2012 West Lothian Council election

The 2012 West Lothian Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of West Lothian Council. The election used the 9 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 form of proportional representation, with 33 Councillors being elected. The Bathgate Ward gained an additional seat for the 2012 elections. The election saw Labour remain the largest party on the Council as they gained 2 seats. The Scottish National Party (SNP) also made 2 net gains and significantly increased their vote share, outpolling Labour in terms of votes cast. The Conservatives retained their single seat on the Council and so to did the Independents. The Action to Save St. John's Hospital group were completely wiped out from the authority losing all of their 3 seats.

2012 West Lothian Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 33 seats to West Lothian Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader John McGinty Peter Johnston Party Labour SNP Leader's seat Bathgate Livingston South Last election 14 seats, 36.6% 13 seats, 36.3% Seats before 14 13 Seats won 16 15 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 19,909 21,083 Percentage 38.1% 40.4% Swing 1.5% 4.1%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Tom Kerr Stuart Borrowman Party Conservative Independent Leader's seat Linlithgow Armadale and Blackridge Last election 1 seat, 9.4% 1 seat, 4.6% Seats before 1 1 Seats won 1 1 Seat change Popular vote 4,591 2,752 Percentage 8.8% 5.3% Swing 0.6% 0.7%
The 9 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Peter Johnston SNP Council Leader after election John McGinty Labour

Following the election the Labour formed a minority administration with the support of the Conservative and Independent Councillors. This replaced the SNP minority administration which had been supported by the Conservative and Action to Save St. John's Hospital group Councillors from 2007-2012.

Results

2012 West Lothian Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	16	2	0	2	48.5	38.1	19,909	1.5
	SNP	15	2	0	2	45.5	40.4	21,083	4.1
	Conservative	1	0	0		3.0	8.8	4,591	0.6
	Independent	1	0	0		3.0	5.3	2,752	0.7
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	0	0	3	3	0.0	6.7	3,474	0.6
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	200	4.7
	National Front	0	0			0.0	0.2	120	New
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	78	New

Note: Bathgate ward is represented by four councillors, rather than three from 2012. "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

Linlithgow

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

Linlithgow - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	Tom Kerr (incumbent)	33.18	2,112
	SNP	Martyn Day (incumbent)††	28.70	1,827
	Labour	Tom Conn (incumbent)	20.30	1,292	1,453	1,478.7	1,483.2	1,627.9
	SNP	David Tait	13.02	829	920.3	1,101.4	1,106.9	1,186.9
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Cherie Finlay	4.40	280	396.7	413.6	423.8
	National Front	Ernest Wilson	0.39	25	30.2	30.6
Electorate: 11,944   Valid: 6,365   Spoilt: 44   Quota: 1,592   Turnout: 6,409 (53.29%)

Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh

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

Broxburn, Uphall and Winburgh - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Diane Calder	28.21	1,551
	Labour	Tony Boyle	21.11	1,161
	Labour	Alex Davidson	19.79	1,088	1,107.2
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Ellen Glass (incumbent)	13.93	766	791.6	816.1	818.7	996.9
	SNP	Janet Campbell (incumbent)	11.22	617	1,006.4	1,013.2	1,014.1	1,054.3	1,411.2
	Conservative	George Thompson	5.75	316	320.7	324.1	324.6
Electorate: 13,558   Valid: 5,499   Spoilt: 99   Quota: 1,100   Turnout: 5,598 (40.56%)

Livingston North

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

Livingston North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Robert De Bold (incumbent)	25.30	1,551
	Labour	Anne McMillan	21.95	1,346
	SNP	Andrew Miller (incumbent)	18.14	1,112	1,353.5
	Labour	Angela Moohan	11.27	691	700.2	710.2	813.9	839.3	944.7	1,101.9	1,222.6
	Conservative	Alison Adamson	7.81	479	486.9	490.4	493.9	523.6	607.5
	SNP	Annmargaret Watson	7.01	430	457.8	550.9	552	562	642.7	678.9
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Claire Lynch	6.36	390	405.2	412.9	415.9	453.5
	Liberal Democrats	Caron Marianne Howden	2.15	132	139.1	141.5	143.1
Electorate: 16,271   Valid: 6,131   Spoilt: 90   Quota: 1,227   Turnout: 6,221 (37.68%)

Livingston South

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

Livingston South - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Lawrence Fitzpatrick (incumbent)	34.89	2,395
	SNP	Peter Johnston (incumbent)	24.34	1,671
	Labour	Danny Logue (incumbent)	13.01	893	1,631.7
	SNP	John Muir (incumbent)	11.92	818	867.1	966.2	986	1,015.6	1,534.4
	SNP	John Lindsay	5.84	401	444.9	603.8	622.1	648.5
	Conservative	Nick Davis	5.45	374	425.2	428.8	448.9
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Derreck Allen McCullough	4.55	312	376.9	392.4	458.9	679.3	731.3
Electorate: 16,441   Valid: 6,864   Spoilt: 73   Quota: 1,373   Turnout: 6,937 (41.75%)

East Livingston and East Calder

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

East Livingston and East Calder - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Dave King (incumbent)	32.14	1,914
	SNP	Frank Anderson (incumbent)	19.26	1,147	1,161.7	1,164.8	1,180.9	1,398.6
	SNP	Carl John (incumbent)	16.89	1,006	1,058.4	1,061.2	1,094.1	1,304.3
	Labour	Frank Toner	11.45	682	1,237.6
	SNP	Lis Bardell	7.62	454	462.3	464.5	485.9
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Jean Ann Finch	6.38	380	407.9	419.3	607.3	637.3
	Conservative	Evelyn Stirling	6.25	372	386.7	389.9
Electorate: 14,346   Valid: 5,955   Spoilt: 92   Quota: 1,192   Turnout: 6,047 (41.51%)

Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley

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

Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	David Dodds	33.30	1,713
	SNP	Garry Knox	17.57	904	929.6	949.1	1,023.6	1,039.2
	Labour	Cathy Muldoon (incumbent)	17.53	902	1,235.7	1,264.5	1,423.6
	SNP	Greg McCarra (incumbent)	17.42	896	905.7	931.2	1,063.7	1,085.5	1,999.8
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Jim Warnock	10.34	532	557.4	647.6
	Conservative	Alastair Lowrie	3.83	197	202.5
Electorate: 11,239   Valid: 5,144   Spoilt: 106   Quota: 1,287   Turnout: 5,250 (45.77%)

Whitburn and Blackburn

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

Whitburn and Blackburn - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Labour	George Paul (incumbent)	32.59	1,896
	SNP	Jim Dickson (incumbent)	27.68	1,610
	Labour	Barry Robertson	11.96	696	1,356.2
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	George Beurskens (incumbent)	10.64	619	639.8	668.9	712.4	729.7	760.3	886.4
	SNP	Mary Dickson	9.66	562	575.1	964	986.7	996.9	1,012.3	1,058.5	1,317.4
	Conservative	Stuart Martin	4.66	271	273.3	277.5	287.6	312.2	337.1
	National Front	Neil McIvor	1.63	95	98.5	100.7	104.5	108.6
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Durie Howden	1.17	68	72.2	75.8	83.7
Electorate: 11,239   Valid: 5,817   Spoilt: 108   Quota: 1,164   Turnout: 5,925 (41.75%)

Bathgate

• 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change Lab gain extra seat

Bathgate - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	John McGinty (incumbent)	22.59	1,314
	SNP	Jim Walker (incumbent)	22.04	1,282
	Labour	Harry Cartmill	19.56	1,138	1,231.1
	SNP	William H. Boyle (incumbent)	18.69	1,087	1,094.8	1,123.8	1,127.9	1,135.2	1,174.7	1,215.1
	Independent	Jamie Firth	6.63	453	214.7	218.4	222.3	236.9	293.7
	Conservative	Charles Kennedy	5.93	345	347.5	349.9	352.8	371	405.4	455.9
	SNP	Calum Laurie	5.14	299	303.6	347.8	349.7	355.2	371.1	397.4
	Action to Save St John's Hospital	Douglas Banks	3.35	195	198.5	201.9	207.8	224.3
	UKIP	Alistair Forrest	1.34	78	79	79.8	80.8
Electorate: 13,933   Valid: 5,817   Spoilt: 108   Quota: 1,164   Turnout: 5,925 (41.75%)

Armadale and Blackridge

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

Armadale and Blackridge - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Independent	Stuart Borrowman (incumbent)	56.68	2,541
	SNP	Isabel Hutton (incumbent)†	19.21	861	1,217.5
	Labour	Jim Dixon (incumbent)	17.58	788	1,283.1
	SNP	Dean Williamson	3.75	168	229.5
	Conservative	Marion Kerr	2.79	125	246.8
Electorate: 11,247   Valid: 4,483   Spoilt: 49   Quota: 1,121   Turnout: 4,532 (39.86%)

Aftermath

Armadale and Blackridge by-election

Armadale and Blackridge SNP Cllr Isabel Hutton was disqualified for non-attendance on 16 February 2015. The by-election was held on 26 March 2015 and the seat was won by the SNP's Sarah King.

Armadale and Blackridge by-election (26 March 2015) - 1 Seat^[1]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Sarah King	43.4%	1,620	1,647	1,676	1,874
	Labour	Andrew McGuire	27.0%	1,009	1,018	1,074	1,382
	Independent	Scott Mackay	20.3%	756	786	868
	Conservative	Ian Burgess	6.8%	255	264
	Scottish Green	Jenny Johnson	2.4%	90
Electorate: 12,315   Valid: 3,730   Spoilt: 46   Quota: 1,866   Turnout: 3,776 (30.7%)

Linlithgow by-election

Linlithgow SNP Cllr Martyn Day was elected MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk on 7 May 2015. He resigned his Council seat in July 2015 and a by-election was held on 1 October 2015 and the seat was held by the party's David Tait

Linlithgow by-election (1 October 2015) - 1 seat^[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	David Tait	43.1%	2,049	2,061	2,099	2,234	2,325
	Labour	David Manion	22.9%	1,088	1,131	1,175	1,279	1,644
	Conservative	Ian Burgess	20.5%	973	992	1,056	1,070
	Scottish Green	Maire McCormack	5.9%	282	303	346
	Independent	Brenda Galloway	4.8%	230	246
	Liberal Democrats	Caron Lindsay	2.8%	133
Electorate: 12,516   Valid: 4,755   Spoilt: 28   Quota: 2,378   Turnout: 4,783 (38.2%)

References

1. Hope, Graham. "Armadale and Blackridge By-Election 26 March 2015 Results" (PDF). westlothian.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
2. "Linlithgow By-Election Results - West Lothian Council". westlothian.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015.