2012 East Dunbartonshire Council election

Main article: 2012 Scottish local elections
2012 East Dunbartonshire Council election
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All 24 seats to East Dunbartonshire Council
13 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Rhondda Geekie Ian Mackay Ashay Ghai
Party Labour SNP Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat Lenzie & Kirkintilloch South Bearsden North Bearsden North
Last election 6 seats, 25.0% 8 seats, 33.3% 3 seats, 12.5%
Seats before 6 8 2
Seats won 8 8 3
Seat change Increase2 Steady0 Steady0
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Billy Hendry Charles Kennedy Duncan Cumming
Party Conservative EDIA Independent
Leader's seat Bishopbriggs North and Torrance Campsie & Kirkintilloch North Bearsden North
Last election 5 seats, 20.8% 2 seats, 8.3% 0 seats, 0%
Seats before 5 2 0
Seats won 2 2 1
Seat change Decrease3 Steady0 Increase1
Council Leader before election

Rhondda Geekie
Labour

Council Leader after election

Rhondda Geekie
Labour

Elections to East Dunbartonshire Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the eight wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 24 Councillors being elected. Each ward elected 3 members, using the STV electoral system.

The election saw Labour gain 2 seats to draw level with the Scottish National Party. However, Labour remained the largest party in terms of vote share. The Scottish National Party retained all their existing 8 seats and did not run any additional candidates though did significantly raised their vote share. The Scottish Liberal Democrats retained their 3 seats on the council. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party lost 3 seats, just 2 in number, the equivalent numbers of the East Dunbartonshire Independent Alliance. Former Lib Dem Cllr Duncan Cumming was elected as an Independent.

Election result

East Dunbartonshire Local Election Result 2012[1][2]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 8 2 0 +2 33.3 28.3 10,334 +2.4
  SNP 8 - - - 33.3 25.4 9,277 +7.2
  Liberal Democrats 3 - - - 12.5 14.9 5,450 -3.0
  Conservative 2 0 3 -3 8.3 15.4 5,629 -6.1
  EDIA 2 - - - 8.3 8.1 2,973 -3.3
  Independent 1 1 0 +1 4.2 6.1 2,224 +3.7
  Scottish Green 0 - - - - 0.7 247 -1.1
  Scottish Christian 0 - - - - 0.5 183 +0.3
  Scottish Socialist 0 - - - - 0.4 134 -0.3
  UKIP 0 - - - - 0.1 42 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

Milngavie

  • 2007: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
  • 2012: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Con
Milngavie – 3 seats[2][3]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
Liberal Democrats Eric Gotts (incumbent) 36.6 1,751    
SNP Jim Gibbons (incumbent) 28.0 1,338    
Labour Maureen Henry 20.0 955 1,177 1,283
Conservative Bill Binks (incumbent) 14.6 696 866 889
Electorate: 10,289   Valid: 4,740   Spoilt: 42   Quota: 1,186   Turnout: 46.07%  

Bearsden North

  • 2007: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
  • 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con
Bearsden North – 3 seats[2][3]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Independent Duncan Cumming (incumbent) 33.2 1,837            
Liberal Democrats Ashay Ghai * 17.1 944 1,082 1,087 1,093 1,100 1,337 1,801
SNP Ian Mackay (incumbent) 17.4 962 1,030 1,041 1,050 1,063 1,205 1,335
Conservative Amanda Stewart (incumbent) 16.7 921 1,017 1,019 1,039 1,066 1,141  
Labour Stewart Moohan 12.7 700 758 770 774 785    
Scottish Christian Bob Handyside 1.1 59 70 71 79      
UKIP Mitch Sorbie 0.8 42 59 61        
Scottish Socialist Neil Scott 0.6 34 40          
Electorate: 10,801   Valid: 5,499   Spoilt: 28   Quota: 1,375   Turnout: 50.91%  
  • = Sitting Councillor from a different Ward.

Bearsden South

  • 2007: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
  • 2012: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2007-2012: Lab gain one seat from Con
Bearsden South – 3 seats[2][3]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Liberal Democrats Vaughan Moody (incumbent) 26.8 1,309          
SNP Keith Small 25.4 1,243          
Labour Manjinder Shergill 20.4 996 1,022 1,028 1,046 1,178 1,408
Conservative David Mason 19.2 937 963 966 1,018 1,049  
Scottish Green Scott Ferguson 5.0 247 263 272 292    
Scottish Christian Christine Cormack 2.5 124 127 129      
Electorate: 10,452   Valid: 4,856   Spoilt: 28   Quota: 1,215   Turnout: 46.46%  

Campsie & Kirkintilloch North

  • 2007: 1xEDIA; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 1xEDIA; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Campsie & Kirkintilloch North – 3 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
EDIA Charles Kennedy (incumbent) † 50.8 2,032  
Labour John Dempsey (incumbent) 21.8 872 1,197
SNP David Ritchie (incumbent) 20.3 813 1,066
Conservative Andrew Lothian 4.6 183 253
Liberal Democrats Morag Daly 2.4 97 155
Electorate: 8,948   Valid: 3,997   Spoilt: 47   Quota: 1,000   Turnout: 44.67%  

Bishopbriggs North and Torrance

  • 2007: 1xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Bishopbriggs North and Torrance – 3 seats[2][4]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Labour Una Walker (incumbent) 29.7 1,557  
SNP Anne McNair (incumbent) 26.4 1,384  
Conservative Billy Hendry (incumbent) 24.4 1,279 1,316
Liberal Democrats Cathy McInnes 12.1 633 693
Independent Alan Brown 7.4 387 441
Electorate: 10,771   Valid: 5,240   Spoilt: 36   Quota: 1,311   Turnout: 48.65%  

Bishopbriggs South

  • 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Bishopbriggs South – 3 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Labour Alan Moir (incumbent) 32.8 1,267  
SNP Gordan Low (incumbent) 29.9 1,158  
Labour Michael O'Donnell (incumbent) 18.7 724 985
Conservative Alisdair Sinclair 9.4 362 373
Liberal Democrats Gary Pews 7.7 297 307
Scottish Socialist Mark Callaghan 1.5 59 62
Electorate: 9,406   Valid: 3,930   Spoilt: 63   Quota: 967   Turnout: 41.78%  

Lenzie & Kirkintilloch South

  • 2007: 1xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Lenzie & Kirkintilloch South – 3 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Labour Rhondda Geekie (incumbent) 36.6 1,729  
SNP Gillian Renwick (incumbent) 32.0 1,511  
Conservative Anne Jarvis (incumbent) 24.0 1,133 1,240
Liberal Democrats John Duncan 7.5 353 533
Electorate: 10,412   Valid: 4,726   Spoilt: 38   Quota: 1182   Turnout: 45.39%  

Kirkintilloch East & Twechar

  • 2007: 1xLab; 1xEDIA; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 1xLab; 1xEDIA; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Kirkintilloch East & Twechar – 3 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
Labour Stewart MacDonald (incumbent) 36.2 1,293    
EDIA Jack Young (incumbent) 26.4 941    
SNP John Jamieson (incumbent) 24.3 868 892 904
Labour Jim Neill 6.8 241 571 583
Conservative Alison Lothian 3.3 118 121 124
Liberal Democrats Samantha Johnstone 1.8 66 70 72
Scottish Socialist Willie Telfer 1.1 41 47 51
Electorate: 8,918   Valid: 3,568   Spoilt: 72   Quota: 893   Turnout: 40.01%  

Aftermath

Following the election, the Labour Party led a three-party coalition administration with the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, replacing the previous Labour/Conservative coalition that had run the council from 2007 to 2012. The leader of the council remained Labour councillor Rhondda Geekie, and Labour councillor Una Walker became provost. The depute leader and depute provost were the Lib Dem councillor Ashay Ghai and the Conservative councillor Anne Jarvis.

Following a disagreement between the Liberal Democrats and their administration colleagues, the ruling three-party coalition reverted to a minority two-party Labour/Conservative coalition in January 2016, and the Conservatives' Billy Hendry resumed the role of depute council leader.

Post Election Changes

  • † Campsie and Kirkintilloch North EDIA Cllr Charles Kennedy died on 13 July 2012.[5] The by-election was held on 14 September 2012 and was won by Labour's Gemma Welsh.

By Elections since 2012

Campsie & Kirkintilloch North By-election (14 September 2012) - 1 Seat[6]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Labour Gemma Welsh 30.8 851 860 874 939 1,146
SNP Billy Hutchinson 26.9 743 762 767 845 1,044
Liberal Democrats Susan Murray 25.0 693 702 740 788  
Independent Brian Reid 9.9 274 284 318    
Conservative Alisdair Sinclair 5.1 141 143      
Scottish Green Ross Greer 2.3 65        
Labour gain from EDIA Swing
Electorate: 9,277   Valid: 2,767   Spoilt: 28   Quota: 1,384   Turnout: 2,795 (30.1%)  

References

  1. ^ "Vote 2012 – East Dunbartonshire". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "East Dunbartonshire Election Results". East Dunbartonshire Council. Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  3. ^ a b c "Local elections latest – massive win for Independent Cumming, joy for Labour and misery for Tories". milngavieherald.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Election Results Bishopbriggs North and Torrance Ward 04/05/2012" (PDF). EDC website. East Dunbartonshire Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  5. ^ Council mourns death of Councillor Kennedy, East Dunbartonshire Council
  6. ^ "Labour triumph in council by-election". kirkintilloch-herald.co.uk. Archived from the original on 12 August 2014.