The 2012 Midlothian Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Midlothian Council . The election used the six 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 18 Councillors being elected.[1]
The election saw Labour retain their traditional position as the largest party on the council though they lost compared to the 2007 election. The Scottish National Party significantly increased their representation with 2 net gains and a significant rise in vote share to have the same seat numbers as the Labour Party. The Scottish Green Party gained a seat on the council for the first time and so too did Independent , former Conservative member, Peter de Vink. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were wiped out from this authority as well, losing all 3 of their seats (2 in the election, 1 by the defection of a member after 2007).
Following the election the SNP formed a minority administration with the support of the Green Party and the Independent. This is the first time that Labour had not had a role in the running of Midlothian in 84 years.
Election result [ edit ] Midlothian Local Election Result 2012 Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/− Labour 8 0 1 -1 44.44 39.49 9,967 +2.69 SNP 8 2 0 +2 44.44 39.47 9,936 +5.97 Scottish Green 1 1 0 +1 5.56 4.49 1,134 +2.59 Independent 1 1 0 +1 5.56 3.75 946 +1.75 Conservative 0 0 0 0 0.00 8.51 2,147 -1.59 Liberal Democrats 0 0 3 -3 0.00 3.73 941 -8.87 TUSC 0 0 0 0 0.00 0.67 168 New
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.
Ward results [ edit ] Penicuik [ edit ] 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2007-2012: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem Penicuik – 3 seats Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 6 SNP Derek George Rosie 29.9 1,427 Labour Adam Montgomery (incumbent ) 28.6 1,363 SNP Joe Wallace 14.8 706 915.6 950.6 1,009.1 1,057.9 1,343.9 Liberal Democrats Sheila Thacker 11.8 562 571.5 601.6 721.8 993.1 Conservative Sandy Forrest 9.9 474 476.5 489.8 505.9 Scottish Green Gary Christopher Bell 5.0 237 242.6 269.5 Electorate: 10,693 Valid: 4,769 Spoilt: 76 Quota: 1,193 Turnout: 4,845 (44.6%)
Bonnyrigg [ edit ] 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xGRN 2007-2012 Change: GRN gain one seat from Lab Bonnyrigg – 3 seats Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Labour Derek Milligan (incumbent ) 30.67 1,574 SNP Bob Constable (incumbent ) 24.49 1,257 1,272.1 1,566.5 Scottish Green Ian Baxter 13.07 671 681.3 704.2 787.1 930.4 1,079.9 1,407.4 Labour Louie Lorraine Milliken 10.23 525 749.4 768.5 809.4 864.9 1,020.4 Independent Jack Aitchison (incumbent ) 7.44 382 396.9 406.5 430.3 474.1 Conservative Emma Cummings 7.11 365 368.5 373.5 386.8 SNP Thomas Munro 6.98 358 366.5 Electorate: 12,007 Valid: 5,132 Spoilt: 99 Quota: 1,284 Turnout: 5,205 (42.74%)
Dalkeith [ edit ] 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2007-2012 Change: No change Dalkeith – 3 seats Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 Labour Alex Bennett 31.6 1,021 SNP Jim Bryant 24.9 803 816.9 Labour Margot Russell (incumbent ) 18.7 604 760.2 760.6 774.9 810.6 SNP Colin Cassidy 12.7 410 417.7 425.6 447.6 469.1 Conservative Robin Traquair 5.7 184 187.3 187.4 194.8 235.2 Liberal Democrats George Boyd 4.1 133 138.8 138.9 152.4 TUSC Willie Duncan 2.3 75 80.8 80.9 Electorate: 8,678 Valid: 3,230 Spoilt: 81 Quota: 808 Turnout: 3,311 (37.22%)
Midlothian West [ edit ] 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem Midlothian West – 3 seats Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SNP Andrew Coventry 21.5 930 935 943 987 1,017 1,071 1,106 SNP Owen Thompson (incumbent )†† 18.20 789 793 805 832 861 900 960 Labour Russell Imrie (incumbent ) 17.9 776 778 784 823 872 966 1,595 Labour Alex Jones 17.58 762 764 773 794 821 856 Conservative Andrew Hardie 10.7 462 480 497 567 Liberal Democrats Les Thacker (incumbent ) 5.67 246 247 263 309 Scottish Green Helen Blackburn 5.2 226 234 258 Independent George McCleery 2.38 103 115 TUSC Lynn Leitch 0.95 41 Electorate: 10,714 Valid: 4,335 Spoilt: 54 Quota: 1,084 Turnout: 4,389 (40.46%)
Midlothian East [ edit ] 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Labour Midlothian East – 3 seats Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 SNP Lisa Beattie (incumbent ) 33.1 1,372 Labour Peter Boyes (incumbent ) † 24.2 1,003 1,015.5 1,020.5 1,036.7 1,048.6 Labour Katie Moffat (incumbent ) 11.5 475 486.9 493.2 525.7 Independent Peter de Vink 11.1 461 484.9 503.4 686.3 737.8 800.9 1014.3 SNP Paul Bertram 9.8 405 656.9 665.9 689.4 721.1 781.7 Conservative Richard Thomson 9.1 379 388.3 388.3 TUSC Bob Goupillot 1.3 52 54.2 Electorate: 10,409 Valid: 4,147 Spoilt: 78 Quota: 1,037 Turnout: 4,225 (39.84%)
Midlothian South [ edit ] 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2007-2012 Change: No change Midlothian South – 3 seats Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 Labour Jim Muirhead (incumbent ) 36.0 1,305 SNP Cath Johnstone 21.7 786 807.9 845.1 855.7 1538.5 SNP Dougie Crawford 19.1 693 706.1 729.7 732.3 Labour Bryan Pottinger 15.4 559 870.9 947.9 Conservative Peter Smaill 7.8 283 293.9 Electorate: 9,288 Valid: 3,626 Spoilt: 68 Quota: 907 Turnout: 3,694 (39.04%)
Post-Election Changes [ edit ] † Midlothian East Independent and former Labour Cllr Peter Boyes resigned due to ill-health on 11 August 2014. A by-election was held on 27 November 2014 and was won by Labour's Kenny Young. [1] †† Midlothian West SNP Cllr Owen Thompson was elected as an MP for Midlothian on 7 May 2015. He resigned as Leader of Midlothian Council on 23 June 2015 and announced he would resign his Council seat with effect from 1 July 2015.[2] A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 10 September 2015 and the seat was held by the SNP's Kelly Parry.[3] By-elections [ edit ] Midlothian East By-election (27 November 2014)[2] – 1 Seat Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 4 5 Labour Kenny Young 32.9% 1,294 1,310 1,343 1,443 1,682 SNP Colin Cassidy 32.1% 1,260 1,270 1,357 1,384 1,613 Independent Robert Hogg 19.8% 780 789 831 914 Conservative Andrew Hardie 8.4% 331 342 359 Scottish Green Bill Kerr-Smith 5.0% 197 210 Liberal Democrats Euan Davidson 1.7% 68 Electorate: 11,637 Valid: 3,930 Spoilt: 40 Quota: 1,966 Turnout: 3,970 (34.1%)
Midlothian West By-election (10 September 2015)[3] – 1 Seat Party Candidate FPv% Count 1 2 3 SNP Kelly Parry 43.2% 1,540 1,558 1,701 Labour Ian Miller 26.5% 945 977 1,082 Conservative Pauline Winchester 14.7% 524 570 618 Scottish Green Daya Feldwick 10.4% 372 420 Liberal Democrats Jane Davidson 4.5% 162 Independent David Tedford 0.7% 25 Electorate: 11,582 Valid: 3,568 Spoilt: 49 Quota: 1,785 Turnout: 3,617 (31.2%)
References [ edit ]