2017 Scottish local elections

2017 Scottish local elections
← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →
All 1,227 seats[1] to 32 Scottish councils
Turnout46.9% (Increase7.3%)
  First party Second party
 
Nicola Sturgeon election infobox 3.jpg
RuthDavidsonMSP.jpg
Leader Nicola Sturgeon Ruth Davidson
Party SNP Conservative
Leader since 14 November 2014 4 November 2011
Last election 425 seats, 32.33% 115 seats, 13.27%
Seats before 438[2] 112[2]
Seats won 431 276
Seat change Decrease7*[3] Increase164*[3]
First preferences 610,454 478,073
First preferences (%) 32.30% 25.30%
Swing (pp) Decrease 0.03% Increase12.03%
  Third party Fourth party
 
Kezia Dugdale 2016 (cropped).jpg
Official Portrait of Willie Rennie MSP.jpg
Leader Kezia Dugdale Willie Rennie
Party Labour Liberal Democrats
Leader since 15 August 2015 17 May 2011
Last election 394 seats, 31.39% 71 seats, 6.62%
Seats before 395[2] 70[2]
Seats won 262 67
Seat change Decrease133*[3] Decrease3*[3]
First preferences 380,957 128,821
First preferences (%) 20.16% 6.82%
Swing (pp) Decrease11.23% Increase0.20%
Most voted for party by council, largest party by council, and largest party by ward. Ward map utilises the new ward boundaries.
* Indicates boundary change - so this is a nominal figure

The 2017 Scottish local elections were held on Thursday 4 May, in all 32 local authorities. The SNP retained its position as the largest party in terms of votes and councillors, despite suffering minor losses. The Conservatives made gains and displaced Labour as the second largest party, while the Liberal Democrats suffered a net loss of councillors despite increasing their share of the vote.[4] Minor parties and independents polled well; and independent councillors retained majority control over the three island councils. For the first time since the local government reforms in 1995, all mainland councils fell under no overall control.

  1. ^ "Recommendations for councillor numbers and wards submitted to Scottish Ministers" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d The "seats before" figure is a notional calculation by BBC News Archived 2017-09-11 at the Wayback Machine. These notional figures estimate what the results would have been in 2012, if the 2017 boundaries had been in place at that election, as boundary changes make direct comparison complicated.
  3. ^ a b c d "Scotland Results". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 September 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  4. ^ "Report: Scottish local election results 2017". BBC News (Scotland). Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.