2007 Highland Council election

2007 Highland Council election

←  2003 3 May 2007 (2007-05-03) 2012  →
All 80 seats to Highland Council 41 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Party Independent Liberal Democrats Last election 57 seats, 69.6% 9 seats, 6.1% Seats won 35 21 Seat change 22 12 Popular vote 37,844 17,917 Percentage 40.9% 19.3% Swing 28.7% 13.2%   Third party Fourth party   Party SNP Labour Last election 6 seats, 10.2% 8 seats, 11.6% Seats won 17 7 Seat change 11 1 Popular vote 18,933 9,734 Percentage 20.4% 10.5% Swing 10.2% 0.9%
Council Convener before election Alison Magee Independent Council Convener after election Sandy Park Independent

The 2007 Highland Council election was held on 3 May 2007; the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament and to the 31 other councils in Scotland. Previous elections to the council had been conducted using the single member plurality system (a.k.a. 'First Past the Post'). Changes implemented by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 meant that future local government elections were to be conducted using the Single Transferable Vote, beginning with those in 2007. The 80 Highland Councillors were now to be elected from 22 wards, returning either three or four members.

The election saw Independent councillors retain their plurality, despite losing a significant number of members, and the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party both increasing their representation, with that of the Labour Party decreasing. The Independent and SNP groups subsequently went into coalition to form the Administration of the council.

Results

2007 Highland Council election results

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	35	-	-	22	43.8	40.9	37,844	28.7
	Liberal Democrats	21	-	-	12	26.3	19.3	17,917	13.2
	SNP	17	-	-	11	21.3	20.4	18,933	10.2
	Labour	7	-	-	1	8.8	10.5	9,734	0.9
	Conservative	0	-	-		0.0	7.1	6,565	5.9
	Scottish Senior Citizens	0	-	-		0.0	0.7	664	New
	Scottish Green	0	-	-		0.0	0.7	642	New
	Solidarity	0	-	-		0.0	0.3	273	New
	Scottish Socialist	0	-	-		0.0	0.1	59	1.0

Ward results

Incumbent councillors are marked with *

North, West and Central Sutherland

North, West and Central Sutherland – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SNP	George Farlow	19.9%	586	588	599	641	676	687	716	778
	Liberal Democrats	Robbie Rowantree	14.0%	410	415	418	461	495	549	598	651	659
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Russel Taylor	10.7%	314	325	329	345	365	414	475	514	520
	Independent	Linda Munro	10.3%	303	318	358	368	383	391	437	518	524
	Independent	David Forbes	10.1%	297	316	330	338	350	365	416
	Independent	William Johnston	9.6%	282	288	300	304	308	325
	Conservative	Margaret Payne	7.4%	216	222	224	227	232
	Labour	Dave Andrews	6.3%	184	185	186	198
	Scottish Green	Ailsa Spindler	5.7%	168	172	176
	Independent	Kirstie Dawson	3.4%	99	100
	Independent	Michael Otter	2.7%	80
Electorate: 4,996  Valid: 2,939  Quota: 735  Turnout: 60.0%

Thurso

Thurso – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	Donald Mackay*	30.1%	1,001
	Independent	John Rosie	21.2%	704	762	781	842
	Liberal Democrats	Marion Thurso	16.3%	541	573	599	627	631	824
	SNP	Donald Mackintosh	13.0%	433	445	449	465	466	518
	Labour	Roger Saxon*	12.3%	408	428	437	454	457
	Independent	Ian Grant	3.8%	125	136	156
	Conservative	Alexander Bain	3.4%	112	118
Electorate: 6,388  Valid: 3,324  Quota: 832  Turnout: 53.0%

Wick

Wick – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Independent	Bill Fernie*	30.3%	793
	Independent	Katrina MacNab*	17.2%	451	505	556	648
	SNP	Niall Smith	16.9%	443	457	489	542
	Liberal Democrats	Graeme Smith*	15.5%	407	436	458	578
	Labour	Jim Oag	14.0%	366	378	399
	Independent	Heather Miller	3.7%	98	105
	Conservative	Jack Brooker	1.8%	46	48
	Independent	Laurel Bush	0.6%	17	19
Electorate: 5,817  Valid: 2,621  Quota: 656  Turnout: 46.3%

Landward Caithness

Landward Caithness – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	David Bremner	18.8%	871	888	888	957
	Independent	Willie MacKay	18.2%	845	929
	Liberal Democrats	David Flear*	17.4%	805	918	918	1,067
	Independent	Robert Coghill	14.2%	657	723	723	815
	Labour	Bill Mowat	11.5%	532	552	552
	Conservative	Colin Sutherland	11.5%	531	558	558	601
	Liberal Democrats	Alastair MacDonald*	7.5%	349
	Independent	Duncan Winfield	0.9%	41
Electorate: 8,231  Valid: 4,631  Quota: 927  Turnout: 57.3%

East Sutherland and Edderton

East Sutherland and Edderton – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Ross*	22.8%	838	844	855	866	894	943
	Labour	Deirdre Mackay	19.2%	703	712	717	745	792	833	840	902
	SNP	Derek Louden	13.9%	511	518	524	537	550	576	578	620
	Independent	Jim McGillivray	13.1%	482	493	536	550	573	667	669	790
	Conservative	Michael Napper	11.5%	423	428	437	449	459	491	493
	Independent	Jimmy Melville	6.9%	252	260	283	296	318
	Independent	Evelyn MacKenzie	4.2%	155	158	161	178
	Independent	Gordon Campbell	3.4%	125	126	135
	Independent	Gordon Clunie	3.1%	114	121
	Independent	Richard Easson	1.1%	40
	Solidarity	Frank Ward	0.7%	27
Electorate: 6,126  Valid: 3,670  Quota: 918  Turnout: 61.1%

Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh

Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Jean Urquhart *	26.1%	1,486
	Liberal Democrats	Biz Campbell*	21.8%	1,242
	Independent	Richard Greene	13.9%	792	849	858	964	983	1,037	1,147
	Independent	Audrey Sinclair	10.7%	608	633	648	658	780	829	882
	Conservative	John Scott	7.9%	451	473	483	502	514	618	662
	Labour	Christine Conniff	6.2%	354	393	407	423	438	470
	Independent	Marie Tait	5.8%	328	354	358	371	377
	Independent	Donald Macdonald	4.1%	232	248	264	270
	Independent	Alastair Armitstead	3.5%	199	238	242
Electorate: 9,593  Valid: 5,692  Quota: 1,139  Turnout: 60.6%

Cromarty Firth

Cromarty Firth – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Carolyn Wilson*	29.7%	1,348
	SNP	Maxine Smith	22.5%	1,021
	Liberal Democrats	Martin Rattray	14.3%	647	718	743	764	788	819	942
	Independent	Mike Finlayson	9.7%	438	533	545	562	595	644	769
	Labour	John MacInnes	9.7%	438	485	495	511	526	544	590
	Independent	John Connell*	6.8%	307	364	377	388	408	437
	Conservative	Hamish Keir	3.1%	141	158	161	165
	Independent	Mary MacDonald	2.3%	104	156	163	167	184
	Solidarity	Findlay Walker	1.9%	88	97	105
Electorate: 9,260  Valid: 4,532  Quota: 907  Turnout: 49.6%

Tain and Easter Ross

Tain and Easter Ross – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Independent	Alasdair Rhind*	36.2%	1,406
	Liberal Democrats	Richard Durham*	16.2%	627	707	717	768	800	843	892	1,007
	SNP	Jim McCreath	12.0%	465	480	498	509	520	537	557	605
	Independent	Alan Torrance*	11.2%	436	545	549	558	582	603	674	823
	Independent	Murray MacLeod	7.6%	294	375	377	390	410	430	507
	Independent	Michael Herd	5.3%	204	228	233	252	262	277
	Labour	Sunny Moodie	3.8%	148	160	162	171	173
	Conservative	David Rutherford	3.2%	124	140	144	146
	Independent	John Boocock	3.0%	116	127	133
	Scottish Socialist	Donnie Fraser	1.5%	59	63
Electorate: 7,000  Valid: 3,879  Quota: 970  Turnout: 56.4%

Dingwall and Seaforth

Dingwall and Seaforth – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Margaret Paterson*	23.1%	1,078
	Liberal Democrats	Angela MacLean*	21.8%	1,015
	SNP	Peter Cairns	18.3%	853	875	887	902	967
	Independent	David Chisholm*	13.7%	639	656	669	711	748	755	837
	Labour	Michael MacMillan*	11.9%	556	584	603	613	667	672	709
	Conservative	Gerald Lowe	4.7%	218	228	234	246	261	264
	Scottish Green	David Jardine	4.4%	207	221	231	243
	Independent	David Edes	2.2%	102	112	116
Electorate: 8,996  Valid: 4,666  Quota: 934  Turnout: 52.9%

Black Isle

Black Isle – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Billy Barclay*	24.4%	1,233
	Independent	Isobel McCallum*	19.5%	985	1,050
	Liberal Democrats	David Alston*	19.3%	973	1,006	1,016
	SNP	Craig Fraser	11.1%	558	576	579	580	609	696	764
	Independent	Okain McLennan	8.6%	433	468	478	480	503	586	745
	Conservative	Morris Downie	8.1%	408	429	433	434	453	470
	Scottish Green	John Wood	5.3%	267	273	275	277	338
	Labour	Chris Birt	3.8%	192	198	199	200
Electorate: 7,959  Valid: 5,049  Quota: 1,010  Turnout: 64.2%

Eilean a' Cheò

Eilean a' Cheò – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Liberal Democrats	Drew Millar*	21.2%	960
	Independent	Hamish Fraser*	17.6%	795	803	833	907
	Independent	John Laing*	16.2%	734	742	761	833	833	922
	SNP	Ian Renwick	14.8%	669	675	684	712	713	772
	Independent	John Murray	11.0%	498	506	534	630	631	693
	Labour	Vicki Samuels	7.8%	351	356	365	378	378
	Independent	Iain MacDonald*	7.5%	338	343	356
	Conservative	John Hodgson	3.9%	178	180
Electorate: 7,990  Valid: 4,523  Quota: 905  Turnout: 57.8%

Caol and Mallaig

Caol and Mallaig – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Independent	Bill Clark*	24.8%	975	985
	Independent	Allan Henderson	22.4%	881	892	892	909	929	958	1,048
	Independent	Eddie Hunter	14.0%	550	558	558	573	621	633	690	704	795
	Labour	Mairi MacLean	12.0%	473	477	477	491	502	517	535	550	625
	SNP	David Ingham	9.9%	389	395	395	404	418	430	451	459
	Independent	Sandra Casey	4.8%	188	194	194	203	216	248
	Conservative	Chris Carver	4.0%	156	159	159	169	174
	Independent	George MacLeod	3.8%	151	160	160	165
	Independent	Alistair MacGregor	2.5%	100	101	101
	Independent	Scott Waugh	1.6%	64
Electorate: 6,625  Valid: 3,927  Quota: 982  Turnout: 60.6%

Aird and Loch Ness

Aird and Loch Ness – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Margaret Davidson*	24.6%	1,215
	Independent	Helen Carmichael	22.8%	1,125
	SNP	Drew Hendry	18.1%	892	916	940	964	993
	Liberal Democrats	Hamish Wood	11.1%	550	584	607	644	757	759	866
	Conservative	Margaret Chown	7.2%	355	373	388	405	422	423
	Independent	John Martin	6.5%	322	352	373	462	494	495	598
	Labour	Andrew MacKintosh	5.9%	292	305	312	326
	Independent	Alexander Nicol	3.9%	192	225	232
Electorate: 8,463  Valid: 4,943  Quota: 989  Turnout: 59.4%

Inverness West

Inverness West – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Pauline Munro	28.8%	965
	Liberal Democrats	Alex Graham	25.1%	840
	Independent	Jimmy MacDonald*	23.2%	778	813	814	900
	Labour	Caroline Parr	16.0%	536	561	562	604
	Conservative	Mary Fraser	6.9%	230	244	245
Electorate: 6,581  Valid: 3,349  Quota: 838  Turnout: 51.7%

Inverness Central

Inverness Central– 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Donnie Kerr	21.9%	1,019
	Independent	Peter Corbett*	16.6%	776	784	796	809	872	912
	Liberal Democrats	Janet Campbell	15.6%	729	743	767	793	843	934
	Labour	Bet McAllister	15.4%	720	725	735	884	919	933
	Independent	William Smith*	12.3%	575	581	588	597	642	693
	Conservative	David Bonsor	5.8%	268	270	273	275	299
	Independent	Ivor Bisset	5.4%	252	257	267	270
	Labour	Tej Manda	5.1%	237	241	249
	Solidarity	George MacDonald	1.9%	88	98
Electorate: 9,704  Valid: 4,664  Quota: 933  Turnout: 49.2%

Inverness Ness-side

Inverness Ness-side – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Liberal Democrats	David Henderson	22.5%	1,127
	SNP	John Finnie	20.2%	1,016
	Independent	Norrie Donald*	14.9%	750	770	772	803	875	981	1,081
	Labour	Fraser Parr	13.7%	688	700	701	718	745	775	805
	Liberal Democrats	Angus Dick*	9.3%	468	514	516	560	587	630	714
	Conservative	Margaret MacDonald	7.1%	361	368	369	374	391	402
	Independent	Thomas Lamont	4.6%	232	234	235	251	289
	Independent	Steve Rodger	4.5%	226	235	235	247
	Independent	Jean Slater	1.6%	82	83	84
	Solidarity	Steve Arnott	1.4%	70	70	71
Electorate: 8,800  Valid: 5,020  Quota: 1,005  Turnout: 58.0%

Inverness Millburn

Inverness Millburn – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Jimmy Gray*	31.2%	1,123
	SNP	Ian Brown	27.9%	1,005
	Liberal Democrats	Kenneth MacLeod	14.2%	510	573	595	635	808
	Independent	Etta Mackay	11.9%	430	467	486	571	677
	Conservative	Donald MacKenzie	9.9%	356	377	383	405
	Independent	Willie Fraser	4.9%	178	191	208
Electorate: 6,495  Valid: 3,602  Quota: 901  Turnout: 56.1%

Culloden and Ardersier

Culloden and Ardersier – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	SNP	Robert Wynd*	28.7%	1,335
	Independent	Roddy Balfour*	28.1%	1,308
	Labour	John Ford*	17.5%	816	887	924
	Liberal Democrats	Glynis Sinclair	14.3%	663	763	825
	Conservative	John Ross	6.8%	318	346	393
	Independent	Jim Ferguson	4.6%	213	272	392
Electorate: 8,721  Valid: 2,387  Quota: 931  Turnout: 54.0%

Nairn

Nairn – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Liz MacDonald*	30.7%	1,576
	Independent	Sandy Park*	16.6%	855	946	1,006	1,088
	Independent	Laurie Fraser*	13.0%	669	754	852	917	942	1,050
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Marsden	10.4%	535	612	635	696	703	808
	Independent	Jim Lennon	9.3%	476	521	594	633	645	696
	Labour	Ron Stevenson	7.8%	402	434	452	467	470
	Conservative	Bob Ross	6.9%	356	373	377
	Independent	David Fraser	5.3%	273	320
Electorate: 9,009  Valid: 5,142  Quota: 1,029  Turnout: 58.1%

Inverness South

Inverness South – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Roy Pedersen	27.0%	1,058
	Liberal Democrats	Thomas Prag	23.0%	902
	Labour	John Holden	17.1%	671	721	749	803
	Independent	Jim Crawford	13.4%	524	586	613	803
	Conservative	Donald MacDonald	10.5%	413	443	461	503
	Independent	Barrie Haycock	9.0%	353	384	394
Electorate: 7,287  Valid: 3,921  Quota: 785  Turnout: 54.5%

Badenoch and Strathspey

Badenoch and Strathspey – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Liberal Democrats	Stuart Black*	31.2%	1,720
	SNP	David Fallows	24.4%	1,347
	Independent	Gregor Rimell*	13.3%	736	824	871	1,014	1,105
	Conservative	Les Durance	9.6%	532	606	623	653	710
	Independent	Jaci Douglas	8.8%	484	603	625	770	900
	Scottish Senior Citizens	Donald Scobbie	6.4%	350	427	460	500
	Independent	Angela Cox	6.3%	347	416	443
Electorate: 9,969  Valid: 5,516  Quota: 1,104  Turnout: 56.2%

Fort William and Ardnamurchan

Fort William and Ardnamurchan – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Liberal Democrats	Michael Foxley*	20.4%	1,059
	Independent	Donald Cameron	18.1%	939	940	972	1,004	1,024	1,123
	SNP	Bren Gormley	15.0%	778	780	804	825	862	911	920	966	1,035
	Labour	Brian Murphy*	9.7%	501	503	520	536	558	597	609	667	712
	Conservative	Andrew Baxter	7.2%	372	373	382	402	437	457	464	503
	Independent	Thomas MacLennan*	6.2%	322	323	345	354	375	410	428
	Independent	Darren Woods	6.1%	317	317	329	346	365
	Independent	Patricia Jordan	5.2%	271	273	298	330	373	418	436	554	657
	Independent	Drew McFarlane-Slack*	4.6%	241	242	258	275
	Independent	Iain Thornber	3.8%	195	196	207
	Independent	Neil Clark*	3.7%	194	195
Electorate: 8,616  Valid: 5,189  Quota: 1,038  Turnout: 61.3%

Post-election changes

• On 6 May 2007, Badenoch and Strathspey Cllr Gregor Rimell became a Liberal Democrat and ceased to be an Independent
• On 26 October 2007, Tain and Easter Ross Cllr Richard Durham became an Independent after leaving the Liberal Democrats
• On 12 December 2007, Tain and Easter Ross Cllr Alan Torrance became a member of the Scottish National Party and ceased to be an Independent
• On 3 April 2008, Landward Caithness Cllr David Bremner became an Independent, separate from the Administration, after being expelled from the Scottish National Party
• In 2008, Wick Cllr Graeme Smith became a member of the Independent Members Group after leaving the Liberal Democrats
• On 13 March 2009, North, West and Central Sutherland Cllr Linda Munro became a Liberal Democrat and ceased to be an Independent
• On 17 February 2011 Inverness Central Cllr Janet Campbell became a member of the Independent Members Group after leaving the Liberal Democrats.
• On 17 February 2011 Culloden and Ardersier Cllr Glynis Sinclair became an Independent after leaving the Liberal Democrats. She joined the Scottish National Party on 24 May 2011

2007-2012 by-elections

Inverness West

On 23 April 2009 the Liberal Democrat's Alasdair Christie won a by-election which arose following the death of former Independent Councillor Jimmy MacDonald on 31 January 2009

Inverness West By-Election (24 April 2009)- 1 seat ^[1]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Liberal Democrats	Alasdair Christie	59.60%	1,503
	SNP	Brian ÓhEadhra	22.05%	556
	Labour	Andrew James MacKintosh	8.33%	210
	Scottish Christian	Dr Sheila McLaughlan	4.56%	115
	Conservative	Donald Gunn MacDonald	4.40%	111
	Solidarity	George MacDonald	1.07%	27
	Liberal Democrats gain from Independent		Swing
Electorate: 6,623  Valid: 2,522  Spoilt: 18  Quota: 1,270  Turnout: 2,540

Wick

On 7 April 2011 the SNP's Gail Ross won a by-election which arose following the resignation of Independent Councillor Katrina MacNab

Wick By-Election (7 April 2011)- 1 seat ^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Gail Elizabeth Ross	46.82%	979	984	999	1,049
	Labour	Neil MacDonald	19.56%	409	410	421	463
	Independent	Niall Smith	9.90%	207	209	217	245
	Liberal Democrats	Claire Mairi Clarke	9.85%	206	211	219	236
	Independent	Jim Oag	8.80%	184	191	202
	Independent	Laurel Bush	3.49%	73	75
	Conservative	Michael Anthony Carr	1.58%	33
	SNP gain from Independent		Swing
Electorate: 5,564  Valid: 2,091  Spoilt: 33  Quota: 1,047  Turnout: 2,124

Tain and Easter Ross

On 9 June 2011 Independent Fiona Robertson won a by-election which arose following the death of SNP Councillor Alan Torrance

Tain and Easter Ross By-Election (9 June 2011)- 1 seat ^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Derek William Louden	33.23%	837	860	928	1,037
	Independent	Fiona Robertson	32.20%	811	840	933	1,204
	Independent	Ruairidh MacKenzie	18.54%	467	481	547
	Liberal Democrats	Antony Gardner	12.19%	307	318
	Independent	Michael Herd	3.85%	97
	Independent gain from SNP		Swing
Electorate: 6,962  Valid: 2,519  Spoilt: 17  Quota: 1,260  Turnout: 2,536

Inverness South

On 3 November 2011 the Liberal Democrat's Carolyn Caddick won a by-election which arose following the resignation of Labour Councillor John Holden

Inverness South By-Election (3 November 2011)- 1 seat ^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Kenneth Archer Gowans	33.94%	885	903	922	967	1,005	1,084
	Liberal Democrats	Carolyn Ann Caddick	28.65%	747	761	777	830	971	1,091
	Labour	Katherine MacKenzie-Geegan	11.81%	308	319	327	357	379
	Conservative	David Louis Kinsley Bonsor	11.12%	290	300	336	339
	Scottish Green	Gale Louise Falconer	6.02%	157	172	189
	Scottish Christian	Donald MacLeod Boyd	4.83%	126	130
	Independent	David McGrath	3.60%	94
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing
Electorate: 9,760  Valid: 2,607  Spoilt: 13  Quota: 1,304  Turnout: 2,620

References

1. "Inverness West By-Election Result" (Press release). Highland Council. 24 April 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
2. "Ward 3 (Wick By-Election" (PDF). highland.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2012.
3. "Tain and Easter Ross (By-Election)" (PDF). highland.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2012.
4. "Inverness South (By Election)" (PDF). highland.gov.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 April 2012.