2012 West Lothian Council election

2012 West Lothian Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 33 seats to West Lothian Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader John McGinty Peter Johnston Party Labour SNP Leader's seat Bathgate Livingston South Last election 14 seats, 36.6% 13 seats, 36.3% Seats before 14 13 Seats won 16 15 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 19,909 21,083 Percentage 38.1% 40.4% Swing 1.5% 4.1%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Tom Kerr Stuart Borrowman Party Conservative Independent Leader's seat Linlithgow Armadale and Blackridge Last election 1 seat, 9.4% 1 seat, 4.6% Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 1 Seat change Popular vote 4,591 2,752 Percentage 8.8% 5.3% Swing 0.6% 0.7%
The 9 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Peter Johnston SNP Council Leader after election John McGinty Labour

The 2012 West Lothian Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of West Lothian Council. The election used the 9 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 33 Councillors being elected. The Bathgate Ward gained an additional seat for the 2012 elections. The election saw Labour remain the largest party on the Council as they gained 2 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) also made 2 net gains and significantly increased their vote share, outpolling Labour in terms of votes cast. The Conservatives retained their single seat on the Council and so to did the Independents. The Action to Save St. John's Hospital group were completely wiped out from the authority losing all of their 3 seats.

Following the election the Labour formed a minority administration with the support of the Conservative and Independent Councillors. This replaced the SNP minority administration which had been supported by the Conservative and Action to Save St. John's Hospital group Councillors from 2007-2012.