2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →
All 64 seats to South Lanarkshire Council 33 seats needed for a majority
Registered	249,536
Turnout	46.7%
First party Second party   SNP Lab Leader John Ross Gerry Convery Party SNP Labour Leader's seat Hamilton South East Kilbride Central South Last election 28 seats, 36.4% 33 seats, 43.2% Seats won 27 22 Seat change 1 11 Popular vote 40,786 33,154 Percentage 35.7% 29.0% Swing 0.7% 14.2%   Third party Fourth party   Con Leader Alex Allison Robert Brown Party Conservative Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Clydesdale East Rutherglen South Last election 3 seats, 10.8% 1 seat, 2.8% Seats won 14 1 Seat change 11 Popular vote 27,377 5,873 Percentage 23.9% 5.1% Swing 13.1% 2.3%
Council Leader before election Edward McAvoy Labour Council Leader after election John Ross (SNP) No overall control

Elections to South Lanarkshire Council took place on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the first time in a South Lanarkshire election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned with the most seats at 27 despite losing one seat from the previous election. Labour lost significant ground as they lost one-third of their seats and fell from the largest party – one seat away from an overall majority – to second with 22 councillors. The Conservatives recorded their best-ever result in a South Lanarkshire election as they won 14 seats – up from just three in 2017. The remaining seat was won by the Liberal Democrats.

Following the election, the SNP attempted to form a coalition with Labour and the Liberal Democrats but were unsuccessful. The SNP then formed a minority administration.^[1]