Scottish PR elections herald coalition politics

10 May 07
Local political parties across Scotland were entering into crucial negotiations this week to try to strike coalition deals after election results that left all but two of Scotland's 32 councils with no single party in overall control.

11 May 2007

Local political parties across Scotland were entering into crucial negotiations this week to try to strike coalition deals after election results that left all but two of Scotland's 32 councils with no single party in overall control.

The introduction of proportional representation in Scottish local government drastically reduced Labour's traditional power base at the local level.

Labour, which won 20 councils when new unitary bodies were created in 1995, now has outright control in only two authorities – Glasgow and North Lanarkshire.

The impact of the single transferable vote and the rise in support for the Scottish National Party resulted in the nationalists overtaking Labour as the party with the largest number of councillors.

The SNP won 363 seats compared with 180 at the 2003 elections. Labour now has 348 (down from 486); the Liberal Democrats 166 (176) and the Scottish Conservatives 143 (129).

Independent councillors suffered losses throughout mainland Scotland but they remain in control in the three islands councils of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Professor Richard Kerley, of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, who chaired a Scottish Executive-appointed committee that recommended the introduction of the STV, said the forecast that the system would slash Labour council representation and increase the number of SNP councillors had been borne out.

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP's deputy leader, described the council results as a 'seismic shift' in Scottish politics. She said: 'After a generation, Labour's one-party states are history.'

In Glasgow, Scotland's biggest council, Labour's numbers fell from 69 to 45 while the SNP increased its representation from four to 22.

In the only other council that remains in Labour hands – North Lanarkshire – the party lost 14 of its 54 seats and the SNP gained 11 to give it 23.

Despite SNP advances that reflected its success in the Holyrood Parliament, the nationalists failed to win outright control in any council and lost the majority they previously held in Angus Council. However, the SNP is the largest group or joint largest in seven councils.

The Liberal Democrats suffered disappointments, including losing control of Inverclyde, the authority that was the subject of a damning report last year by Audit Scotland.

The Tories had limited successes. Although the party increased its total representation on Scotland's councils, it failed to win control of any. However, it is the largest party in Dumfries and Galloway, Scottish Borders and South Ayrshire and the joint largest in East Renfrewshire.

For Labour, one of the party's biggest morale blows was in Edinburgh where it lost overall control. Its representation was slashed by half (from 30 to 15) while the SNP numbers increased from one to 12.

Although Labour is in control of only two councils, it is the largest party in a further ten.

PFmay2007

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