2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election

The 2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Dumfries and Galloway Council.[1] The election used the thirteen wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 47 councillors being elected.

2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election
← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →

All 47 seats to Dumfries and Galloway Council
24 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ronnie Nicholson Ivor Alexander Hyslop Brian Collins
Party Labour Conservative SNP
Leader's seat North West Dumfries Lochar Castle Douglas and Glenkens
Last election 14 seats, 29.8% 18 seats, 38.3% 10 seats, 21.3%
Seats before 17 17 10
Seats won 15 14 10
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 4 Steady
Popular vote 14,828 13,446 9,837
Percentage 29.3% 26.6% 19.5%
Swing Increase 1.2% Decrease 5.6% Increase 0.5%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Jane S. Maitland Richard John Brodie
Party Independent Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat Dee Annandale South
Last election 2 seats, 4.3% 3 seats, 6.4%
Seats before 2 3
Seats won 7 1
Seat change Increase 5 Decrease 2
Popular vote 9,126 1,997
Percentage 18.1% 4.0%
Swing Increase 6.9% Decrease 4.3%

The 12 multi-member wards

Council Leader before election

Ivor Alexander Hyslop
Conservative

Council Leader after election

Ivor Alexander Hyslop
Conservative

The election saw Labour replace the Conservatives as the largest party on the council as they gained 1 seat while the Conservatives lost 4 seats. The Scottish National Party retained their third place on the authority but did not gain any additional seats. Independents proved to be the biggest winners as they returned to the council with 7 seats and 5 net gains which included 2 former members of the Labour party. The Liberal Democrats proved to be the worst performers of the election, being reduced to just a single seat.

Following the election the Conservative Party formed a coalition with the support of the SNP. This replaced the previous Conservative-Lib Dem coalition which existed from 2007 to 2012.

Results

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2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election result
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 15 2 1   1 31.9 29.3 14,828   1.2
  Conservative 14 0 4   4 29.8 26.6 13,446   5.6
  SNP 10 1 1   21.3 19.5 9,837   0.5
  Independent 7 5 0   5 14.9 18.1 9,126   6.9
  Liberal Democrats 1 0 2   2 2.1 4.0 1,997   4.3
  Scottish Green 0 0 0   0.0 1.8 932   0.8
  UKIP 0 0 0   0.0 0.7 372   0.4

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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Stranraer and North Rhins

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  • 2007: 1xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con
Stranraer and North Rhins – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3
Independent Willie Scobie (incumbent) 62.15 2,057    
Conservative John Dougan (incumbent) 15.02 497 643.9  
SNP Iain Dick (incumbent) 13.60 450 678.8 836.62
Labour Marion McCutcheon 9.24 306 679.4 808.2
Electorate: 7,185   Valid: 3,310   Spoilt: 38   Quota: 828   Turnout: 3,348 (46.07%)  

Wigtown West

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  • 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
  • 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Lab
Wigtown West – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Independent Grahame Forster (incumbent) 45.1 1,330      
SNP Jim McClung 25.13 741      
Conservative Roberta Tuckfield (incumbent)†† 16.11 475 643.3 643.7 859.3
Labour John McCutcheon 13.67 403 585.5 586.7  
Electorate: 6,753   Valid: 2,949   Spoilt: 26   Quota: 738   Turnout: 2,975 (43.67%)  

Mid Galloway

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  • 2007: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
  • 2012: 1xSNP; 1xIndependent; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Lib Dem
Mid Galloway – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SNP Alistair Geddes (incumbent) 29.66 1,027          
Independent Jim McColm 28.68 993          
Conservative Graham Nicol (incumbent) 18.6 644 665.6 699.2 776.2 819.6 948.2
Labour Heather Meldrum 13.6 471 495.5 523.4 530.7 612.5  
SNP Doug Snell * 6.56 227 301.9 318.7 324.2    
Conservative Sheila Stewart 2.89 100 106.9 120.2      
Electorate: 7,539   Valid: 3,462   Spoilt: 49   Quota: 866   Turnout: 3,511 (45.92%)  
  • = Sitting Councillor for a different Ward.
  • 2007: 1xCon; 1xIndependent; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from SNP
Dee – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Independent Colin Wyper 36.51 1,473              
Independent Jane Maitland (incumbent) 18.39 742 815.4 849.4 889.9 956.9 1,055.2    
Conservative Patsy Gilroy (incumbent) 18.05 728 780.9 795.4 801.3 831.9 849.4 868.4 1,021.2
SNP Thomas Jacques (incumbent) 11.48 463 525.4 536.2 567.4 600.3 693.6 701.6  
Labour Marsali Caig 7.06 285 355.6 369.2 386.4 422.2      
Independent Franca Bruno 3.5 141 181.9 196.7 220.3        
Scottish Green James Smyth 2.85 115 127.9 140.5          
Liberal Democrats John Womersley 2.16 87 116.3            
Electorate: 7,373   Valid: 4,034   Spoilt: 38   Quota: 1,009   Turnout: 4,072 (54.71%)  

Castle Douglas and Glenkens

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  • 2007: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
  • 2012: 1xCon; 1xIndependent; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Castle Douglas and Glenkens – 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Conservative Finlay Carson 27.08 904        
Independent George Nicol Prentice (incumbent) 23.88 797 813 826.5    
SNP Brian Collins (incumbent) 23.88 797 800 811.2 811.5 899.6
Labour Daniel Scheffer 10.04 335 350.6 376.8 376.9 430.9
Scottish Green Paul Taylorson 6.05 202 203.2 229.4 229.6  
Conservative Gary Wardell 5.90 197 235 249.9 250.2 265
Liberal Democrats Andrew Metcalf 3.18 106 109      
Electorate: 8,014   Valid: 3,338   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 835   Turnout: 3,372 (41.65%)  

Abbey

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  • 2007: 2xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Con
Abbey – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Labour Tom McAughtrie (incumbent) 22.95 903  
Conservative Ian Blake (incumbent) 21.75 856  
SNP Rob Davidson (incumbent) 20.69 814  
Labour Davie Stitt (incumbent) 19.9 783 870.2
Conservative Charles Milroy 10.29 405 411.1
UKIP Bill Wright 4.42 174 178.6
Electorate: 9,019   Valid: 3,935   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 788   Turnout: 4,000 (43.63%)  

North West Dumfries

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  • 2007: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
North West Dumfries – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Labour Ronnie Nicholson (incumbent) 23.25 932        
Conservative John Graham Bell (incumbent)†† 22.43 899        
Labour David John McKie (incumbent) 21.38 857        
SNP Andy Ferguson 18.44 739 746.1 768.5 773.2 982.1
Labour Paula Stevenson 14.50 581 690.1 702.2 746.7  
Electorate: 9,906   Valid: 4,008   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 802   Turnout: 4,074 (40.46%)  

Mid and Upper Nithsdale

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  • 2007: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Mid and Upper Nithsdale – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2
Labour Jim Dempster (incumbent) 27.45 1,194  
Conservative Gill Dykes (incumbent) 26.53 1,154  
SNP Andrew Stuart Wood (incumbent) 20.51 892  
Labour John Syme (incumbent) 19.08 830 1,098.6
UKIP Douglas Watters 4.55 198 209.1
Conservative Elly Hurren 1.86 81 88.3
Electorate: 9,239   Valid: 4,349   Spoilt: 67   Quota: 870   Turnout: 4,416 (47.07%)  

Lochar

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  • 2007: 2xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Con
Lochar – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
SNP Yen Hongmei Jin†††† 28.46 1,190        
Labour Jeff Leaver (incumbent) 27.73 1,159        
Conservative Ivor Alexander Hyslop (incumbent) 15.86 663 703 710.5 723.7 1,266.4
Conservative John Anthony Charteris (incumbent) 15.05 629 675.9 685.6 700.3  
Labour Ted Thompson 12.89 539 660 941.7    
Electorate: 9,295   Valid: 4,180   Spoilt: 62   Quota: 837   Turnout: 4,242 (44.97%)  

Nith

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  • 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Nith – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Labour John Allan Martin (incumbent) 25.93 1,079            
Labour Colin Smyth (incumbent) 19.20 799 1,010.3          
SNP Alastair Witts (incumbent) 18.84 784 789.7 822 830.2 850.9    
Conservative Jack Groom (incumbent)†† 15.67 652 657.5 669.5 675.9 687.8 689.9 900.9
Conservative David Slater 8.56 356 361 366.5 369.5 382.5 383.6  
Independent Andrew Crosbie 8.36 348 352.8 376.2 391.6 430.4 435.1 514.1
Independent Nello Paoletti 2.19 91 93.1 103.1 108.4      
Independent Lee Vann-Wakelin 1.25 52 53.6 59.81        
Electorate: 9,844   Valid: 4,161   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 833   Turnout: 4,227 (42.27%)  

Annandale South

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  • 2007: 2xLab; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon
  • 2012: 2xLab; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Annandale South – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Liberal Democrats Richard John Brodie (incumbent) 21.09 959          
Labour Sean William Marshall (incumbent) 19.55 889 901.3 903.3 905.7 1,005.7  
Conservative Ian Brian Carruthers (incumbent)†† 19.38 881 889.6 933      
Labour Ronnie Ogilvie (incumbent) 16.74 761 764.6 766.7 767.4 842.6 916.3
SNP Andrew Wilson 12.49 568 573.9 577 578.9 664.9 670.9
Independent Marion F.B. Stewart 9.15 416 424.7 432.9 438.6    
Conservative Brian Pope 1.61 73 73.9        
Electorate: 10,864   Valid: 4,547   Spoilt: 55   Quota: 910   Turnout: 4,602 (41.85%)  

Annandale North

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  • 2007: 2xCon; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
  • 2012: 2xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem
Annandale North – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Labour Ted Brown (incumbent)† 19.59 845 923          
SNP Stephen Thompson 16.78 724 768 782.5 796.9 799.1 800.4 1,067.9
Conservative Peter Diggle†† 15.11 652 690 693.1 875.4      
Scottish Green Alis Ballance 14.26 615 673 687.3 755.7 759.4 761.4  
Conservative Gail MacGregor (incumbent) 13.07 564 641 645.5 885.3      
Conservative Roger Brian Grant (incumbent) 12.31 531 566 568.7        
Liberal Democrats Hugh Young 8.88 383            
Electorate: 10,175   Valid: 4,314   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 863   Turnout: 4,348 (42.4%)  

Annandale East and Eskdale

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  • 2007: 3xCon; 1xLab
  • 2012: 2xCon; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con
Annandale East and Eskdale – 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Labour Archie Dryburgh (incumbent) 22.20 877              
Conservative Denis Raymond Male (incumbent) 15.29 604 609.8 609.8 618.9 732.3 778.3 778.9 963.2
Independent Craig Peacock 14.98 592 607.3 621.9 654.9 716.8 797.1    
Conservative Karen Carruthers†† 13.92 550 554.8 554.8 560.8 661.2 690.9 691.6 808.4
Liberal Democrats Jock Dinwoodie 11.69 462 473.8 479.5 483.7 513.4 587.8 588.9  
SNP Brian Richardson 10.66 421 430.2 434.4 436.8 447      
Conservative Stuart Thompson 8.88 351 353.3 356.6 363.9        
Independent Allan Graham (incumbent) 1.24 49 52.2 68.8          
Independent Sidney John Elder 1.14 45 50.2            
Electorate: 9,663   Valid: 3,951   Spoilt: 36   Quota: 791   Turnout: 4,348 (40.89%)  

Aftermath

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On 20 September 2013 6 members of the Conservative Party quit their group and became Independents.[2]

In August 2015 Lochar SNP Cllr resigned from the party and became an Independent citing racial prejudice towards her and having lost out at a candidate selection for the Scottish Parliament election, 2016.[3][4]

By-elections

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Annandale North by-election (2012)

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Annandale North Labour Cllr Ted Brown died on 4 September 2012.[5] A by-election was held on 15 November 2012 which was won by Graeme Tait of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.

Annandale North By-election (15 November 2012) – 1 Seat[6]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Conservative Graeme Tait††† 46.0 1,819 1,857 1,922 1,980
Labour Peter Glanton 25.3 1,002 1,008 1,053 1,149
Scottish Green Alis Ballance 11.7 464 475 508 617
SNP Frank MacGregor 9.4 371 375 399  
Liberal Democrats Hugh Young 5.3 208 211    
UKIP Bill Wright 2.3 89      
Conservative gain from Labour Swing
Valid: 3,953   Spoilt: 27   Quota: 1,990   Turnout: 3,980  

Annandale North by-election (2016)

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Annandale North Conservative Cllr Graeme Tait announced on 20 March 2014 that he had defected to the Labour Party stating that he felt its "policies and values" better reflect his own and resigned his Council seat on 22 September 2016.[7] A by-election was held on 17 November 2016 and was won by the Conservative Party's Douglas Fairbairn.

Annandale North By-election (17 November 2016) – 1 Seat[8]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1
Conservative Douglas Fairbairn 57.4 2041
SNP Sylvia Moffat 21.1 749
Labour Adam Wilson 17.2 611
Scottish Green Chris Ballance 4.3 152
Conservative hold Swing
Valid: 3553   Spoilt: 35   Quota:  

References

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  1. ^ "Dumfries and Galloway Council : Council Election 2012 Results". 7 May 2012. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Dumfries and Galloway Council resignations hit ruling group". BBC. 20 September 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  3. ^ Connor, Laura (8 August 2015). "Scotland's only Chinese SNP councillor Yen Hongmei Jin quits over 'racism and bullying'". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  4. ^ Sanderson, Daniel (10 August 2015). "SNP branches hit back at councillor who quit party over racism claims". The Herald (Glasgow). Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  5. ^ "Annandale councillor Ted Brown's death shocks council". BBC. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Dumfries and Galloway Council – Local Government by-Election – Annandale North Electoral Ward – 15 November 2012". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Annandale Conservative councillor Graeme Tait joins Labour". BBC. 20 March 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Election of One Councillor – Electoral Ward 12 – Annandale North". dumgal.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016.