2022 Renfrewshire Council election

The 2022 Renfrewshire Council elections took place on 5 May 2022,^[1] as part of the 2022 Scottish local elections on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local authorities were up for election. The election used the 12 wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004 and last changed as a result of the 2015–16 Boundary Commission review, with 43 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.^[2]

2022 Renfrewshire Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 2027 →
All 43 seats to Renfrewshire Council 22 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	44.4% 3.6%
First party Second party Third party   SNP Lab Con Leader Iain Nicolson Eddie Devine Neill Graham Party SNP Labour Conservative Leader's seat Erskine and Inchinnan Paisley Southeast Paisley Northeast and Ralston Last election 19 seats, 37.6% 13 seats, 19.4% 8 seat, 21.0% Seats before 19 13 7 Seats won 21 15 5 Seat change 2 2 3   Fourth party Fifth party   LD Ind Leader Eileen McCartin (retiring) N/A Party Liberal Democrats Independent Leader's seat Paisley Southwest N/A Last election 1 seat, 4.1% 2 Seats before 1 3 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 0 1
Council Leader before election Iain Nicolson SNP Council Leader after election Iain Nicolson SNP

At the last election in 2017, the SNP won the most seats and formed a minority administration taking over from the previous Labour majority administration. This election saw the SNP grow their number of seats to 21, one short of a majority, along with seats gains by Labour to bring them up to 15. The Conservatives lost seats, reducing their representation to 5. Liberal Democrats retained their single seat and Independents on the council were reduced to also a single seat.

Background

Retiring councillors

Ward	Party		Retiring councillor
Renfrew North and Braehead		Conservative	Jane Strang
Renfrew North and Braehead		Labour	Bill Brown
Paisley Northeast and Ralston		Labour	Jim Sharkey
Paisley Northwest		Labour	Karen Kennedy
Paisley Northwest		Conservative	John McIntyre
Paisley Southwest		Liberal Democrats	Eileen McCartin [3]
Johnstone South and Elderslie		Conservative	Alistair MacKay
Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch		Conservative	Bill Binks
Houston, Crosslee and Linwood		Labour	Jim Sheridan
Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank		SNP	Natalie Don
Erskine and Inchinnan		Labour	Jim Harte
Erskine and Inchinnan		Conservative	Tom Begg

Results

2022 Renfrewshire Council election^[4]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	21	2	0	2	48.84	41.72	25,624	4.09
	Labour	15	3	1	2	34.88	32.34	19,860	4.12
	Conservative	5	0	3	3	11.63	16.28	9,999	4.76
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	0	0	2.33	3.86	2,371	0.28
	Independent	1	0	1	1	2.33	3.65	2,240	1.67
	Scottish Green	0	-	-	-	-	1.55	949	1.71
	Scottish Family	0	-	-	-	-	0.30	187	New
	Alba	0	-	-	-	-	0.09	53	New
	TUSC	0	-	-	-	-	0.07	46	0.07
	Scottish Libertarian	0	-	-	-	-	0.07	45	New
	Scottish Socialist	0	-	-	-	-	0.07	44	0.13
Total		43	Electorate: 141,764	Turnout: 62,973 (44.4%)	Total valid: 61,418	100.00		-

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 5 May 2017. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of council.

Ward results

Renfrew North and Braehead

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Renfrew North and Braehead - 4 seats ^{[1] [5][6]}

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Lisa-Marie Hughes (incumbent)	24.48	1,376
	SNP	John Shaw (incumbent)	24.44	1,374
	Labour	Jamie McGuire	24.39	1,371
	Conservative	John Gray	15.96	897	903.56	914.62	933.28	940.64	1,007.17	1,305.47
	Labour	Sophia Daphne Rose Dowling Sparks	5.18	291	351.56	406.83	603.13	630.38	795.03
	Liberal Democrats	Ross Stalker	4.50	253	289.30	325.18	335.41	357.95
	Independent	Peter Morton	1.05	59	72.68	86.09	88.24
Electorate: 13,717   Valid: 5,621   Spoilt: 215   Quota: 1,125   Turnout: 42.5%

Renfrew South and Gallowhill

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab;
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab;
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Renfrew South and Gallowhill - 3 seats^[1][7][8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Cathy McEwan (incumbent)	30.02	1,129
	Labour	Edward Grady (incumbent)	26.27	1,003
	SNP	Jim Paterson (incumbent)	22.39	842	1,007.18
	Conservative	Dale Nelson	11.56	446	449.00
	Labour	Kate Hughes	9.07	341	350.49
Electorate: 9,357   Valid: 3,761   Spoilt: 93   Quota: 941   Turnout: 41.2%

Paisley Northeast and Ralston

• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2022: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Paisley Northeast and Ralston - 3 seats^[1][9][10]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Jennifer Adam-McGregor (incumbent)	40.23	1,843
	Labour	Graeme Clark	33.97	1,556
	Conservative	Neill Graham (incumbent)	19.84	909	943.79	1,033.64	1,429.46
	Liberal Democrats	Alan McInnes	5.96	273	626.98	818.01
Electorate: 9,141   Valid: 4,581   Spoilt: 70   Quota: 1,146   Turnout: 50.9%

Paisley Northwest

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2022: 2xSNP; 2xLab;
• 2017-2022 Change: Labour gain one seat from Conservative

Paisley Northwest - 4 seats^[1][11][12]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	SNP	Kenny MacLaren (incumbent)	27.31	1,305
	Labour	Janis McDonald	17.83	852	860.29	885.96	898.48	901.57	918.00	956.15
	SNP	Mags MacLaren (incumbent)	17.81	851	1,151.32
	Labour	Ben Smith	14.21	679	684.62	697.96	697.96	703.26	708.87	723.88	723.99	764.21	892.17	1,089.34
	Conservative	Fraser Paul	9.27	443	443.27	444.69	444.69	444.74	453.74	477.58	477.59	503.07	515.67
	Scottish Green	Cara Rae	4.77	228	243.24	314.99	322.85	338.29	343.92	360.82	360.83	391.98
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Bailey	2.68	128	129.34	135.28	138.49	140.70	150.14
	Independent	John McIntyre (incumbent)	2.49	119	121.94	131.11	141.64	156.68	176.20	191.82
	Scottish Family	Rosa Grieve	1.57	75	75.80	78.99	82.25	88.81
	Alba	Samuel Oludare Yerokun	1.11	53	54.87	63.85	66.11
	TUSC	Jim Halfpenny	0.96	46	46.80	50.90
Electorate: 13,728   Valid: 4,779   Spoilt: 177   Quota: 956   Turnout: 36.1%

Paisley East and Central

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017-2022 Change: No change

Paisley East and Central - 3 seats^[1][13][14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	John McNaughtan (incumbent)	32.41	1,241
	Labour	Carolann Davidson (incumbent)	27.16	1,040
	SNP	Will Mylet (incumbent)	12.69	486	730.91	734.23	742.23	918.86	1,011.63
	Conservative	John Cameron	10.92	418	418.91	421.99	433.14	456.76	561.64
	Labour	Jonathan Smith	7.99	306	312.61	377.34	384.50	445.77
	Scottish Green	Athol Bond	7.65	293	310.33	314.27	322.51
	Scottish Libertarian	Duncan Grant	1.18	45	45.68	46.31
Electorate: 10,103   Valid: 3,829   Spoilt: 144   Quota: 958   Turnout: 39.3%

Paisley Southeast

• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab;
• 2017-2022 Change: SNP gain one seat from Independent

Paisley Southeast - 3 seats^[1][15][16]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SNP	Bruce MacFarlane	21.13	862	862.00	871.00	938.00	959.00	967.96	1,036.62
	Labour	Eddie Devine (incumbent)	19.61	800	805.00	836.00	857.00	1,093.00
	SNP	Marie McGurk (incumbent)	16.99	693	700.00	705.00	777.00	799.00	805.26	875.85	888.21	956.10
	Conservative	Jim McIlroy	12.16	496	498.00	527.00	531.00	576.00	587.07	702.32	702.44
	Independent	Paul Mack (incumbent)	11.08	452	459.00	470.00	491.00	526.00	533.84
	Labour	Stuart Alexander McAusland	9.44	385	389.00	415.00	429.00
	Scottish Green	David Richard Laffan	4.75	194	208.00	227.00
	Liberal Democrats	Allan Heron	3.77	154	157.00
	Scottish Socialist	Sandra Amelia Webster	1.08	44
Electorate: 9,546   Valid: 4,080   Spoilt: 105   Quota: 1,021   Turnout: 43.8%

Paisley Southwest

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Paisley Southwest - 4 seats^[1][17][18]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Kevin Montgomery (incumbent)	26.29	1,384
	SNP	Stephen Burns (incumbent)	24.47	1,288
	SNP	Lorraine Cameron (incumbent)	21.28	1,120
	Liberal Democrats	Anne Hannigan	14.32	754	863.54	921.19	939.55	963.67	1,055.80
	Conservative	Marc Schmitz	9.95	524	567.29	570.39	571.23	586.74	616.32
	Independent	Richard Vassie	2.05	108	134.79	149.93	156.87	226.04
	Independent	Scott Kerr [HCL]	1.63	86	105.13	135.97	143.09
Electorate: 11,998   Valid: 5,264   Spoilt: 135   Quota: 1,053   Turnout: 45.0%

Johnstone South and Elderslie

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2022: 2xSNP; 2xLab;
• 2017-2022 Change: Labour gain one seat from Conservative.

Johnstone South and Elderslie - 4 seats^[1][19][20]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Jacqueline Cameron (incumbent)	29.00	1,613
	Labour	John Hood (incumbent)	23.55	1,310
	Labour	Iain McMillian	22.83	1,270
	SNP	Andy Steel (incumbent)	11.40	634	1,077.58	1,105.10	1,129.82
	Conservative	Brian Jackson	10.70	595	599.65	636.19	663.39
	Liberal Democrats	Robert MacIntyre	2.53	141	151.85	190.65	217.72
Electorate: 13,298   Valid: 5,563   Spoilt: 160   Quota: 1,113   Turnout: 43.0%

Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch

• 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent
• 2022: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2017-2022 Change: Labour gain one seat from Conservative

Johnstone North, Kilbarchan, Howwood and Lochwinnoch - 4 seats^[1][21][22]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Independent	Andy Doig (incumbent)	24.33	1,416
	SNP	Emma Rodden (incumbent)	20.87	1,215
	Labour	Chris Gilmour	16.63	968	1,017.81	1,018.47	1,036.12	1,056.76	1,242.80
	Labour	Gillian Graham	11.84	689	723.39	724.42	749.07	788.30	934.89	1,000.20	1,264.60
	Conservative	Louise Reid	10.79	628	667.70	667.91	686.57	696.70
	SNP	Graeme Stockton	9.99	582	625.07	668.53	673.28	811.35	826.95	828.79
	Scottish Green	Heather Hudson	4.02	234	262.36	265.28	280.16
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Jackson	1.53	89	107.43	107.60
Electorate: 11,956   Valid: 5,821   Spoilt: 136   Quota: 1,165   Turnout: 49.8%

Houston, Crosslee and Linwood

• 2017: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2017-2022 Change: SNP gain one seat from Labour.

Houston, Crosslee and Linwood - 4 seats^[1][23][24]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Alison Ann-Dowling (incumbent)	27.96	1,568
	Conservative	David McGonigle	23.78	1,334
	SNP	Audrey Doig (incumbent)	20.89	1,172
	SNP	Robert Innes	18.19	1,020	1,033.08	1,038.17	1,082.71	1,381.70
	Labour	Connor Cunningham	9.18	515	909.22	1,030.16	1,032.33
Electorate: 12,758   Valid: 5,609   Spoilt: 143   Quota: 1,122   Turnout: 45.1%

Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank

• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017-2022 Change: No change

Bishopton, Bridge of Weir and Langbank - 3 seats^[1][25][26]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Fiona Airlie-Nicolson	36.31	2,384
	Labour	Colin McCulloch (incumbent)	23.37	1,534	1,821.27
	Conservative	James MacLaren (incumbent)	20.61	1,353	1,381.32	1,404.97	1,573.57	2,514.06
	Conservative	Mark Dougan	13.74	902	915.38	928.24	1,029.96
	Liberal Democrats	Grant Toghill	5.97	392	579.37	676.96
Electorate: 13,065   Valid: 6,565   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 1,642   Turnout: 50.8%

Erskine and Inchinnan

• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2017-2022 Change: No change

Erskine and Inchinnan - 4 seats^[1][27][28]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Labour	Sam Mullin	33.61	1,998
	SNP	Iain Nicolson (incumbent)	23.23	1,381
	SNP	Michelle Campbell (incumbent)	20.40	1,213
	Conservative	Alec Leishman	17.73	1,054	1,236.79
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Jelfs	3.15	187	442.58
	Scottish Family	Robert Irwin	1.88	112	167.00
Electorate: 13,097   Valid: 5,945   Spoilt: 106   Quota: 1,190   Turnout: 46.2%

Changes since election

November 2022

• At the start of the month Paisley Southeast Labour Cllr and former Labour Group Leader, Eddie Devine, left the party over "backstabbing that’s been going on in the past year or so" in the Labour group.^[29]

• Halfway through the month, veteran Johnstone South and Elderslie Labour Cllr, John Hood, left the party over becoming "disillusioned" with his party. Hood stated his party "doesn't want him"^[30]

June 2024

• At the end of the month, Paisley East and Central SNP Cllr, Will Mylet, left the party accusing the Renfrewshire Council's leader of trying to "ridicule and subdue" him.^[31]

February 2025

• Halfway through the month, Erskine and Inchinnan Conservative Cllr, Alec Leishman, defected to Reform UK to become the first councillor for the party.^[32]

March 2025

• At the start of the month, Renfrew North and Braehead Conservative Cllr, John Gray, became the second councillor to defect to Reform UK.^[33]

Notes

1. ^
   HCL: Sitting councillor for Houston, Crosslee and Linwood.