1974 City of Aberdeen District Council election

1974 City of Aberdeen District Council election

←  1973 7 May 1974 (1974-05-07) 1977  →
All 48 seats to City of Aberdeen Council 25 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Lab Con Lib Party Labour Conservative Liberal Seats won 29 17 2 Popular vote 24,484 18,937 7,948 Percentage 45.0% 34.8% 14.6%
The 48 single-member wards
Council Leader before election Labour Council Leader after election Labour

Elections to the City of Aberdeen District Council were held on 7 May 1974, on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. This was the first election to the district council following the implementation of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

The election used the 48 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting. ^[1]

Labour took control of the council after winning a majority. The party took 29 of the 48 seats and more than 40% of the popular vote. The Conservatives came second with 17 seats. The remaining two seats were won by the Liberals.

Background

Aberdeen was made a royal burgh by David I (reigned 1124–1153) and a police burgh was established in 1795. ^{[2] [3]} Following the local government reforms in 1890, Aberdeen became one of the four Counties of Cities and was administratively separate from Aberdeenshire. ^[4]

Following the recommendations in the Wheatly Report, the old system of counties and burghs in Scotland – which had resulted in a mishmash of local government areas in which some small burghs had larger populations but far fewer responsibilities than some large burghs and even counties ^[5] – was to be replaced by a new system of regional and district councils. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 implemented most of the recommendations in the Wheatly Report. The City of Aberdeen District Council – placed within the Grampian region – took in a much larger area than its predecessor as Cove Bay and Dyce incorporated within the city. ^{[5] [6]}

Election results

1974 City of Aberdeen District Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	29			N/A		45.0	24,484	N/A
	Conservative	17			N/A		34.8	18,937	N/A
	Liberal	2			N/A		14.6	7,948	N/A
	Independent	0			N/A		3.0	1,629	N/A
	SNP	0			N/A		2.0	1,109	N/A
	Communist	0			N/A		0.5	285	N/A

Source: ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Aftermath

The City of Aberdeen was the only district in the newly created Grampian region that was won by a party – the rest were controlled by independents. Labour took 29 of the 48 seats while the Conservatives – who took control of the regional council which held its first election on the same day – were the largest opposition party with 17. The remaining two seats were won by the Liberals. Across Scotland, Labour won the most votes, the most seats and the most councils of any party. ^[7]

References

1. "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
2. "Aberdeen Burgh". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
3. Lee, Clive Howard (2000). Aberdeen, 1800–2000. Tuckwell Press. pp. 236–252. ISBN   9781862321083 . Retrieved 4 April 2025.
4. Guide to local government in parishes, counties and burghs. Edinburgh: Royal College of Physicians. 1892. pp. xxiii–xxx. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
5. "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
6. Turnock, David (1970). "The Wheatley Report: Local Government in Scotland". Area. 2 (2). Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers: 10–12. JSTOR   20000437.
7. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 4 April 2025.
8. "Elections Database 1974 - May 2003". Aberdeen City Council. Archived from the original on 7 October 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
9. City of Aberdeen District Council, 1974: Scottish Elections.org.uk