2022 Scottish local elections

2022 Scottish local elections

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →

All 1,227 seats to 32 Scottish councils
Turnout44.8% (Decrease2.1%)[1]
  First party Second party Third party
 
Nicola Sturgeon 2021.jpg
Anas Sarwar MSP.jpg
Douglas Ross 2021.jpg
Leader Nicola Sturgeon Anas Sarwar Douglas Ross
Party SNP Labour Conservative
Last election 431 seats, 32.30% 262 seats, 20.16% 276 seats, 25.30%
Seats won 453 282 214
Seat change Increase22 Increase20 Decrease63
First preferences 633,252 403,243 364,824
First preferences (%) 34.1% 21.8% 19.7%
Swing (pp) Increase1.8% Increase1.6% Decrease5.6%

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP.jpg
Lorna Slater MSP and Patrick Harvie MSP.jpg
Leader None Alex Cole-Hamilton Lorna Slater and
Patrick Harvie
(co-leaders)
Party Independent Liberal Democrats Scottish Green
Last election 168 seats, 10.4% 67 seats, 6.82% 19 seats, 4.1%
Seats won 152 87 35
Seat change Decrease15 Increase20 Increase16
First preferences 156,815 159,815 110,791
First preferences (%) 8.4% 8.6% 6.0%
Swing (pp) Decrease2.0% Increase1.7% Increase1.8%

The 2022 Scottish local elections were held on 5 May 2022, as part of the 2022 United Kingdom local elections. All 1,226 seats across all 32 Scottish local authorities were up for election and voter turnout was 44.8%.[1]

Compared to the previous elections of 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) gained seats and maintained its position as largest party in local government, winning 36.9% of the seats available. Scottish Labour (winning 22.9% of seats) gained seats, whilst the Scottish Conservatives (who won 17.5%) lost many seats, being displaced by Scottish Labour as the second-largest party. Independent candidates also lost seats, whilst the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens increased their vote share and gained seats across Scotland.

At the 2017 election, no council was won by an overall majority of any party. In the 2022 election, the SNP increased its vote share and secured an overall majority on Dundee City Council,[2] whilst Labour won overall control of West Dunbartonshire Council.[3] Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross blamed his party's bad results on the partygate scandal.[4]

The Alba Party and Scottish Family Party ran candidates in around 100 seats each but failed to win any. The Rubbish Party and West Dunbartonshire Community Party held their singular seats, whilst the British Unionist Party gained their first seat from the Conservatives.

  1. ^ a b Clark, Alistair (9 May 2022). "Scottish Local Government Elections 2022: The Need for a Long View". Holyrood. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Dundee election results 2022: SNP take overall control of city council". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Scottish council elections 2022: SNP finishes as biggest party". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Scottish election results 2022: Tories blame Partygate for 'disappointing' result". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.

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