | – | – | – | – | – |
| East Renfrewshire | 5* | 5 | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| Edinburgh | 16* | 17 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 7 | – | – |
| Falkirk | 13* | 7 | 7 | 1 + 2 | – | – | – | – |
| Fife | 29* | 13 | 23* | 2 | 7 | – | – | – |
| Glasgow | 35* | 7 | 30 | 3 + 2[m] | – | 6 | 2 | – |
| Highland | 19 | 10 | 3 | 23*+3+1+1[n] | 11 | 1 | – | – |
| Inverclyde | 5 | 2 | 8* | 4 | 1 | – | 2 | – |
| Midlothian | 7 | 5 | 6* | – | – | – | – | – |
| Moray | 7* | 9 | 1 | 4 + 2 + 2[o] | – | – | – | – |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar | 6 | 1 | – | 22* | – | 1†[p] | 1 | – |
| North Ayrshire | 9 | 8 | 10* | 6 | – | – | – | – |
| North Lanarkshire | 26 | 8 | 31* | 9 | – | – | 3 | – |
| Orkney | – | – | – | 17* | – | 2†[p] | – | 2[b] |
| Perth and Kinross | 13 | 18* | 1[q] | 3 | 5 | – | – | – |
| Renfrewshire | 19* | 8 | 13 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – |
| Scottish Borders | 8 | 15* | – | 9 | 2 | – | – | – |
| Shetland | 1 | – | – | 21* | – | – | – | – |
| South Ayrshire | 9* | 12 | 5 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| South Lanarkshire | 25* | 11 | 17 | 5 + 3[r] | 3 | – | – | – |
| Stirling | 7* | 9 | 4 | 1 | – | 1 | 1 | – |
| West Dumbartonshire | 9* | 2 | 8 | 1 | – | – | 1 | 1[c] |
| West Lothian | 14 | 7 | 11* | 1 | – | – | – | – |
2022 results
Opinion polling
First preference voting intention:
| Date(s) conducted |
Polling organisation/client | Sample size | SNP | Con | Lab | Lib Dem | Green | Alba | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24–28 Mar 2022 | Survation/Ballot Box Scotland | 1,002 | 44% | 18% | 23% | 6% | 3% | 1% | 4% |
| 20–26 Oct 2021 | Panelbase/Scot Goes Pop | 1,001 | 45% | 22% | 21% | 6% | 4% | 2% | <1% |
| 4 May 2017 | 2017 Scottish local elections | 1,889,658 | 32.30% | 25.30% | 20.16% | 6.82% | 4.1% | - | 10.4% |
See also
- Politics of Scotland
- 2022 Northern Ireland Assembly election
- 2022 United Kingdom local elections
- 2022 Welsh local elections
Notes
- ^ a b The Rubbish Party
- ^ a b Orkney Manifesto Group
- ^ a b West Dunbartonshire Community Party
- ^ 3 Independent Alliance Group; 1 Independent
- ^ Aberdeen Labour
- ^ 10 Aligned Independent; 5 Independent; 1 Democratic Independent; 2 Unaligned
- ^ Scottish Libertarian Party
- ^ 7 Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Group; 1 Argyll and Bute First
- ^ 5 Argyll, Lomond and the Islands Group; 2 Argyll and Bute First; 3 Unaligned
- ^ Independence for Scotland Party
- ^ 3 Independent Group; 1 Unaligned
- ^ Dumfries and Galloway Socialist Group
- ^ 3 Independent Councillor's Group; 2 Independent
- ^ 24 Independent Group; 3 Highland Matters; 1 Sutherland Independent Group; 1 Non-aligned
- ^ 4 Councillors Open Group; 2 Moray Alliance Group; 2 Independent
- ^ a b Includes 1 joining the party since the election but continues to sit as an independent
- ^ In grouping with independents
- ^ 5 Independent Group; 3 Independent
References
- ^ "Recommendations for councillor numbers and wards submitted to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. 26 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2016.
- ^ "2019 Reviews of Electoral Arrangements | Scottish Boundary Commission". boundaries.scot. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ "Electoral Arrangements Regulations" (PDF). Scottish Parliament. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
- ^ "News Release: Final Proposals for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands council areas submitted to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
- ^ "Right to vote extended". gov.scot. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
- ^ Uberoi, Elise; Johnston, Neil (19 November 2020). "Voting age". Commons Library. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
- ^ Electoral Commission. "I have two homes. Can I register at both addresses?". electoralcommission.org.uk. The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 November 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
- ^ "Scotland council elections 2022: A really simple guide". BBC News. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
