2017 Inverclyde Council election

The 2017 elections to Inverclyde Council were held on 4 May 2017, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. It was the third successive Local Council election to run under the STV Electoral System. The election used seven wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 22 Councillors being elected, an increase of 2 from 2012 and an additional ward. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

2017 Inverclyde Council election
← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →

All 22 seats to Inverclyde Council
12 seats needed for a majority
Turnout48.6%
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank
Leader Stephen McCabe Chris McEleny Ronald Ahlfeld
Party Labour SNP Independent
Leader's seat Inverclyde East Inverclyde West Inverclyde West
Last election 10 seats, 44.2% 6 seats, 25.4% 1 seat, 11.4%
Seats before 9 6 2
Seats won 8 7 4
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 1 Increase 3
Popular vote 7,702 9,368 4,766
Percentage 26.9% 32.8% 16.7%
Swing Decrease 17.3% Increase 7.4% Increase 5.3%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader David Wilson Ciano Rebecchi
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat Inverclyde East Inverclyde South West
Last election 1 seat, 10.1% 2 seats, 7.9%
Seats before 1 2
Seats won 2 1
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 5,046 1,697
Percentage 17.6% 5.9%
Swing Increase 7.5% Decrease 2.0%

Council Leader before election

Stephen McCabe
Labour

Council Leader after election

Stephen McCabe
Labour

Following the 2017 election, the Labour Party won the most seats but not enough to form majority control. At the first full meeting of the council, Labour formed a minority administration with Conservative and Independent support with Martin Brennan elected Provost and Stephen McCabe retaining his position as leader of the council.

Results

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2017 Inverclyde Council election result
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 8 0 2   2 36.4 26.9 7,702   17.3
  SNP 7 1 0   1 31.8 32.8 9,368   7.4
  Independent 4 3 0   3 18.1 16.7 4,766   5.3
  Conservative 2 1 0   1 9.0 17.6 5,046   7.5
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 1   1 4.5 5.9 1,697   2.0
  UKIP 0 0 0   0.0 0.1 20 New

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

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Inverclyde East

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  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2012-2017: Ward changed to 3 councillors. Labour lose 1 seat.
Inverclyde East - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Conservative David Wilson (incumbent) 39.98 1,767  
SNP Christopher Curley 27.01 1,194  
Labour Stephen McCabe (incumbent) 21.56 953 1,128.07
Independent Jim Boyland 8.05 356 427.45
Liberal Democrats Jacci Stoyle 3.39 150 318.71
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,420   Spoilt: 52   Quota: 1,106   Turnout: 4,472 (52%)  

Inverclyde East Central

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  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
  • 2012-2017: Independent gain 1 seat from Labour
Inverclyde East Central - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Labour Robert Moran (incumbent) 32.33 1,193          
SNP Jim MacLeod * 28.35 1,046          
Conservative Iain MacLeod 15.58 575 603.52 604.57 629.76 655.21  
Independent Drew McKenzie 12.74 470 539.25 550.19 581.21 795.45 1,059.19
SNP Donna Pickett 9.29 343 367.9 461.03 472.1    
Liberal Democrats Robbie Henderson 1.71 63 89.71 92.99      
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,690   Spoilt: 93   Quota: 923   Turnout: 3,783 (47.6%)  
  • = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward.

Inverclyde Central

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  • 2017: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2012-2017: New ward
Inverclyde Central - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
SNP Jim McEleny 32.5 973        
Labour Michael McCormick * 32.4 970        
Labour Colin Jackson 14.53 435 443.52 600.95 622.37 751.33
Conservative Ian Bryson 9.22 276 276.92 280.57 302.93  
SNP Jayne Peberdy 8.52 255 452.29 464.59 477.97 489.66
Liberal Democrats Kenny Shepherd * 2.84 85 87.3 94.36    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 2,994   Spoilt: 128   Quota: 749   Turnout: 3,122 (41.1%)  
  • = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward.

Inverclyde North

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  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
  • 2017: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2012-2017: Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats
Inverclyde North - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Labour Martin Brennan (incumbent) 24.74 1,279          
Conservative Graeme Brooks 19.27 996 1,015.92 1,111.6      
SNP Elizabeth Robertson 16.72 864 871.28 891.47 893.59 957.12 1,687.09
SNP Philomena Donnachie 15.52 802 812.15 823.15 824.88 858.12  
Labour Jim Clocherty (incumbent) 10.41 538 705.99 761.29 776.23 883.69 923.98
Independent Eddie McEleny 7.33 379 388.39 451.92 475.11    
Liberal Democrats Alasdair Higgins 6.02 311 319.81        
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,169   Spoilt: 139   Quota: 1,034   Turnout: 5,308 (51%)  

Inverclyde West

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  • 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
  • 2012-2017: Independent gain from Labour
Inverclyde West - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Independent Ronald Ahlfeld (incumbent) 45.13 2,189            
SNP Christopher McEleny (incumbent) 23.98 1,163 1,272.68          
Labour Alan Holliday 12.04 584 687.44 698.97 702.88 778.38 926.2  
Conservative James Kelly 10.52 510 600.06 601.2 613.92 663.44    
Independent Lynne Quinn 4.1 199 690.34 711.52 714.47 782.73 975.4 1,301.8
Liberal Democrats George White 3.81 185 271.05 277.16 280.73      
UKIP Alan Taylor 0.41 20 28.47 29.4        
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,850   Spoilt: 77   Quota: 1,213   Turnout: 4,927 (57.1%)  

Inverclyde South West

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  • 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
  • 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
  • 2012-2017: No change
Inverclyde South West - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SNP Innes Nelson (incumbent) 25.85 1,059            
Labour Gerry Dorrian (incumbent) 19.14 784 785.12 809.16 858.35 961.03 963.12 1,217.06
Liberal Democrats Ciano Rebecchi (incumbent) 19.0 778 779.64 804.7 897.89 1,030.18    
Conservative Dominic Jack 15.5 635 635.32 647.32 695.39 703.77 704.75  
SNP Alan Nicholson 9.13 374 401.54 438.77 504.31      
Independent Gary Purdon 6.96 285 286.09 344.12        
Independent J.B. Houston 4.42 181 181.42          
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,096   Spoilt: 76   Quota: 1,025   Turnout: 4,172 (45.5%)  

Inverclyde South

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  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
  • 2012-2017: Independent gain from Labour
Inverclyde South - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
SNP John Crowther 28.93 978              
Labour Natasha Murphy 28.58 966              
Independent Tommy McVey 15.74 532 538.07 566.77 592.83 657.11 703.23 817.23 993.64
SNP Agnes McAuley 9.38 317 426.59 438.26 454.79 472.9 482.35 490.97  
Conservative Maureen McNeil 8.49 287 287.54 298.72 303.97 314.23 352.95    
Liberal Democrats Anne Duffy 3.7 125 127.29 142.08 146.57 155.22      
Independent John Cooke 3.14 106 110.05 115.76 124.52        
Independent Vaughan Jones (incumbent) 2.04 69 70.75 74.48          
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,380   Spoilt: 74   Quota: 846   Turnout: 3,454 (43.8%)  

Aftermath

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Innes Nelson resigned from the SNP on 25 October 2017 following an assault allegation.[1] The charges were dropped on 31 October 2018 and he re-joined the party.[2]

Former SNP group leader Chris McEleny defected to the Alba Party on the announcement by Alex Salmond of its formation on 26 March 2021. His father Jim McEleny later defected to Alba as well.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "Councillor quits SNP group over Greenock traffic warden assault allegation". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ^ "Charge against councillor dropped". Greenock Telegraph.
  3. ^ "Salmond launches rival party to SNP for Holyrood election". HeraldScotland.