Falkirk Council elections

Falkirk Council in Scotland holds elections every five years, previously holding them every four years from its creation as a single-tier authority in 1995 to 2007.

Council elections

As a district council

Year	SNP	Labour	Conservative	Independent
1974	11	17	1	7
1977	22	8	2	4
1980 [a]	4	27	2	3 [b]
1984	7	25	2	2
1988	10	20	3	3 [b]
1992	14	16	3	3

1. New ward boundaries. ^[1]
2. Includes 1 Independent Labour.

As a unitary authority

Year	SNP	Labour	Conservative	Independent
1995	8	23	2	3
1999 [a]	9	15	2	6 [b]
2003	9	14	2	7
2007 [c]	13	14	2	3
2012	13	14	2	3
2017 [d]	12	9	7	2
2022	12	9	5	4

1. New ward boundaries. ^[2]
2. Includes 1 Independent Labour.
3. Change to single transferable vote system and new ward boundaries.
4. New ward boundaries. ^[3]

By-elections

2003-2007

Town Centre By-Election 25 March 2004 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Pat Reid	594	38.8	−4.3
	SNP	James Anderson	506	33.1	+3.8
	Conservative	Alison Harris	241	15.8	−1.8
	Scottish Senior Citizens	James Nimmo	92	6.0	+6.0
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Watson	58	3.8	−6.1
	Scottish Socialist	Mhairi McAlpine	39	2.5	+2.5
Majority			88	5.8
Turnout			1,530
	Labour hold		Swing

Inchyra By-Election 16 December 2004 ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	Angus MacDonald	603	55.7	+41.3
	Labour	Stephen Barr	282	26.1	−1.9
	Independent	Thomas Wilson	169	15.6	+15.6
	Independent	Jimmy Dunn	28	2.6	+2.6
Majority			321	29.7
Turnout			1,082
	SNP gain from Independent		Swing

Herbertshire By-Election 11 August 2005 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	SNP	John McNally	1,019	62.7	+27.3
	Labour	Jennifer Steel	532	32.7	−21.5
	Conservative	Malcolm McDonald	46	2.8	−7.6
	Scottish Socialist	Daniel Quinlan	29	1.8	+1.8
Majority			487	30.0
Turnout			1,626
	SNP gain from Labour		Swing

2007-2012

Bo'ness and Blackness By-Election 19 November 2009 ^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	SNP	Ann Ritchie	57.5	1,604
	Labour	Ainslie Lennox	29.5	823
	Conservative	Lynn Munro	10.2	283
	Liberal Democrats	Gavin Chomczuk	2.8	79
	SNP hold
Valid: 2,789  Spoilt: 26  Quota: 1,408  Turnout: 2,815

Bo'ness and Blackness By-Election 10 June 2011 ^[8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	SNP	Sandy Turner	57.8	1,621
	Labour	David Aitchison	31.9	893
	Conservative	Lynn Munro	8.2	231
	Independent	Gerry Lawton	2.1	59
	SNP hold
Valid: 2,804  Spoilt: 19  Quota: 1,403  Turnout: 2,823

2012-2017

Denny and Banknock By-Election 13 August 2015 ^[9]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	SNP	Paul Garner	69.1	2,576
	Labour	Andrew Bell	14.7	549
	Conservative	David Grant	11.6	431
	Scottish Green	Brian Capaloff	4.6	170
	SNP hold
Valid: 3,726  Spoilt: 34  Quota: 1,864  Turnout: 3,760

2017-2022

Bonnybridge and Larbert By-Election 15 February 2018 ^{[10] [11]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Niall Coleman	38.6	1,295	1,300	1,354	1,619	1,866
	Conservative	George Stevenson	32.4	1,088	1,096	1,115	1,280
	Labour	Linda Gow	24.2	813	821	858
	Scottish Green	David Robertson	3.7	124	129
	UKIP	Stuart Martin	1.0	35
	SNP hold
Valid: 3,355  Spoilt: 30  Quota: 1,678  Turnout: 3,385

Falkirk South By-Election 14 October 2021 ^{[12] [13]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Emma Russell	39.2	1,691	1,844	2,019	2,472
	Conservative	Sarah Patrick	38.9	1,678	1,694	1,903
	Labour	James Marshall	15.7	678	733
	Scottish Green	Stuart Duffin	6.2	267
	SNP gain from Labour
Valid: 4,313  Spoilt: 44  Quota: 2,157  Turnout: 4,364

2022-2027

Falkirk South By-Election 17 October 2024 ^[14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Claire Aitken	30.5	1,014	1,048	1,090	1,132	1,161	1,329	1,724
	SNP	Carol Anne Beattie	31.3	1,043	1,048	1,113	1,156	1,189	1,218
	Conservative	David Grant	14.7	488	498	503	524	652
	Reform UK	Stuart Martin	9.9	330	341	343	371
	Independent	Sharron McKean	5.5	184	199	216
	Scottish Green	Tom McLaughlin	4.5	151	161
	Liberal Democrats	Sean McCay	3.6	119
	Labour hold
Valid: 3,329  Spoilt: 36  Quota: 1,665  Turnout: 3,365

References

1. "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
2. "Third Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements - Falkirk Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements Final Recommendations - Falkirk Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
4. "Falkirk Council By-Election 25th March 2004" (PDF). Falkirk Council. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
5. "LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTION Thursday 16 December 2004" (PDF). Falkirk Council. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
6. "LOCAL GOVERNMENT BY-ELECTION – THURSDAY 11 AUGUST 2005" (PDF). Falkirk Council. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
7. "Microsoft Word – LOCAL GOVERNMENT BY.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2012.
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2012.
9. "By-election results – Ward 3 – Denny and Banknock – 13 August 2015 | Falkirk Council". falkirk.gov.uk.
10. Pitcaithly, Mary (16 February 2018). "Bonnybridge and Larbert by-election result". Falkirk Council. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
11. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report" (PDF). Falkirk Council. 15 February 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2021.
12. Pitcaithly, Mary (16 February 2018). "Falkirk South by-election result". Falkirk Council. Archived from the original on 13 October 2021. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
13. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report" (PDF). Falkirk Council. 15 February 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2021.
14. "Candidate Votes Per Stage Report Ward 7 Falkirk South" (PDF). Falkirk Council. 18 October 2024. Retrieved 19 October 2024.