2022 Clackmannanshire Council election

2022 Clackmannanshire Council election

←  2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 18 seats to Clackmannanshire Council 10 seats needed for a majority
Registered	40,241
Turnout	43.8%
First party Second party   SNP Lab Leader Ellen Forson Kenny Earle Party SNP Labour Leader's seat Clackmannanshire South Clackmannanshire South Last election 8 seats, 37.1% 5 seats, 27.8% Seats before 8 5 Seats won 9 5 Seat change 1 Popular vote 6,765 12,786 Percentage 39.4% 23.8% Swing 2.3% 4.0%   Third party Fourth party   Con Grn Leader Bryan Quinn Party Conservative Scottish Green Leader's seat Clackmannanshire South Last election 5 seats, 24.9% 0 seats, 6.5% Seats before 4 0 Seats won 3 1 Seat change 2 1 Popular vote 3,996 1,438 Percentage 23.2% 8.4% Swing 1.4% 1.9%
Leader before election Ellen Forson (SNP) No overall control Leader after election Ellen Forson (SNP) No overall control

Elections to Clackmannanshire Council took place on 5 May 2022, the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV)—a form of proportional representation—in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the third consecutive election, the Scottish National Party (SNP) were returned as the largest party with nine seats, but remained shy of an overall majority. Labour gained back some of the ground they had lost at the previous election and were again returned as the second-largest party with five seats. The Conservatives lost 40 per cent of their seats to return three councillors, while the Greens their first seat in a Clackmannanshire election.

The minority SNP administration retained control of the council with incumbent council leader Cllr Ellen Forson re-elected to the post. Cllr Donald Balsillie was elected Provost and Cllr Phil Fairlie was selected as the council's first convener.

Background

Previous election

Main article: 2017 Clackmannanshire Council election

At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) again won the most seats and governed with a minority administration, having returned eight councillors. Labour experienced heavy losses as their number fell from eight to five; they became the second largest party. The Conservatives made a net gain of four to hold five seats. ^{[1] [2]}

2017 Clackmannanshire Council election result

	Party	Seats	Vote share
	SNP	8	37.1%
	Labour	5	27.8%
	Conservatives	5	24.9%

Source: ^{[1] [2]}

Electoral system

The election used the five wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 18 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the single transferable vote (STV)—a form of proportional representation—electoral system where candidates are ranked in order of preference. ^[3]

Composition

The only change to the composition of the council came in March 2018 when Conservative councillor Chris Dixon resigned from the party and sat as an independent. ^{[2] [4]} Three by-elections were held and resulted in two SNP holds ^{[5] [6]} and a Conservative hold. ^[7]

Composition of Clackmannanshire Council

	Party	2017 election	Dissolution
	SNP	8	8
	Labour	5	5
	Conservative	5	4
	Independent	0	1

Retiring councillors

Retiring councillors

Ward	Party		Retiring councillor
Clackmannanshire West		Labour	George Matchett
		SNP	Tina Murphy
			Les Sharp
Clackmannanshire North		Labour	Dave Clark
		SNP	Helen Lewis
Clackmannanshire Central		Labour	Derek Stewart
		Conservative	Mike Watson
Clackmannanshire South		Independent	Chris Dixon
Clackmannanshire East		SNP	Graham Lindsay

Source: ^{[2] [8]}

Candidates

The total number of candidates increased from 35 in 2017 to 36. The SNP again stood the most candidates at nine. However, this was two less than they had fielded in 2017. Similarly, the number of Labour candidates was less than 2017, with eight candidates standing across the five wards—one fewer than 2017. The Conservatives stood six candidates—up one from 2017—while the Greens also contested every ward, standing five candidates—the same number as they had in 2017. The number of Liberal Democrats standing (three) was one fewer than in 2017 and the number of independent candidates (three) increased by two. For the first time, the Alba Party contested an election in Clackmannanshire, standing two candidates. ^{[2] [8]}

Result

2022 Clackmannanshire Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	9	1	0	1	50.0	39.4	6,765	2.3
	Labour	5	0	0		27.8	23.8	4,091	4.0
	Conservative	3	0	2	2	16.7	23.2	3,996	1.7
	Scottish Green	1	1	0	1	5.6	8.4	1,438	1.9
	Independent	0	0	0		0.0	2.5	423	2.1
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0		0.0	2.0	350	1.1
	Alba	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	128	New
Total		18						17,191

Source: ^[8]

Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 4 May 2017. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils. ^{[9] [10]}

Ward summary

Results of the 2022 Clackmannanshire Council election by ward

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SNP		Lab		Con		Green		Others
Clackmannanshire West	43.6	2	26.8	1	22.8	1	4.0	0	2.7	0	4
Clackmannanshire North	41.4	2	18.7	1	21.9	1	5.7	0	12.3	0	4
Clackmannanshire Central	43.5	2	34.7	1	17.3	0	4.5	0			3
Clackmannanshire South	37.9	2	23.1	1	16.5	0	19.5	1	3.0	0	4
Clackmannanshire East	30.8	1	19.6	1	37.3	1	6.3	0	6.0	0	3
Total	39.4	9	23.8	5	23.2	3	8.4	1	5.2	0	18

Source: ^[8]

Seats changing hands

Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in the political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.

Seats changing hands

Seat	2017			2022
	Party		Member	Party		Member
Clackmannanshire Central		Conservative	Mike Watson		SNP	Jane McTaggart
Clackmannanshire South		Conservative	Chris Dixon [Note 1]		Green	Bryan Quinn

Notes

1. ^
   In 2017, Chris Dixon was elected as a Conservative candidate but later resigned from the party. ^{[2] [4]}

Ward results

Clackmannanshire West

The SNP (2), Conservatives (1) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Clackmannanshire West - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Phil Fairlie	24.0	875
	Conservative	Darren Lee	22.8	830
	Labour	Mark McLuckie	21.6	787
	SNP	Graham Lindsay	19.6	715	844
	Labour	Daniel Rooney	5.2	190	192
	Scottish Green	Cara Quinn	4.0	147	153
	Liberal Democrats	Laura Quin	2.7	99	101
Electorate: 8,936  Valid: 3,643  Spoilt: 111  Quota: 729  Turnout: 42.0%

Source: ^{[11] [12]}

Clackmannanshire North

The SNP (2), Conservatives (1) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Clackmannanshire North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Donald Balsillie	26.4	1,062
	Conservative	Martha Benny	21.9	884
	Labour	William Keogh	18.7	754	764	784	790	795	852
	SNP	Fiona Law	15.0	605	799	800	848
	Independent	Ian Millar	7.0	280	285	297	309	314	345
	Scottish Green	Clare Andrews	5.7	231	253	256	269	287	326
	Liberal Democrats	Gordon Bruce	3.2	128	132	148	148	150
	Alba	Eva Comrie	2.1	84	93	95
Electorate: 8,643  Valid: 4,028  Spoilt: 111  Quota: 806  Turnout: 47.9%

Source: ^{[13] [14]}

Clackmannanshire Central

The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Clackmannanshire Central - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Wendy Hamilton	30.4	730
	Conservative	Kate Mason	17.3	416	417	426	437	455	476
	Labour	Carolynne Hunter	13.3	320	324	332	370
	SNP	Jane McTaggart	13.1	314	419	472	481	506	519	584
	Labour	Janine Rennie	12.0	288	291	305	469	757
	Labour	Huw Sherrard	9.4	225	227	234
	Scottish Green	John Hosie	4.5	109	119
Electorate: 6,301  Valid: 2,402  Spoilt: 95  Quota: 601  Turnout: 39.6%

Source: ^{[15] [16]}

Clackmannanshire South

The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Greens gained a seat from the Conservatives.

Clackmannanshire South - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Kenneth Earle	23.1	877
	SNP	Ellen Forson	21.0	800
	Scottish Green	Bryan Quinn	19.5	742	768
	SNP	Craig Holden	16.9	643	662	697	701	720	747	800
	Conservative	William Marlin	16.5	629	653	653	654	658	688
	Independent	Hugh van Lierop	1.8	68	77	78	79	92
	Alba	Matthew Reilly	1.2	44	47	47	47
Electorate: 9,357  Valid: 3,803  Spoilt: 100  Quota: 761  Turnout: 41.7%

Source: ^{[17] [18]}

Clackmannanshire East

The SNP, Conservatives and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Clackmannanshire East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Scott Harrison	30.8	1,021
	Conservative	Denis Coyne	30.4	1,008
	Labour	Kathleen Martin	19.6	650	685	692	709	760	951
	Conservative	Neil Gault	6.9	229	232	384	405	417	435
	Scottish Green	Marion Robertson	6.3	209	302	305	323	377
	Liberal Democrats	Angus Myles	3.7	123	136	140	153
	Independent	Les Calderwood	2.3	75	82	85
Electorate: 7,004  Valid: 3,315  Spoilt: 46  Quota: 829  Turnout: 48.0%

Source: ^{[19] [20]}

Aftermath

Incumbent council leader Ellen Forson said the result was "a vindication of all the hard work" the SNP administrations had done over the past decade. The party again formed a minority administration with Cllr Forson re-elected as council leader and Cllr Graham Lindsay elected as depute leader. The role of Provost was split following the creation of the convener post. The Provost would remain a ceremonial post, with the convener taking on the administrative responsibilities. Cllr Phil Fairlie was elected as the council's first convener, with Cllr Donald Balsillie elected as Provost. Cllr Craig Holden took on the roles of deputy convener and deputy Provost. ^{[21] [22] [23]}

Following the election, the leadership of the Labour group changed. Cllr Kenny Earle and Cllr Kathleen Martin stood down as leader and deputy leader respectively. Cllr Janine Rennie was selected to replace Earle as leader while Cllr Mark McLuckie was chosen as deputy leader. ^[24]

In December 2022, Clackmannanshire South councillor Craig Holden resigned from the SNP group citing a difference of opinions and became an independent. He had previously represented the ward as an independent councillor between 2007 and 2012. ^[25] Cllr Holden was replaced as deputy Provost by Cllr Jane McTaggart and as deputy convener by Cllr Balsillie in February 2023. ^[26]

References

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6. "Newly-elected Jane McTaggart ready to roll sleeves up". Alloa Advertiser. 2 April 2019. Archived from the original on 14 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
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16. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 3 Clackmannanshire Central" (PDF). Clackmannanshire Council. 6 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
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18. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 4 Clackmannanshire South" (PDF). Clackmannanshire Council. 6 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
19. "Declaration of Results Report Ward 5 Clackmannanshire East" (PDF). Clackmannanshire Council. 6 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
20. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 5 Clackmannanshire East" (PDF). Clackmannanshire Council. 6 May 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
21. Bakonyi, Rajmund (6 May 2022). "Scottish Council Elections: Clackmannanshire returns nine SNP councillors". Alloa Advertiser. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
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23. Bakonyi, Rajmund (25 May 2022). "Duties of Clackmannanshire provost could be split". Alloa Advertiser. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
24. Van Reenen, Danyel (23 May 2022). "Clacks Labour appoint new leader and deputy leader". Alloa Advertiser. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
25. Faulds, Chris (20 December 2022). "Alloa councillor to stand as independent after leaving SNP". Alloa Advertiser. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
26. "Minutes of meeting of the Clackmannanshire Council held in the Council Chamber, Kilncraigs, Alloa, on Thursday 2 February 2023 at 9.30 am" (PDF). Clackmannanshire Council. 2 February 2023. Retrieved 31 March 2024.