2022 West Lothian Council election explained

Election Name:2022 West Lothian Council election
Type:parliamentary
Ongoing:No
Previous Election:2017 West Lothian Council election
Previous Year:2017
Next Election:2027 West Lothian Council election
Next Year:2027
Seats For Election:All 33 seats to West Lothian Council
Majority Seats:17
Leader1:Janet Campbell
Party1:Scottish National Party
Leaders Seat1:Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh
Seats Before1:13
Seat Change1:2
Party2:Scottish Labour
Leaders Seat2:Livingston South
Seats Before2:12
Seats Needed2:5
Leader3:Damian Timson
Party3:Scottish Conservatives
Leaders Seat3:East Calder and East Livingston
Seats Before3:7
Seat Change3: 3
Party4:Independent (politician)
Seats Before4:1
Party5:Scottish Liberal Democrats
Seats Before5:0
Seat Change5: 1
Map2 Image:File:Scotland West Lothian Council 2022.svg
Council Leader
Before Election:Lawrence Fitzpatrick
Before Party:Scottish Labour
Posttitle:Council Leader after election
After Election:Lawrence Fitzpatrick
After Party:Scottish Labour
Seats1:15
Percentage1:37.9%
Popular Vote1:22,424
Swing1: 0.6%
Percentage2:28.6%
Popular Vote2:16,921
Swing2:0.5%
Seats2:12
Seats3:4
Swing3: 7.3%
Percentage3:15.9%
Popular Vote3:9,427
Seats5:1
Swing5: 2.2%
Percentage5:4.8%
Popular Vote5:2,831
Seats4:1
Percentage4:6.4%
Popular Vote4:3,775
Swing4: 1.4%

The 2022 West Lothian Council election took place on 5 May 2022. Elected positions in all 9 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 were up for election, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote (STV) system form of proportional representation, with 33 Councillors being elected in total.

Background

Previous election

See main article: 2017 West Lothian Council election.

2017 West Lothian Council election result!Party!Seats!Vote share
SNP1337.3%
Labour1229.0%
Conservative723.2%
Independent15.0%
Source:[1]

Following the 2017 West Lothian Council election, the Labour and Conservative groups worked together in the chamber to hold a majority,[2] although both parties denied this claim.[3] This agreement led to Cllr Lawrence Fitzpatrick being appointed Council Leader and Conservative Cllr Tom Kerr was appointed Provost of West Lothian.

There were two by-elections in 2021 which saw each main party field candidates. The Livingston South by-election held in March 2021 following the retirement of SNP Cllr Peter Johnston resulted in the SNP retaining the seat.[4] Meanwhile in the October 2021 East Livingston and East Calder by-election which was called following the death of Labour Cllr Dave King resulted in a gain for the SNP.[5] In the weeks following the by-election Labour Cllr Angela Doran-Timson joined the Conservatives.[6] [7]

In November 2021, SNP Councillors tabled a motion of no-confidence against Cllr Fitzpatrick's administration. The motion failed following support from the Conservatives.[8]

Retiring Councillors

CouncillorWardParty
Tom KerrLinlithgowConservative
David TaitLinlithgowSNP
Dom McGuireLivingston NorthLabour
David DoddsFauldhouse and the Breich ValleyLabour
John McGintyBathgateLabour
Sarah KingArmadale and BlackridgeSNP

SNP Councillor Frank Anderson was deselected by his party. He announced that he would stand as an Independent candidate in East Livingston and East Calder.[9]

Candidates standing

PartyNo. of
candidates
Change
(from 2017)
SNP176
Labour160
Conservative90
Liberal Democrats90
Green91
Family55
Independent42
Alba33
ISP11

Results

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections in 2017. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward summary

|- class="unsortable" align="centre"!rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!%
!Cllrs
!rowspan=2|Total
Cllrs
|- class="unsortable" align="center"!colspan=2 bgcolor="" |SNP!colspan=2 bgcolor="" |Lab!colspan=2 bgcolor="" |Green!colspan=2 bgcolor=""|Conservative!colspan=2 bgcolor="" |Lib Dem!colspan=2 bgcolor="white"|

Others|-|align="left"|Linlithgow|bgcolor="" |26.26|bgcolor="" |1|19.54|1|13.22|0|19.83|0|20.33|1|0.33|0|3|-|align="left"|Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh|bgcolor="" |41.88|bgcolor="" |2|29.61|1|4.35|0|17.73|1|3.72|0|2.71|0|4|-|align="left"|Livingston North|bgcolor="" |48.60|bgcolor="" |2|23.75|1|4.48|0|20.68|1|3.85|0|1.95|0|4|-|align="left"|Livingston South|bgcolor="" |38.99|bgcolor="" |2|32.38|1|4.34|0|11.68|1|2.21|0|10.40|0|4|-|align="left"|East Livingston and East Calder|bgcolor="" |41.79|bgcolor="" |2|21.12|1|6.62|0|18.29|1|3.31|0|8.87|0|4|-|align="left"|Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley|38.33|1|bgcolor="" |40.16|bgcolor="" |2|3.65|0|14.16|0|2.33|0|1.38|0|3|-|align="left"|Whitburn and Blackburn|bgcolor="" |38.62|bgcolor="" |2|37.37|2|3.10|0|18.50|0|2.41|0|colspan="2" |4|-|align="left"|Bathgate|bgcolor="" |40.42|bgcolor="" |2|38.73|2|3.79|0|14.14|0|2.02|0|0.90|0|4|-|align="left"|Armadale and Blackridge|22.05|1|14.12|1|2.59|0|10.56|0|0.95|0|bgcolor=""|49.73|bgcolor=""|1|3|-|- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom"!align="left"|Total!37.86!15!28.57!12!5.27!0!12.12!4!4.78!1!7.61!1!33|}

Wards

Linlithgow

Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh

Livingston North

Livingston South

East Livingston and East Calder

Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley

Whitburn and Blackburn

Bathgate

Armadale and Blackridge

Aftermath

Although the SNP won the most seats, Labour were chosen to run the council after doing a deal with the Conservatives. The council resembles the set up after the previous election, with Labour running a minority administration with loose coalition support from the four Conservative councillors, the Independent Stuart Borrowman and Liberal Democrat, Sally Pattle.[10]

In response to the announcement, former Labour councillor and MSP Neil Findlay, who represented Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley from 2003 to 2012, called his own party "shameful [for] voting Tories into office", saying the Conservatives were "the enemy of my class".[11]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Teale . Andrew . Local Election Results 2017 . 14 August 2024 . Local Elections Archive Project.
  2. News: 2017-05-18 . Labour warns against West Lothian Council coalition with Tories . en-GB . BBC News . 2022-04-05.
  3. Web site: 27 May 2017 . Labour denies minority deal with Tories in West Lothian . 2022-04-05 . Edinburgh Evening News . en.
  4. Web site: Faulds . Allan . 2021-03-16 . Livingston South (West Lothian) By-Election Result . 2022-04-05 . Ballot Box Scotland . en-US.
  5. Web site: Faulds . Allan . 2021-08-06 . By-Election Result: East Livingston and East Calder . 2022-04-05 . Ballot Box Scotland . en-US.
  6. Web site: Swanson . Ian . West Lothian Labour councillor defects to Tories after marrying Tory group leader . 25 October 2021 . 5 April 2022 . Edinburgh Evening News . en.
  7. Web site: Sommerville . Stuart . 2021-10-27 . Labour councillors express "huge surprise" at colleague defecting to Tories . 2022-04-05 . Edinburgh Live . en.
  8. Web site: Sommerville . Stuart . 24 November 2021 . West Lothian Council: SNP Motion of no confidence fails . 2022-04-05 . Falkirk Herald . en.
  9. News: Sommerville . Stuart . 31 March 2022 . West Lothian's longest serving councillor accuses SNP of ageism as he anticipates being dropped from the party . . 5 April 2022.
  10. News: West Lothian council to be run by Labour after 'grubby coalition' with Tories. Stuart. Sommerville. 24 May 2022. Edinburgh Live.
  11. News: Key Scottish Labour figures blast 'shameful' Tory council deals. Garton-Crosbie. Abbi. 27 May 2022. The National. 20 July 2022. subscription.