1986 Shetland Islands Council election

An election to Shetland Islands Council was held on 8 May 1986 as part of the Scottish regional elections. The election saw Labour gain another two seats on the Shetland Islands Council, and also saw the Shetland Movement contest the election on a party political platform for the first time. The outgoing three-term Convener, A.I. Tulloch, died just one day before the election.

1986 Shetland Islands Council election

May 4, 1986 (1986-05-04)
All 25 seats to Shetland Islands Council 13 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Edward Thomason Party Independent Shetland Movement Labour Leader's seat Lerwick Harbour Last election 23 0 2 Seats won 16 5 4 Seat change 7 5 2 Popular vote 4,015 819 997 Percentage 66.9% 13.6% 16.6% Swing 20.9% N/A 10.1%
Council Convener before election A.I. Tulloch Independent Council Convener after election Edward Thomason Shetland Movement

Results by electoral district.

Aggregate results

Shetland Islands Council election, 1986

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Independent	16	0	6	7	64.0	66.9	4,015	20.9
	Shetland Movement	5	5	0	5	20.0	13.6	819	N/A
	Labour	4	2	0	2	16.0	16.6	997	10.1
	Independent Progressive	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.8	107	New
	Independent Liberal	0	0	0	0	0.0	1.0	60	New

Ward Results

Aithsting and Sandsting

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Florence Grains	211	51.2%
	Independent	Harold Leask	201	48.8%
Majority			10	2.4%
	Independent hold

Bressay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Irvine (Incumbent)	135	69.2%
	Independent Liberal	Roy Whitehead	60	30.8%
Majority			75	38.4%
	Independent hold

Burra and Trondra

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Shetland Movement	William Cumming (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Shetland Movement gain from Independent

Delting North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Andrea Manson (Incumbent)	319	68.0%
	Labour	Fred Amphlett	150	32.0%
Majority			169	36.0%
	Independent hold

Delting South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Albert Hunter (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Dunrossness North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Tait (Incumbent)	288	85.0%
	Independent	Annette Mitchell	51	15.0%
Majority			237	60.0%
	Independent hold

Dunrossness South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Magnus Flaws	195	78.0%
	Independent	Raymond Bentley (Incumbent)	55	22.0%
Majority			140	56.0%
	Independent hold

Gulberwick, Quarff and Cunningsburgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Joan McLeod (Incumbent)	240	55.3%
	Independent	David Nicolson	194	44.7%
Majority			46	10.6%
	Independent hold

Lerwick Breiwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Cecil Eunson	203	60.6%
	Independent	Dorothy Stables	107	31.9%
	Independent	Robert Tait	25	7.5%
Majority			96	28.7%
	Independent hold

Lerwick Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Bill Smith (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Labour hold

Lerwick Clickimin

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Shetland Movement	T.M.Y. Manson (Incumbent)	216	74.2%
	Independent	Ian Byrne	75	25.8%
Majority			141	48.4%
	Shetland Movement gain from Independent

Lerwick Harbour

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Shetland Movement	Edward Thomason (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Shetland Movement gain from Independent

Lerwick North

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Leonard Groat (Incumbent)	328	55.9%
	Independent	Michael Thomson	259	44.1%
Majority			69	11.8%
	Labour hold

Lerwick Sound

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Shetland Movement	John Graham (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Shetland Movement gain from Independent

Lerwick Twageos

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	James J. Paton	281	70.6%
	Shetland Movement	Sandy Cluness (Incumbent)	117	29.4%
Majority			164	41.2%
	Labour gain from Independent

Nesting and Lunnasting

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Benji Hunter (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Northmavine

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Chris Dowle (Incumbent)	238	76.3%
	Independent	William Beattie	74	23.7%
Majority			164	52.6%
	Labour hold

Sandness and Walls

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Nicolson	179	42.5%
	Shetland Movement	Gordon Walterson (Incumbent)	163	38.7%
	Independent	Chris Young	79	18.8%
Majority			16	3.8%
	Independent hold

Sandwick

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Shetland Movement	Malcolm Bray (Incumbent)	165	47.3%
	Independent	Peter Watts	124	35.5%
	Independent	Graham Jamieson	60	17.2%
Majority			41	11.8%
	Shetland Movement gain from Independent

Scalloway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	William Anderson (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Unst

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Elizabeth Nicolson	186	42.6%
	Shetland Movement	Tom Ellis	158	36.2%
	Independent	John Ritch	48	11.0%
	Independent	Alan Fraser (Incumbent)	45	10.3%
Majority			28	6.4%
	Independent hold

Whalsay & Skerries

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Henry Stewart (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Whiteness, Weisdale and Tingwall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Alex Arthur	194	43.4%
	Independent	Cecil Eunson (Incumbent)	172	38.5%
	Independent	Charles Johnson	81	18.1%
Majority			22	4.9%
	Independent hold

Yell North and Fetlar

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Johnson (Incumbent)	unopposed	unopposed
Majority			unopposed	unopposed
	Independent hold

Yell South

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Stewart Gray (Incumbent)	152	43.8%
	Independent	Robert Johnson	114	32.9%
	Independent	Daniel Spence	81	23.3%
Majority			38	10.9%
	Independent hold

By-elections since 1986

1987 Sandwick by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	James Smith	147	36.8%
	Independent	Eddie Barclay	136	34.0%
	Independent	Graham Jamieson	117	29.3%
Majority			11	2.8%
	Independent gain from Shetland Movement

1988 Lerwick Twageos by-election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Michael Johnston	246	70.1%
	Labour	Robert Adair	66	18.8%
	Independent	Ian Selbie	39	11.1%
Majority			11	2.8%
	Independent gain from Labour