2012 Scottish Borders Council election

Main article: 2012 Scottish local elections

2012 Elections to Scottish Borders Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 11 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, a form of proportional representation, with 34 Councillors elected.^[1]

2012 Scottish Borders Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 34 seats to Scottish Borders Council 18 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jim Fullarton John Mitchell David Parker Party Conservative SNP Independent Leader's seat East Berwickshire Galashiels and District Leaderdale and Melrose Last election 11 seats, 32.4% 6 seats, 17.6% 5 seats, 14.7% Seats before 12 6 4 Seats won 10 9 7 Seat change 1 3 2 Popular vote 8,644 7,723 8,454 Percentage 23.2% 20.8% 22.7% Swing 3.6% 2.0% 1.6%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Graham Garvie Sandy Aitchison Party Liberal Democrats Borders Leader's seat Tweeddale East Galashiels and District Last election 10 seats, 29.4% 2 seats, 5.9% Seats before 10 2 Seats won 6 2 Seat change 4 0 Popular vote 6,138 3,755 Percentage 16.5% 10.1% Swing 8.1% 4.8%
The 11 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election David Parker Independent Council Leader after election David Parker Independent

The election saw the Scottish Conservative Party remain the largest party on the Council though they lost 1 seat. The Scottish National Party replaced the Scottish Liberal Democrats as the second largest party by gaining 3 seats at the expense of the latter. The Lib Dems were reduced to 6 seats. Independents increased their numbers to 7 seats while the Borders Party retained their 2 seats.

Following the election the Scottish National Party formed a coalition with the support of the Independents and the Liberal Democrats. The Borders Party are also supporting this administration. This replaced the previous Conservative-Lib Dem-Independent coalition which existed from 2007-2012.

Election results

Scottish Borders local election result 2012

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	10	1	2	-1	29.41	23.22	8,644	-3.58
	SNP	9	4	1	+3	26.47	20.75	7,723	+1.95
	Independent	7	3	1	+2	20.59	22.71	8,454	-1.61
	Liberal Democrats	6	0	4	-4	17.65	16.49	6,138	-8.11
	Borders	2	0	0	0	5.88	10.09	3,755	+4.79
	Labour	0	-	-	-	-	6.31	2,347	+4.41
	Green	0	-	-	-	-	0.44	161	-0.46

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

Tweeddale West

• 2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Tweeddale West - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Liberal Democrats	Catriona Bhatia (incumbent)	25.62	919
	Conservative	Nathaniel Buckingham††	24.67	885	887.4	978.6
	SNP	Willie Archibald (incumbent)	21.75	780	782.1	833.4	839.6	934.3
	Labour	Julia Reid	9.37	336	337.2	389.3	393.1
	Liberal Democrats	Nancy Norman	9.31	334	347.9	415.5	449.4	548.9
	Borders	David Pye	9.28	333	334.4
Electorate: 7,577   Valid: 3,587   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 897   Turnout: 3,621 (47.34%)

Tweeddale East

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon
• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Tweeddale East

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Stuart Bell	26.41	990
	Conservative	Gavin Logan (incumbent)	24.78	929	934.4	971.8
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Garvie (incumbent)	16.38	614	622.3	674.5	686.7	811.9	1,087.9
	Labour	Robin Tatler	15.23	571	579.6	629.9	631.2	731.2
	Borders	Frances Pringle	9.20	345	352.9	439	448.7
	Independent	David Cox	8.00	300	307.1
Electorate: 8,106   Valid: 3,749   Spoilt: 32   Quota: 938   Turnout: 3,781 (46.25%)

Galashiels and District

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xBP
• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xBP; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP and Independent gain one seat from Lib Dem and Con

Galashiels and District - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Borders	Sandy Aitchison (incumbent)	22.45	822
	SNP	Bill Herd *	20.95	766
	Independent	Bill White	13.69	501	522.9	524.6	590.6	701	894.8
	SNP	John Mitchell (incumbent)	13.45	492	506	532.5	593.5	639.9	762
	Liberal Democrats	Rick Kenney	11.40	417	432.9	434.8	490.3	609.4
	Conservative	Fiona Lackenby (incumbent)	10.56	386	402.5	403.2	409.6
	Labour	Robbie Tatler	7.47	273	280.8	281.7
Electorate: 10,813   Valid: 3,657   Spoilt: 69   Quota: 732   Turnout: 3,726 (33.82%)

• = Outgoing Councillor from a different Ward.

Selkirkshire

• 2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012: 1xCon; 1xLib Dem; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from SNP

Selkirkshire - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	Michelle Ballantyne	24.28	799	832
	SNP	Kenneth Gunn (incumbent)	20.39	671	696	696.8	744.9
	Liberal Democrats	Vicky Davidson (incumbent)	19.72	649	708	710.8	821.4	1,042.6
	Independent	Gordon Edgar	18.14	597	673	674.1	762.4	983.5
	Borders	Leven Brown	9.09	299	340	341.7
	Independent	Gordon Harrison	8.39	276
Electorate: 7,714   Valid: 3,291   Spoilt: 36   Quota: 823   Turnout: 3,327 (42.66%)

Leaderdale and Melrose

• 2007: 1xIndependent; 1xLib Dem; 1xBP
• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xBP; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem

Leaderdale and Melrose - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	David Parker (incumbent)	36.34	1,304
	Borders	Nicholas Watson (incumbent)†	17.31	621	705.9	758.9	929.6
	SNP	Jim Torrance††††	15.55	558	632.4	706.8	742.6	747.6	969.6
	Conservative	Peter Duncan	12.29	441	488.3	500.2
	Liberal Democrats	John Paton-Day (incumbent)	12.24	439	527.1	568.3	715.8	726.8
	Labour	Agnes Craig	6.27	225	258.6
Electorate: 8,292   Valid: 3,588   Spoilt: 21   Quota: 898   Turnout: 3,609 (43.27%)

Mid Berwickshire

• 2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Mid Berwickshire - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Donald Moffat (incumbent)	31.97	1,133
	Conservative	John Greenwell	21.46	747	768.9	1,085.9
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Renton (incumbent)	18.24	635	703.3	753.9	804.6	1,110.9
	Borders	Tom Miers	15.34	534	598.5	635.3	688.3
	Conservative	Trevor Jones (incumbent)	12.41	432	446.6
Electorate: 8,209   Valid: 3,481   Spoilt: 43   Quota: 871   Turnout: 3,524 (42.4%)

East Berwickshire

• 2007: 1xIndependent; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem

East Berwickshire - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Michael Cook (incumbent)	35.96	1,236
	Conservative	Jim Fullarton (incumbent)	21.24	730	835.9	875.4
	SNP	Joan Umpherston Campbell	15.74	541	583.3	600.9	602.2	629.5	699	906.9
	Labour	Kenryck Lloyd-Jones	12.66	435	472.1	485.9	486.6	521.9	596.9
	Liberal Democrats	Ken Webb	6.58	226	263.1	285.9	289.5	329
	Independent	Jack Johnston	3.96	136	192.9	226.9	229.7
	Borders	Cat MacDonald-Home	3.87	133	161.6
Electorate: 8,383   Valid: 3,437   Spoilt: 37   Quota: 860   Turnout: 3,474 (41%)

Kelso and District

• 2007: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2007-2012 Change: Con gain from Independent

Kelso and District - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Conservative	Tom Weatherston (incumbent)	23.98	777	777	794	824
	Liberal Democrats	Alec Nicol (incumbent)	22.5	729	756	791	832
	Conservative	Simon Mountford	14.29	463	471	482	518	522.6	529.2	610.1	703.7
	SNP	Maggie Stanfield	12.75	413	444	462	507	510.5	511.6	590.1
	Independent	Yvonne Huggins-Haig	10.0	324	331	365	435	438.7	440.2
	Borders	Diana Miers	7.81	253	269	306
	Independent	Colin McGrath	5.09	165	176
	Green	Michael Scott	3.58	116
Electorate: 8,242   Valid: 3,240   Spoilt: 24   Quota: 811   Turnout: 3,264 (39.31%)

Jedburgh and District

• 2007: 2xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con

Jedburgh and District - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Jim Brown (incumbent)	23.44	759	793	837
	Conservative	Sandy Scott (incumbent)	21.68	702	704	769	771.1	948.5
	Independent	Rory Stewart	16.95	549	580	642	650.2	781.1	801.9	1,050.6
	Conservative	Len Wyse (incumbent)	12.75	413	417	430	432.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Bathgate	11.98	388	409	459	464.7	539	567.4
	Borders	Trevor Jackson	7.97	258	292
	Labour	David Robert Scott Sharp	5.22	169
Electorate: 8,242   Valid: 3,238   Spoilt: 45   Quota: 810   Turnout: 3,283 (45.24%)

Hawick and Denholm

• 2007: 1xCon; 1xIndependent; 1xLib Dem
• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem

Hawick and Denholm - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	Stuart Marshall (incumbent)	56.72	1,734
	Conservative	Zandra Elliott (incumbent)†††	13.97	427	580.1	589.3	618.2	633.2	802.3
	SNP	Alastair Cranston	12.46	381	506.2	523.9	539.3	593.1	749.9
	Liberal Democrats	Watson McAteer	8.60	263	482.6	493.8	507.2	542.3
	Labour	Michael A Grieve	4.81	147	191.1	205.9	215.2
	Borders	Mary Douglas	2.45	75	96.8	105.8
	Independent	Craig Bryson	0.98	30	88.1
Electorate: 7,183   Valid: 3,057   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 765   Turnout: 3,091 (42.56%)

Hawick and Hermitage

• 2007: 1xIndependent; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Hawick and Hermitage - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Davie Paterson (incumbent)	44.93	1,302
	Liberal Democrats	Ron Smith (incumbent)	18.12	525	676.1	687.7	706.4	785.2
	Conservative	George Turnbull (incumbent)	17.70	513	614	616.5	641.2	657.6	686.3	779.9
	SNP	Tommy Stevenson	8.25	239	300.2	309.5	323.9	368.9	377.2
	Labour	Bill Cumming	6.59	191	246.8	258.4	270.3
	Borders	Frank Little	2.83	82	115.2	124.8
	Green	Kevin Ferguson	1.59	46	65.5
Electorate: 7,041   Valid: 2,898   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 725   Turnout: 2,932 (41.16%)

Post Election Changes

• † On 4 February 2012 Leaderdale and Melrose Borders Party Cllr Nicholas Watson resigned his seat on the Council to pursue employment in Cumbria. The by-election was won by Iain Gillespie, also of the Borders Party, on 2 May 2013. Borders Party's Iain Gillespie wins Leaderdale and Melrose by-election
• †† On 29 July 2013 Tweedale West Conservative and Unionist Party Cllr Nathaniel Buckingham resigned his seat on the Council due to work pressures and family commitments. The by-election was held on 10 October 2013 and was held by the Conservatives Keith Cockburn. Tweeddale West by-election result 2013 - Scottish Borders Council
• ††† On 22 February 2014 Hawick and Denholm Conservative and Unionist Cllr Zandra Elliot died.Hawick 'ambassador' Zandra Elliot dies A by-election was held to fill the vacancy and was won by the Independent Watson McAteer.
• †††† On 2 June 2016 Leaderdale and Melrose SNP Cllr Jim Torrance resigned from the party and became an Independent citing lack of support from Christine Grahame MSP over the Council's plans to house the Great Tapestry of Scotland at Tweedbank.SBC Councillor quits over tapestry

By-elections since 2012

Leaderdale and Melrose By-election (2 May 2013) - 1 Seat^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Conservative	Rachael Hamilton	27.57	956	975	982	1,038	1,283
	Borders	Iain Gillespie	23.48	814	844	900	1,118	1,444	2,066
	Liberal Democrats	John Paton-Day	21.46	744	756	816	983
	SNP	Harry Cummings	17.68	613	623	666
	Labour	Robin Tatler	6.78	235	238
	UKIP	Sherry Fowler	3.03	105
Electorate: 8,386   Valid: 3,467   Spoilt: 20   Quota: 1,734   Turnout: 3,487 (41.58%)

Tweeddale West By-election (10 October 2013) - 1 Seat^[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	Keith Cockburn	42.65	1,155	1,165	1,176	1,193	1,255	1,288	1,616
	Liberal Democrats	Nancy Norman	25.0	677	682	690	759	858	1,034
	SNP	Morag Kerr	13.26	359	369	373	409	444
	Borders	David Pye	8.4	228	237	245	272
	Labour	Veronica McTernan	7.5	203	204	207
	UKIP	Mars Goodman	1.56	43	44
	Independent	David Cox	1.56	43
Electorate: 7,707   Valid: 2,708   Spoilt: 21   Quota: 1,355   Turnout: 2,729 (35.41%)

Hawick and Denholm By-election (22 May 2014) - 1 Seat^[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	Watson McAteer	25.5	732	750	803	900	1,010	1,222	1,505
	Conservative	Trevor Adams	21.6	622	627	638	665	692	798
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Turnbull	15.7	450	455	485	545	637
	SNP	Harry Stoddart	14.6	419	423	461	505
	Independent	Marion Short	11.3	326	334	385
	Independent	Davie Paterson	8.7	250	269
	Independent	Craig Bryson	2.6	74
Valid: 2,873   Spoilt: 47   Quota: 1,437   Turnout: 2,920 (%)