2017 Midlothian Council election

The 2017 Midlothian Council election took place on 4 May 2017 to elect members of Midlothian Council. The election used the six wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 18 Councillors being elected.

2017 Midlothian Council election

← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →

All 18 seats to Midlothian Council
10 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Derek Milligan Kelly Parry Peter Smaill
Party Labour SNP Conservative
Leader's seat Bonnyrigg Midlothian West Midlothian East
Last election 8 seats, 39.49% 8 seats, 39.47% 0 seats, 8.51%
Seats before 8 8 0
Seats won 7 6 5
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease2 Increase5
Popular vote 9,887 10,038 7,444

  Fourth party Fifth party
  Blank Blank
Leader Ian Baxter Peter de Vink
Party Scottish Green Independent
Leader's seat Bonnyrigg Midlothian East
Last election 1 seats, 4.49% 1 seats, 3.75%
Seats before 1 1
Seats won 0 0
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease1
Popular vote 2,250 2,453

Council Leader before election

Cath Johnstone
SNP

Council Leader after election

Derek Milligan
Labour

It was the first time that the Conservative party had won council seats in Midlothian since the 1995 election.

Summary of results

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2017 Midlothian Council election result
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 7 0 1  1 38.89 30.20 9,887  9.29
  SNP 6 0 2  2 33.34 30.67 10,038  8.80
  Conservative 5 5 0  5 27.78 22.74 7,444  14.23
  Independent 0 0 1  1 0.00 7.49 2,453  3.74
  Scottish Green 0 0 1  1 0.00 6.87 2,250  2.38
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0  0 0.00 2.01 661  1.72

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 2012. 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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Penicuik

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  • 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2012-2017: 1 Con gain from SNP
Penicuik - 3 seats[1]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Conservative Andrew Hardie 26.2 1,517        
Labour Adam Montgomery (incumbent)† 25.6 1,482        
SNP Debbi McCall 21.0 1,212 1,214.5 1,217.9 1,336.4 1,472.8
SNP Joe Wallace (incumbent) 14.3 828 829.7 832.8 886.1 940.0
Liberal Democrats Ken Brown 7.3 425 455.7 466.9 571.6  
Scottish Green Jim Garry 5.6 329 333.1 336.5    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,793   Spoilt: 62   Quota: 1,449   Turnout: 52.3%  

Bonnyrigg

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  • 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xGreen
  • 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2012-2017 Change: 1 Con gain from Green
Bonnyrigg - 3 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Labour Derek Milligan (incumbent) 29.0 1,901          
Conservative Janet Lay-Douglas 21.6 1,415 1,425.6 1,515.9 1,521.3 1,524.7 1,708.1
SNP Dianne Alexander 18.4 1,203 1,210.0 1,222.4 1,778.9    
Scottish Green Ian Baxter (incumbent) 10.7 701 713.7 763.8 799.9 870.2 1,037.0
SNP Colin Lawrie 9.4 617 623.3 632.6      
Labour Louie Lorraine Milliken 7.1 466 665.6 715.8 728.1 741.4  
Independent George McIntyre 3.8 250 257.4        
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 6,553   Spoilt: 103   Quota: 1,639   Turnout: 48.5%  

Dalkeith

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  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2012-2017 Change: No change
Dalkeith - 3 seats[3]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SNP Colin Cassidy 27.2 1,142            
Labour Stephen Curran 23.2 976 980.7 1,000.9 1,051.6      
Labour Margot Russell (incumbent) 19.1 800 804.2 840.4 884.7 885.9 993.5 1,317.5
Conservative Robin Traquair 16.8 706 707.3 716.3 779.4 779.4 791.8  
Independent Jim Bryant (incumbent) 5.9 248 249.9 275.1        
Scottish Green Jill Simon 4.0 168 171.9          
SNP Gary Young 3.8 158 229.1 282.0 330.4 330.5    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,198   Spoilt: 121   Quota: 1,050   Turnout: 41.9%  

Midlothian West

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  • 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2012-2017 Change: 1 Con gain from SNP
Midlothian West - 3 seats[4]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Conservative Pauline Winchester 26.9 1,503            
SNP Kelly Parry (incumbent) 19.5 1,091 1,092.0 1,106.3 1,159.7 1,679.7    
Labour Russell Imrie (incumbent) 12.2 684 698.8 737.5 817.0 837.3 867.9 1,443.5
Labour Stephen Blain 11.0 612 620.1 650.1 700.2 707.3 724.1  
SNP David Temple 10.4 581 582.7 587.7 616.9      
Scottish Green Helen Blackburn 8.4 468 473.4 552.3 680.8 715.9 835.8 889.4
Independent Andrew Coventry (incumbent) 7.4 413 435.8 484.2        
Liberal Democrats Ross Laird 4.2 236 256.6          
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,588   Spoilt: 91   Quota: 1,398   Turnout: 47.2%  

Midlothian East

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  • 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2012-2017 Change: 1 Con gain from Independent
Midlothian East - 3 seats[5]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Conservative Peter Smaill 26.9 1,522      
Labour John Hackett 22.7 1,284 1,314.3 1,387.5 1,431.6
Independent Robert Hogg 18.8 1,064 1,098.0 1,169.1 1,210.2
SNP Kenneth Baird†† 15.4 872 873.1 928.1 1,485.8
SNP Louise D'Arcy-Greig 10.8 609 610.4 677.4  
Scottish Green Helen Armstrong 5.3 301 309.1    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,652   Spoilt: 68   Quota: 1,414   Turnout: 48.3%  

Midlothian South

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  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2012-2017 Change: 1 Con gain from Lab
Midlothian South - 3 seats[6]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Labour Jim Muirhead (incumbent) 24.6 1,218 1,257          
SNP Cath Johnstone (incumbent) 21.6 1,067 1,104 1,104.9 1,164.8 1,295.1    
Conservative Kieran Munro 15.8 781 801 802.0 867.0 1,048.4 1,050.7 1,249.7
SNP Ellen Scott 13.3 658 721 721.9 748.3 797.5 844.1  
Independent Jason Ferry 9.7 478 541 541.9 625.5      
Labour Bryan Pottinger (incumbent) 9.4 464 497 510.8        
Scottish Green Malcolm Spaven 5.7 283            
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,949   Spoilt: 76   Quota: 1,238   Turnout: 45.2%  

Changes since the election

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† On 10 January 2018 Penicuik Labour Cllr Adam Montgomery died following a short illness.[7] A by-election was held on 22 March 2018 and the seat was gained by the SNP's Joe Wallace.

†† Midlothian East SNP Cllr Kenneth Baird resigned his seat in February 2021.[8] A by-election was held on 25 March 2021 and the seat was retained by the SNP's Stuart McKenzie.

By-elections since 2017

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Penicuik By-election (22 March 2018)[9]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
SNP Joe Wallace 35.0 1,663 1,803 2,307
Conservative Murdo MacDonald 30.2 1,433 1,469 1,788
Labour Vivienne Wallace 27.6 1,310 1,414  
Scottish Green Helen Armstrong 7.2 344    
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,781   Spoilt: 31   Quota: 2,376   Turnout: 4,812 (42.9%)  
Midlothian East By-election (25 March 2021) - 1 Seat[10]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
SNP Stuart McKenzie 35.4 1,538 1,547 1,662 1,963
Conservative Alan Symon 29.4 1,279 1,326 1,364 1,656
Labour Hazel Flanagan 24.6 1,070 1,114 1,222  
Scottish Green Joy Godfrey 6.5 282 332    
Liberal Democrats Margaret Davis 4.1 178      
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,347   Spoilt: 21   Quota: 2,174   Turnout: 4,368 (35.8%)  

References

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  1. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 1 Peniculk" (PDF). midlothian.gov.uk.
  2. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 2 Bonnyrigg" (PDF). midlothian.gov.uk.
  3. ^ "Candidate Votes per Stage Report - Ward 3 Dalkeith" (PDF). midlothian.gov.uk.
  4. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 4 Midlothian" (PDF). midlothian.gov.uk.
  5. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 5 Midlothian East" (PDF). midlothian.gov.uk.
  6. ^ "Declaration of Results - Ward 6 Midlothian South" (PDF). midlothian.gov.uk.
  7. ^ Shaw, Alison (20 January 2018). "Obituary: Adam Montgomery, Provost, councillor and shop steward". scotsman.com. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  8. ^ Quinn, Kevin (8 February 2021). "Midlothian East councillor's resignation leads to by-election". midlothianadvertiser.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021.
  9. ^ Cochrane, Lynn. "Penicuik by-election result". midlothian.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Local government election results". midlothian.gov.uk.