1978 Orkney Islands Council election

The 1978 Orkney Islands Council election, the second election to Orkney Islands Council, was held on 2 May 1978 as part of the wider 1978 Scottish regional elections. Only independent candidates contested the election and ten seats were uncontested.

1978 Orkney Islands Council election

2 May 1978
All 24 seats to Orkney Islands Council 13 seats needed for a majority
First party   Leader George Marwick Party Independent Leader's seat Birsay (defeated) Last election 24 Seats won 24 Seat change 1 Popular vote 4,458 Percentage 100.0% Swing 0.0%
Council Convener before election George Marwick Independent Council Convener after election Edwin Eunson Independent

Results

1978 Orkney Islands election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	24	1	0	1	100.0	100.0	4,458	0.0

Ward Results

Kirkwall St Magnus

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. MacRae (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Kirkwall Weyland

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Melrose	170	70.2%
	Independent	James Hine	47	19.4%
	Independent	L. Mowat	24	9.9%
Majority			123	50.8%
	Independent hold

Broadsands

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Edwin Eunson (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

St Olaf's

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Marwick	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Quoybanks

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	A. Stranger	138	63.3%
	Independent	E. Rose	50	22.9%
	Independent	F. Mearo	30	13.8%
Majority			88	40.4%
	Independent hold

Papdale

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Allan Taylor	162	87.6%
	Independent	Alma Fotheringhame	22	11.9%
Majority			140	75.7%
	Independent hold

Stromness West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Ronald Miller	157	54.3%
	Independent	William Knight (Incumbent)	132	45.7%
Majority			25	8.6%
	Independent hold

Stromness Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Brenda Robertson (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Stromness North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Chalmers (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

St Ola

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	E. Harcus	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Firth & Harray

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Laura Grimond (Incumbent)	278	64.6%
	Independent	Frank Tait	152	35.4%
Majority			126	29.2%
	Independent hold

Stenness & Orphir

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Anderson	202	52.2%
	Independent	Susan Flint	184	47.5%
Majority			18	4.7%
	Independent hold

Sandwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J.R.T. Robertson	151	58.5%
	Independent	W. Firth (Incumbent)	107	41.5%
Majority			44	17.0%
	Independent hold

St Andrews & Deerness

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Jackie Tait (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Birsay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	John Brown	179	52.8%
	Independent	George Marwick (Incumbent)	160	47.2%
Majority			19	4.6%
	Independent hold

Evie & Rendall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	George Stevenson (Incumbent)	153	54.4%
	Independent	William Brough	78	27.8%
	Independent	Alastair Marwick	49	17.4%
Majority			75	25.6%
	Independent hold

Holm

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Alastair Scholes (Incumbent)	196	80.3%
	Independent	R. Robertson	48	19.7%
Majority			148	60.6%
	Independent hold

South Ronaldsay & Burray

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Alex Annal (Incumbent)	311	52.6%
	Independent	Marcus Wood	279	47.2%
Majority			32	5.4%
	Independent hold

Hoy

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Ewen Traill (Incumbent)	166	43.9%
	Independent	John Groat	107	28.3%
	Independent	William Sutherland	104	27.5%
Majority			59	15.6%
	Independent hold

North Ronaldsay & Sanday

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Powrie (Incumbent)	221	65.6%
	Independent	T. Tulloch	113	33.5%
Majority			108	32.1%
	Independent hold

Westray & Papa Westray

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Scott (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Stronsay & Eday

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	G. Groat (Incumbent)	160	55.0%
	Independent	Ethel Popplewell	128	44.0%
Majority			32	11.0%
	Independent hold

Rousay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	N. Firth (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Shapinsay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	C. Zawadski (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold