2012 Fife Council election

2012 Fife Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 78 seats to Fife Council 40 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Alex Rowley Peter Grant Elizabeth Riches Party Labour SNP Liberal Democrats Leader's seat The Lochs Glenrothes West and Kinglassie East Neuk and Largoward Last election 24 seats, 30.8% 23 seats, 29.5% 21 seats, 26.9% Seats before 24 22 21 Seats won 35 26 10 Seat change 11 3 11 Popular vote 41,126 33,205 13,983 Percentage 38.5% 31.1% 13.1%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Andrew Rodger Dave Dempsey Party Independent Conservative Leader's seat Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay Last election 5 seats, 6.4% 5 seats, 6.4% Seats before 6 4 Seats won 4 3 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 6,356 8,382 Percentage 5.9% 7.8%
2012 Fife Council Election Results Map
Council Leader before election Peter Grant SNP Council Leader after election Alex Rowley Labour

Elections to Fife Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 23 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 78 Councillors elected.

The biggest benefactors were the Labour Party who regained the 11 seats they had lost in the 2007 Local Elections thus increase its share to remain the largest party. Scottish Liberal Democrats lost over half their seats, with labour picking up most of the seats, while the Scottish National Party increased their representation by 3 seats and remained in second place on the authority. Most of their gains were in the wards of the Fife North East constituency where they had previously only had a single seat. The Independents lost a seat while the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party lost 2 seats. The UK Independence Party lost its only Scottish Councillor who had defected from the Conservatives in 2008.

Following the election the Labour Party formed a minority administration with the support of the Independents and the Conservative Party. This replaced the previous SNP - Lib Dem coalition administration.