1974 City of Edinburgh District Council election

1974 City of Edinburgh Council election

←  1973 7 May 1974 (1974-5-7) 1977  →
All 64 seats to Edinburgh City Council 33 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Conservative Labour Liberal Seats won 30 29 3 Popular vote 71,957 62,911 23,515 Percentage 41.4% 36.2% 13.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party SNP Independent Seats won 1 1 Popular vote 11,677 2,944 Percentage 6.7% 1.7%
Council control before election No overall control Council control after election No overall control

Elections to City of Edinburgh 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 64 wards created by the Formation Electoral Arrangements in 1974. Each ward elected one councillor using first-past-the-post voting. ^[1]

The council was left in no overall control following the election. The Conservatives were the largest party after they won 30 of the 64 seats. Labour were the second-largest party after taking 29 seats while the Liberals won three seats.

Background

Following the local government reforms in 1890, Edinburgh became one of the four Counties of Cities and was administratively separate from Midlothian. ^[2]

Following the recommendations in the Wheatly Report, the old system of counties and burghs – 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 ^[3] – 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. Edinburgh was combined with an area from Midlothian and an area from West Lothian which included the burgh of Queensferry and was placed into the City of Edinburgh district within the Lothian region. ^{[3] [4]}

Results

1974 City of Edinburgh District Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	30			N/A	46.9	41.4	71,957	N/A
	Labour	29			N/A	45.3	36.2	62,911	N/A
	Liberal	3			N/A	4.7	13.5	23,515	N/A
	SNP	1			N/A	1.6	6.7	11,677	N/A
	Independent	1			N/A	1.6	1.7	2,944	N/A
	Residents	0			N/A	0.0	0.2	422	N/A
	Communist	0			N/A	0.0	0.2	358	N/A
	All-in Democracy	0			N/A	0.0	0.1	116	N/A

Source: ^[5]

Ward Results

Holyrood ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	B. Rutherford	1,382	61.4
	Conservative	L. Taylor	616	27.4
	Residents	H. Gray	252	11.2
Majority			766	34.0
Turnout			2,250
	Labour hold

Meadows ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	R. Cairns	850	38.0
	Conservative	T. MacLeod	693	31.0
	Liberal	M. Falchikov	466	20.8
	Independent	J. Forbes	227	10.2
Majority			157	7.0
Turnout			2,236
	Labour hold

Aftermath

The City of Edinburgh was the only district in the newly created Lothian region that was left in no overall control. The Conservatives were the largest party after winning 30 of the 64 seats. Labour were the second largest party after taking 29 seats. The Liberals won three seats, the Scottish National Party (SNP) took one and one independent candidate was elected. The regional council, which held its first election on the same day, was left in no overall control. Across Scotland, Labour won the most votes, the most seats and the most councils of any party. ^[5]

References

1. "Formation Electoral Arrangements". Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
2. Guide to local government in parishes, counties and burghs. Edinburgh: Royal College of Physicians. 1892. pp. xxiii–xxx. Retrieved 6 April 2025.
3. "Information Paper Local government in Scotland: before 1975" (PDF). Boundaries Scotland. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
4. 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.
5. Botchel, J. M.; Denver, D. T. (1975). The Scottish Local Government Elections 1974: Results and Statistics (PDF). Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
6. "City of Edinburgh District Council, 1974". Scottish Elections.org.uk. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015.