2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election

The 2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election was held on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the six wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 22 Councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 22 seats to West Dunbartonshire Council 12 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Martin Rooney Ronnie McColl Party Labour SNP Leader's seat Lomond Lomond (defeated) Last election 10 seats, 37.7% 9 seats, 34.1% Seats before 8 9 Seats won 12 6 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 12,497 8,126 Percentage 46.6% 30.3% Swing 8.9% 3.8%   Third party Fourth party   Leader George Black Jim Bollan Party Independent Scottish Socialist Leader's seat Dumbarton Leven Last election 2 seats, 8.7% 1 seat, 6.7% Seats before 3 1 Seats won 3 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 3,503 1,407 Percentage 13.1% 5.3% Swing 4.4% 1.4%
Composition of the council after the election
Council Leader before election Ronnie McColl defeated SNP Council Leader after election Martin Rooney Labour

The election saw Labour gain 2 seats to secure an overall majority on the Council while also significantly increasing their vote. The Scottish National Party remained in second place on the Council but West Dunbartonshire proved to be their worst performance in Scotland as they lost 3 seats including that of Council leader Ronnie McColl. Independents increased their seat numbers to 3 through the addition of former Labour Councillor and the Scottish Socialist Party retained their sole seat - their only one in Scotland.

Following the election the Labour majority administration was formed. This replaced the previous SNP minority led administration which had been supported by Independent councillors that had existed from 2007-2012.

Results

2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	12	2	0	2	54.6	46.6	12,497	8.9
	SNP	6	0	3	3	27.3	30.3	8,126	3.8
	Independent	3	1	0	1	13.6	13.1	3,503	4.4
	Scottish Socialist	1	0	0		4.6	5.3	1,407	1.4
	Conservative	0	0	0		0.0	4.3	1,139	3.4
	Communist	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	94	New
	Scottish Christian	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	39	New

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

Lomond

• 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLabour
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from SNP

Lomond - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Martin Rooney (incumbent)	33.64	1,243
	SNP	Jonathan McColl *	18.35	678	686.9	711.2	736.5	775.5	784.5	1,342.9
	SNP	Ronnie McColl (incumbent)	14.48	535	544.8	561.5	593	636.3	647.6
	Labour	Hazel Sorrell	14.18	524	789.4	840.7	884.9	998.8
	Conservative	Brian McKenzie Walker	9.34	345	350.9	354.9	416.4
	Independent	George Rice	5.66	209	214.1	238.9
	Scottish Socialist	Louise Robertson	4.36	161	167.9
Electorate: 8,958   Valid: 3,695   Spoilt: 79   Quota: 924   Turnout: 3,774 (42.13%)

• = Sitting Councillor for a different Ward.

Leven

• 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xSSP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xSSP
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from SNP

Leven - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	John Millar (incumbent)	31.8	1,622
	Scottish Socialist	Jim Bollan (incumbent)	21.0	1,073
	SNP	Gail Robertson	20.3	1,036
	Labour	Michelle Stewart	8.1	412	868.5	879.3	879.7	912.4	1,011.1	1,128.9
	SNP	May Smillie (incumbent)	7.7	392	417.6	425.9	439.4	473.9	549.4
	Independent	Archie Thomson	6.4	329	359.4	371.6	371.9	459.8
	Conservative	David Jardine	4.6	237	244.8	247.9	248.1
Electorate: 13,186   Valid: 5,101   Spoilt: 99   Quota: 1,021   Turnout: 5,200 (39.44%)

Dumbarton

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Dumbarton - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	David McBride (incumbent)	30.59	1,678
	SNP	Ian Murray	18.01	988	1,015.3	1,027.1	1,039.1	1,050.8	1,071.1	1,130.4
	Independent	George Black (incumbent)	13.96	766	788.1	803.4	818.6	840.2	905.1	1,146.6
	Labour	Thomas Rainey	13.74	754	1,218.9
	SNP	Iain Robertson (incumbent)	10.21	560	568.6	574.9	581.2	583.7	597.1	621.3
	Independent	Iain Ellis	6.60	362	368.9	377.8	380.2	418.1	465.1
	Conservative	Sally Page	4.14	227	230.5	233.6	234.7	241.2
	Independent	Andrew Muir	1.55	85	93.3	98	106.6
	Scottish Socialist	Cammy Fyfe	1.20	66	71.9	78
Electorate: 12,620   Valid: 5,486   Quota: 1,098   Turnout: 5,600 (44.37%)

Kilpatrick

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Kilpatrick - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Douglas McAllister (incumbent)	48.01	1,717
	SNP	Jim Finn (incumbent)	21.11	755	785.2	811.4	823.7	839.6	1,110.5
	Labour	Lawrence O'Neill (incumbent)	11.19	400	1,113.8
	SNP	Ian Dickson	7.96	285	291.2	301.4	305.5	324.4
	Independent	Walter Graham	7.27	260	284.9	321.9	336.8	388.8	408.2
	Conservative	Douglas Boyle	3.38	121	125.8	134.7	135.1
	Scottish Socialist	Dawn Fyfe	1.06	38	41.8	53.8
Electorate: 9,004   Valid: 3,576   Spoilt: 86   Quota: 895   Turnout: 3,662 (40.67%)

Clydebank Central

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Clydebank Central - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Patrick Gerard McGlinchey (incumbent)	34.83	1,587
	SNP	Jim Brown (incumbent)	26.36	1,201
	Independent	Denis Agnew (incumbent)	17.10	779	798.9	814.9	863	910	955
	Labour	John Mooney	12.42	566	1,158.9
	SNP	Frank McNiff	5.20	237	250.6	493.9	523.1	541.8	564.6
	Communist	Tom Morrison	2.06	94	98.7	103	114.9	119.2
	Conservative	Douglas Campbell	2.02	92	94.6	97.2	104.9
Electorate: 11,559   Valid: 4,556   Spoilt: 108   Quota: 912   Turnout: 4,664 (40.35%)

Clydebank Waterfront

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

Clydebank Waterfront - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Gail Casey (incumbent)	33.55	1,473
	SNP	William Hendrie (incumbent)	24.05	1,056
	Independent	Marie McNair (incumbent)†	16.24	713	777.1	785.2	796.6	809.8	842.8	901.5
	Labour	Kath Ryall	11.87	521	929.9
	SNP	Jim McElhill (incumbent)	9.18	403	435.7	583.7	590.9	598.9	619.8	636.9
	Conservative	Linda Kinniburgh	2.66	117	128.3	130.3	131.9	139.1	142.6
	Scottish Socialist	Ann Lynch	1.57	69	83.5	86.9	89.7	89.9
	Scottish Christian	Alastair Manderson	0.89	39	43	44.9	45.9
Electorate: 11,451   Valid: 4,391   Spoilt: 108   Quota: 879   Turnout: 4,499 (39.29%)

Aftermath

After the election Labour were able to form a majority administration. This replaced previous SNP led minority administration.

On 5 January 2016, Marie McNair joined the Scottish National Party and ceased to be an independent.^[1]

References

1. Ferguson, Alan (13 January 2016). "Council leader slams former independent Marie McNair as opportunist as she joins SNP". Clydebank Post. Newsquest Ltd. Retrieved 21 January 2016.