East Lothian Council

East Lothian Council
Full council election every 5 years.
Coat of arms
East Lothian Council logo
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Preceded by	East Lothian District Council
Leadership
Provost	John McMillan, Labour since 23 May 2017 [1]
Leader	Norman Hampshire, Labour since 16 November 2021
Chief Executive	Laurence Rockey since 22 April 2025 [2]
Structure
Seats	22
Political groups	Administration (10)   Labour (10) Other parties (12)   SNP (6)   Conservatives (4)   Green Party (1)   Independent (1)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	2027
Meeting place
Council Chamber, Haddington Town House
Website
www.eastlothian.gov.uk

East Lothian Council is one of the 32 local government councils in Scotland covering the East Lothian area. Since the last boundary changes in 2017, 22 councillors have been elected from 6 wards.

History

East Lothian District Council had been created in 1975 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, as one of four districts within the Lothian region (along with Edinburgh, Midlothian and West Lothian, each having some differences from the territory of their corresponding historic counties). All four districts of Lothian became single tier local authorities in 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, when the council adopted its current name as East Lothian Council. ^[3]

East Lothian District Council contains twenty Community Councils. ^[4] A Community Council is a voluntary organisation set up by statute by the Local Authority and run by local residents to act on behalf of its area as the most local tier of elected representation. The Association of East Lothian Community Councils (AELCC) is a representative forum for East Lothian District Council community councils. ^[5] A list of Community Councils is maintained by the local authority. ^[6]

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2007. It has been run by a minority Labour minority administration since 2017.

The first election to the East Lothian District Council was held in 1974, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new system came into force on 16 May 1975. A shadow authority was again elected in 1995 ahead of the reforms which came into force on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1975 has been as follows: ^[7]

East Lothian District Council

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1975–1996

East Lothian Council

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1996–2007
	No overall control	2007–

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Norman Murray [8] [9]		Labour	1 Apr 1996	May 2007
David Berry [10] [11]		SNP	15 May 2007	8 Jun 2010
Paul McLennan [11] [12]		SNP	8 Jun 2010	May 2012
Willie Innes [13] [14] [15]		Labour	15 May 2012	24 Oct 2021
Norman Hampshire [16]		Labour	16 Nov 2021

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes up to August 2025, the composition of the council was: ^[17]

Party		Councillors
	Labour	10
	SNP	6
	Conservative	4
	Scottish Green	1
	Independent	1
Total		22

The next election is due in 2027. ^[17]

Elections

Main article: East Lothian Council elections

Map of the area's single-member wards with the results of the 2003 East Lothian Council election, the last to use that system

Since 2007 elections have been held every five years under the single transferable vote system, introduced by the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Election results since 1995 have been as follows: ^[7]

Year	Seats	Labour	SNP	Conservative	Green	Liberal Democrats	Independent / Other	Notes
1995	18	15	0	3	0	0	0	Labour majority
1999	23	17	1	5	0	0	0	New ward boundaries. [18] Labour majority
2003	23	17	1	4	0	1	0	Labour majority
2007	23	7	7	2	0	6	0	New ward boundaries. [19] SNP / Lib Dem coalition
2012	23	10	9	3	0	0	1	Labour / Conservative coalition
2017	22	9	6	7	0	0	1	New ward boundaries. [20] Labour minority
2022	22	9	7	4	1	0	1 [a]	Labour minority

Premises

The council is based at John Muir House, Haddington, which forms a modern extension to the County Buildings, Haddington, which had been the headquarters of the pre-1975 East Lothian County Council. Council meetings are held at Haddington Town House. ^{[21] [22]}

Wards

Ward number	Ward name	Location	Seats
1	Musselburgh		4
2	Preston, Seton and Gosford		4
3	Tranent, Wallyford and Macmerry		4
4	North Berwick Coastal		3
5	Haddington and Lammermuir		4
6	Dunbar and East Linton		3
Total			22

Notes

1. Appeared on Ballot as Labour and currently sits as a Labour councilor

References

1. "Council minutes, 23 May 2017". East Lothian Council. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
2. Ritchie, Cameron (26 April 2025). "New East Lothian Council chief executive Laurence Rockey praises staff". East Lothian Courier. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
3. See also Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website Archived 1 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine (OPSI home page Archived 18 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine )
4. Community Councils in East Lothian
5. The Association of East Lothian Community Councils
6. A list of Community Councils in East Lothian
7. "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "East Lothian" in search box to see specific results.)
8. Booth, Jenny (6 March 1996). "'A budget can't be done on back of an envelope'". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. p. 4. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
9. Douglas, Julie (October 2011). "'Great politician' dies aged 56" (PDF). Musselburgh News. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
10. "Council minutes, 15 May 2007". East Lothian Council. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
11. "East Lothian Council boss David Berry steps down after 3 years". The Scotsman. 19 May 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
12. "Tearful, cheerful... and confrontational!". East Lothian Courier. 10 May 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
13. "Council minutes, 15 May 2012". East Lothian Council. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
14. "Death of Council Leader Councillor Willie Innes". East Lothian Council. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
15. "East Lothian Council leader Willie Innes dies after long illness". BBC News. 25 October 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
16. "Council minutes, 16 November 2021". East Lothian Council. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
17. "East Lothian". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
18. "The East Lothian (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1998", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1998/2804, retrieved 22 December 2022
19. Scottish Parliament. The East Lothian (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2006 as made, from legislation.gov.uk .
20. Scottish Parliament. The East Lothian (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2016 as made, from legislation.gov.uk .
21. "£600,000 of work set to be carried out on Haddington Town House". East Lothian Courier. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
22. "Council Meeting Agenda". East Lothian Council. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2021.