East Renfrewshire Council election, 2012

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East Renfrewshire Council election, 2012

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  2007 May 3, 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017  

All 20 seats to East Renfrewshire Council
11 seats needed for a majority

  First party Second party Third party
 
LeaderJim Fletcher Jim Swift Tony Buchanan
Party Labour Conservative SNP
Leader's seat Giffnock and Thornliebank Newton Mearns South Neilston, Uplawmoor and Newton Mearns North
Last election7 seats, 35.0%7 seats, 35%3 seats, 15%
Seats before 7 7 3
Seats won 8 6 4
Seat changeIncrease2.svg1Decrease2.svg1Increase2.svg1

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Danny Devlin Alex Mackie
Party Independent Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat Barrhead Giffnock and Thornliebank defeated
Last election2 seats, 10%1 seat, 5%
Seats before 2 1
Seats won 2 0
Seat change -Decrease2.svg1

East Renfrewshire Council election 2012.svg

The 6 multi-member wards

Council Leader before election

Jim Fletcher
Labour

Council Leader after election

Jim Fletcher
Labour

The 2012 East Renfrewshire Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of East Renfrewshire Council. The election used the six wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system a form of proportional representation, with 20 Councillors being elected.

Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 act of the Scottish Parliament making local elections be run under the single transferable vote

The Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which provided, amongst other things, for the election of councillors to the local authorities in Scotland by the single transferable vote system.

The single transferable vote (STV) is a voting system designed to achieve proportional representation through ranked voting in multi-seat organizations or constituencies. Under STV, an elector (voter) has a single vote that is initially allocated to their most preferred candidate. Votes are totalled and a quota derived. If their candidate achieves quota, he/she is elected and in some STV systems any surplus vote is transferred to other candidates in proportion to the voters' stated preferences. If more candidates than seats remain, the bottom candidate is eliminated with his/her votes being transferred to other candidates as determined by the voters' stated preferences. These elections and eliminations, and vote transfers if applicable, continue until there are only as many candidates as there are unfilled seats. The specific method of transferring votes varies in different systems.

Proportional representation (PR) characterizes electoral systems in which divisions in an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. If n% of the electorate support a particular political party, then roughly n% of seats will be won by that party. The essence of such systems is that all votes contribute to the result - not just a plurality, or a bare majority. The most prevalent forms of proportional representation all require the use of multiple-member voting districts, as it is not possible to fill a single seat in a proportional manner. In fact, the implementations of PR that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to include districts with large numbers of seats.

Contents

The election saw Labour gain 1 seat while also increasing their vote share. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party lost 1 seat and saw their vote share fall as they now become the second largest party on the Council. The Scottish National Party gained 1 seat to increase their numbers to 4 and remained the third largest party. Independents retained their 2 seats while the Scottish Liberal Democrats were wiped out again losing their single seat on the authority.

The Scottish Labour Party is the devolved Scottish section of the UK Labour Party.

The Scottish National Party is a Scottish nationalist and social-democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence. It is the second-largest political party by membership in the United Kingdom, behind the Labour Party and ahead of the Conservative Party, it is the third-largest by overall representation in the House of Commons, behind the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, and it is the largest political party in Scotland, where it has the most seats in the Scottish Parliament and 35 out of the 59 Scottish seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The current Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon, has served as First Minister of Scotland since November 2014.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats is a liberal and social-liberal political party in Scotland.

Following the election the Labour Party formed a Coalition with SNP and the Independent Danny Devlin. This was in effect a continuation of the previous Labour - SNP - Independent - Lib Dem coalition administration which had existed before 2012.

Election result

East Renfrewshire Local Election Result 2012
PartySeatsGainsLossesNet gain/lossSeats %Votes %Votes+/−
  Labour 8 1 0 +1 40% 31.11 10,228 +3.31
  Conservative 6 0 1 -1 30% 29.68 9,757 -4.72
  SNP 4 1 0 +1 20% 19.84 6,521 +3.84
  Independent 2 - - - 10% 14.92 4,906 +4.12
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 1 -1 0% 3.43 1,128 -6.77
  Scottish Green 0 - - - - 0.85 278 +0.25
  UKIP 0 - - - - 56 0

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Neilston, Uplawmoor and Newton Mearns North

Neilston, Uplawmoor and Newton Mearns North - 4 seats
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2Count 3Count 4Count 5Count 6Count 7Count 8
Conservative Charlie Gilbert (incumbent) 23.261417       
SNP Tony Buchanan (incumbent) 17.34 10521059 107510901294   
Labour Elaine Green (incumbent) 18.11 10991113 11221150116411791246 
Labour Paul O'Kane 17.11 10381043 105910771086109511401165
Conservative Leslie Rosin (incumbent) 10.55 640773 784817827831901902
Scottish Green Grace McCarthy 4.58 278289 327372395411  
SNP Frank Rankin 4.10 249252 262272    
Liberal Democrats Roy Provan 2.51 152162 180     
Independent Graham Williamson 2.34 142148       

Barrhead

Barrhead - 4 seats
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2Count 3Count 4Count 5Count 6
Independent Danny Devlin (incumbent) 28.791741     
Labour Betty Cunningham (incumbent) 23.431417     
Labour Kenny Hay 10.40 629726 8748809231064
SNP Tommy Reilly 11.84 716799 813819854964
SNP Douglas Yates 11.84 716776 783787824927
Independent Eddie Phillips 7.09 429563 574589692 
Conservative Tariq Parvez 5.69 344373 377395  
UKIP Sarah-Louise Hemy 0.93 5670 72   

Giffnock and Thornliebank

Giffnock and Thornliebank - 3 seats
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2Count 3
Labour Jim Fletcher (incumbent) 35.531,935  
Conservative Gordon Wallace (incumbent) 21.36 1,1631,207 1,398
SNP Vincent Waters 19.89 1,0831,209 1,375
Independent Hugh Moore 11.84 645751 994
Liberal Democrats Alex Mackie (incumbent) 11.38 620747  

Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood

Netherlee, Stamperland and Williamwood - 3 seats
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2Count 3Count 4
Labour Mary Montague (incumbent) 29.791,528   
Independent Ralph Robertson (incumbent) 29.101,493   
Conservative Gordon McCaskill (incumbent)† 20.51 1,0521,074 1,1411,205
SNP Irene Anderson 18.19 9331,006 1,0641,120
Liberal Democrats Gordon Cochrane 2.42 124171 198 

Newton Mearns South

Newton Mearns South - 3 seats
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2Count 3Count 4Count 5Count 6
Conservative Jim Swift (incumbent) 30.231,448     
Conservative Barbara Grant (incumbent) 22.99 1,1011,186 1,200   
Labour Ian McAlpine (incumbent) 17.10 819825 8448448891,115
Conservative Alistair Haw 10.23 490626 630632709819
SNP Frank Angell 12.67 607613 629629684 
Independent Bryson McNeil 5.07 243250 268268  
Liberal Democrats Anna McCurley 1.71 8284     

Busby, Clarkston and Eaglesham

Busby, Clarkston and Eaglesham - 3 seats
Party Candidate % 1st Pref Count 1 Count 2Count 3
Labour Alan Lafferty (incumbent) 32.691,763  
SNP Alastair Carmichael (incumbent) 21.60 1,1651,275 1,336
Conservative Stewart Miller (incumbent) 22.68 1,2231,260 1,301
Conservative Alec White 16.30 879890 900
Independent George Kennedy 3.95 213278 323
Liberal Democrats Ritchie Adam 2.78 150208  

    Post-Election Changes

    Nicola Sturgeon First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party

    Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon is a Scottish politician serving as the fifth and current First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) since November 2014. She is the first woman to hold either position. Sturgeon has been a member of the Scottish Parliament since 1999, first as an additional member for the Glasgow electoral region from 1999 to 2007 and as the member for Glasgow Southside since 2007.

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    References

      Source: http://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3565