Scots prepare for local elections

30 Apr 12
All 1,223 seats in Scotland’s 32 unitary authorities are in contention at Thursday’s council elections in a campaign where local issues have struggled to be heard above the turmoil of national and constitutional politics.
By Keith Aitken in Edinburgh | 30 April 2012

All 1,223 seats in Scotland’s 32 unitary authorities are in contention at Thursday’s council elections in a campaign where local issues have struggled to be heard above the turmoil of national and constitutional politics.

The elections, which will be conducted for the second time under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation, are likely to leave most authorities – as now – under shared or minority control, and interest will focus on the countrywide performance of the main parties.

In particular, the Scottish National Party is looking to maintain the momentum in Labour’s traditional heartlands that swept it to a commanding majority at last year’s Holyrood elections.

Top SNP target is Glasgow, where Labour recently lost its majority for the first time in decades after six de-selected councillors defected to stand as ‘Glasgow First’ candidates. The group has long been riven by internal animosities, which culminated in the resignation two years ago of its ambitious leader Steven Purcell.

The SNP has poured in resources in the hope of building on Holyrood gains in Scotland’s biggest city, but Labour has fought back with a locally focused campaign. 

This, in turn, has contrasted with an uncertain performance by the SNP’s Allison Hunter, who damagingly admitted to seeing a Glasgow win as a stepping-stone to independence. The growing expectation is that neither party will secure overall control.

Other councils where Labour and the SNP are in tight contention are North Lanarkshire, Falkirk, Stirling and Dundee – where the SNP seized control at a by-election.

The question in these battlegrounds will be whether the SNP’s Holyrood success translates into further council gains or whether, as with Labour’s strong Scottish result at the 2010 Westminster election, voters will behave differently.

The elections will also be a big test for the Liberal Democrats, still waiting to be forgiven by Scots for supporting the Conservatives in the UK coalition. The LibDems share power in 13 councils, including Edinburgh where an uneasy LibDem/SNP coalition is braced for punishment over the city’s trams fiasco.

Votes in the mostly multi-member wards will be counted electronically from 9am on Friday, with results expected during the afternoon.

Spacer

CIPFA logo

PF Jobsite logo

Did you enjoy this article?

AddToAny

Top