Shetland Islands Council elections

Shetland Islands 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 an islands council

Year	Labour	Liberal Democrats	Shetland Movement	Independent
1974	4	0	0	18
1978 [a]	4	0	0	21
1982	2	0	0	23
1986	4	0	5	16
1990	1	0	7	17 [b]
1994 [c]	1	2	6	17 [b]

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

As a unitary authority

Year	Green	Labour	SNP	Liberal Democrats	Independent
1999	0	0	0	9	13 [a]
2003	0	0	0	5	17
2007 [b]	0	0	0	0	22
2012	0	0	0	0	22
2017 [c]	0	0	1	0	21
2022 [d]	1	1	1	0	20 [e]

1. Includes 1 Independent Liberal.
2. Change to single transferable vote system and new ward boundaries.
3. New ward boundaries. ^[3]
4. New ward boundaries. ^[4]
5. Includes 1 seat vacant through insufficient nominations, filled at a by-election on 4 August. ^[5]

Results maps

• 
  1978 results map
• 
  1982 results map
• 
  1986 results map
• 
  1990 results map
• 
  1999 results map
• 
  2003 results map
• 
  2007 results map
• 
  2012 results map
• 
  2017 results map
• 
  2022 results map

By-elections

2007-2012

Lerwick South By-Election 28 February 2008 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Jonathan Wills	25.1	332	335	350	361	402	462	576
	Independent	Peter Campbell	17.6	233	240	246	272	317	370	465
	Independent	Lyle Williamson	17.2	228	229	234	245	286	337
	Independent	Robbie Leith	13.8	183	188	204	216	228
	Conservative	Maurice Mullay	12.8	169	171	177	199
	Independent	Geoff Feather	6.6	87	91	96
	Independent	Larry Deyell	4.8	63	66
	Independent	Vic Thomas	2.2	29
	Independent hold
Electorate: 3,382  Valid: 1,324  Spoilt: 7  Quota: 663  Turnout: 1,331

Shetland Central By-Election 15 December 2011 ^[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Independent	David Sandison	48.4	332	352
	Independent	Stephen Morgan	16.9	116	124
	Independent	Ian Scott	15.6	107	115
	Independent	Robert Williamson	10.9	75	81
	Conservative	Clive Richardson	4.2	29
	Independent	Scotty van der Tol	3.9	27
	Independent hold
Electorate: 2,300  Valid: 686  Spoilt: 4  Quota: 344  Turnout: 690

2022-2027

North Isles By-Election 4 August 2022 ^[8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Independent	Robert Thomson	68.6	680
	Independent	Sonia Robertson	10.7	106
	Independent	Gary Cleaver	10.1	100
	Independent	Marie Williamson	9.3	92
	Independent	Stewart Douglas	1.3	13
	Independent gain from vacancy
Valid: 991  Spoilt: 6  Quota: 496  Turnout: 997

Shetland West By-Election 17 November 2022 ^[9]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Independent	Mark Robinson	76.4	375
	Green	Debra Nicolson	13.6	67
	SNP	Zara Pennington	10.0	49
	Independent hold
Valid: 491  Spoilt: 2  Quota: 246  Turnout: 493

Shetland North By-Election 23 January 2025 ^[10]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Independent	Andrew Hall	90.4	887
	Independent	Natasha Cornick	9.6	94
	Independent gain from Labour
Valid: 981  Spoilt: 5  Quota: 492  Turnout: 986

References

1. "Initial Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
2. "Second Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements". National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements Final Recommendations - Shetland Islands Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
4. "Shetland Islands Council Area Final Proposals" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. Retrieved 24 February 2025.
5. "Local Elections Archive Project — North Isles Ward". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
6. "Lerwick South (Shetland) 28 th February 2008". Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
7. "www.kristoferkeane.co.uk – Scottish Elections :: Shetland Central By-Election 2011". Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
8. "Declaration of Results Report North Isles Ward". Shetland Islands Council. 5 August 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
9. "Declaration of Results Ward 3 Shetland West". Shetland Islands Council. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
10. "Shetland Islands Council – Shetland North Ward - By-Election – 23 January 2025". Shetland Islands Council. Retrieved 27 October 2025.