2003 South Lanarkshire Council election

2003 South Lanarkshire Council election
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All 67 seats to South Lanarkshire Council
34 seats needed for a majority
Registered232,466
Turnout49.4%
  First party Second party
 
Lab
SNP
Leader Edward McAvoy
Party Labour SNP
Last election 54 seats, 50.1% 10 seats, 33.1%
Seats won 51 9
Seat change Decrease 3 Decrease 1
Popular vote 55,173 33,555
Percentage 48.0% 29.2%
Swing Decrease 2.0% Decrease 3.8%

  Third party Fourth party
 
Ind
Con
Party Independent Conservative
Last election 0 seats, 0.6% 2 seat, 10.3%
Seats won 3 2
Seat change Increase 3 Steady
Popular vote 3,604 14,371
Percentage 3.1% 12.5%
Swing Increase 2.5% Increase 2.3%

  Fifth party
 
LD
Party Liberal Democrats
Last election 1 seat, 5.7%
Seats won 2
Seat change Increase 1
Popular vote 5,336
Percentage 4.6%
Swing Decrease 1.0%

Results by ward.

Council Leader before election

Edward McAvoy
Labour

Council Leader after election

Edward McAvoy
Labour

Elections to South Lanarkshire Council were held on 1 May 2003, the same day as the 31 other local government elections in Scotland and elections to the Scottish Parliament. This was the third election since the council's creation in 1995 and the last election to use first-past-the-post voting.

Labour maintained control of the council although their vote share reduced to 48.0%. The party won a majority of the seats despite their representation on the council decreasing by three. The Scottish National Party (SNP) remained as the largest opposition party on the council despite a net loss of one seat. The Conservatives remained on two seats while the Liberal Democrats gained one seat to hold two and three independent candidates were elected.

Following the introduction of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system which meant this was the last election in which the 67 single-member wards created by the Third Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements would be contested.