1974 Scottish local elections

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1974 Scottish local elections
Flag of Scotland.svg
  1973 7 May 1974 1977  
 First partySecond party
  Harold Wilson (1967).jpg Heathdod.JPG
Leader Harold Wilson Edward Heath
Party Labour Conservative
Leader since 14 February 1963 28 July 1965

 Third partyFourth party
 
Leader William Wolfe Jeremy Thorpe
Party SNP Liberal
Leader since1 June 1969 18 January 1967

Elections for the Scottish district councils were held on Tuesday 7 May 1974, for both the new regional and district councils, between the two United Kingdom general elections of February and October in that same year.

Contents

These were the first elections held to the 53 district councils established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Labour Party did reasonably well and the Scottish National Party (SNP) did not. The councillors acted as "shadow" councils until May 1975, when the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 came into effect. [1]

Results

National results

Result of the Regional elections. Scottish local Regional elections, 1974.svg
Result of the Regional elections.
Summary of the 1974 Scottish local regional election results [2] [3] [4]
PartiesVotesVotes %Wards
Labour 658,08938.5172
Conservative 488,90528.6112
SNP 215,50212.618
Liberal 87,3335.111
Independent/Other261,37215.3114/5
Total
Result of the District elections. Scottish District local elections, 1974.svg
Result of the District elections.
Summary of the 1974 Scottish District local council election results [2] [3]
PartiesVotesVotes %Wards
Labour 619,53138.4428
Conservative 433,28726.8241
SNP 200,30712.462
Liberal 80,2325.017
Independent/Other280,94617.5345/17
Total

Note: Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles were governed at the district level as unitary authorities, meaning they were not included in any larger region.

Council Results

Regional Councils

RegionLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentOtherTurnoutTotal SeatsControl
Details
Borders 070313029 Independent Details
Central 174903134 Labour Details
Dumfries and Galloway 200033035 Independent Details
Fife 26100033 (1 Communist)42 Labour Details
Grampian 13280210053 Conservative Details
Highland 421337047 Independent Details
Lothian 2419311149 No overall control Details
Orkney Independent Details
Shetland Independent Details
Strathclyde 71205250103 Labour Details
Tayside 1522009046 No overall control Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) Independent Details

[3]

District Councils

[3]

RegionLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentOtherTurnoutTotal Seats
Borders 190044054
Central 2992108067
Dumfries and Galloway 511061270
Fife 43242110484
Grampian 302514480108
Highland 4042990109
Lothian 62388351127
Orkney
Shetland
Strathclyde 22592257498406
Tayside 29430021194
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)

The seats on each district council after the election were as follows: [5]

Borders
DistrictLabourConservativeLiberalIndependentOtherControl
Berwickshire 010020 Conservative
Ettrick and Lauderdale 100140 Independent
Roxburgh 00013Border Independents 3 Independent
Tweeddale 000100 Independent
Central
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentOtherControl
Clackmannan 51500 Scottish Labour 1 No overall control
Falkirk 1621203Independent Labour 1
Non-Party 2
No overall control
Stirling 784010NOC
Dumfries and Galloway
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPIndependentOtherControl
Annandale and Eskdale 000140 Independent
Nithsdale 61117Non-Party 5 Independent
Stewartry 000120 Independent
Wigtown 000140 Independent
Fife
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentOtherControl
Dunfermline 1753140 Labour
Kirkcaldy 245002Ratepayers 4
Communist 1
NOC
North-East Fife 0130050 Conservative
Grampian
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentControl
Banff and Buchan 000018 Independent
City of Aberdeen 2817030 Labour
Gordon 03027 Independent
Kincardine and Deeside 020010 Independent
Moray 001017 Independent
Highland
DistrictLabourSNPIndependentControl
Badenoch and Strathspey 0010 Independent hold
Caithness 0015 Independent hold
Inverness 0015 Independent hold
Lochaber
2 vacancies
307 Independent
Nairn 037 Independent
Ross and Cromarty 0020 Independent hold
Skye and Lochalsh 0010 Independent
Sutherland 0014 Independent
Lothian
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentControl
City of Edinburgh 2731231 No overall control
East Lothian 106001 Labour
Midlothian 112101 Labour
West Lothian 100803NOC
Strathclyde
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPLiberalIndependentOthersControl
Argyll and Bute
1 vacancy
0000250 Independent
Bearsden and Milngavie 150040 No overall control
Clydebank 51300Scottish Labour 1 Labour
Cumbernauld and Kilsyth 307000 SNP
Cumnock and Doon Valley 81001 Labour
Cunninghame 140102Moderate Conservatives 7 Labour
Dumbarton 820050 Labour
East Kilbride 527010 No overall control
Eastwood 010000Ratepayers 2 Conservative
City of Glasgow 5416100Independent Conservative 1 Labour
Hamilton 132221Independent Labour 0 Labour
Inverclyde 1420610 Labour
Kilmarnock and Loudoun 1240000 Labour
Kyle and Carrick 10150000 Conservative
Lanark 402080 Independent
Motherwell 251211 Communist 0 Labour
Monklands 1541010 Labour
Renfrew 2510103CA 1 Labour
Strathkelvin 653000 No overall control
Tayside
DistrictLabourConservativeSNPIndependentOthersControl
Angus 311080 Conservative
City of Dundee 222002Real Labour 1
Monifeith Ratepayers 0
NOC
Perth and Kinross 419060 Conservative

See also

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References

  1. Faux, Ronald (5 May 1977). "SNP seizes 107 seats". The Times . pp. 1, 4.
  2. 1 2 Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2013). Local Elections in Britain. Routledge. pp. Table 7.5.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "appendices" (PDF). www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk. 1976. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  4. "Scottish Elections". Scottish Elections. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  5. "Results of Scottish district council elections". The Times . 5 May 1977. p. 4.