Hamilton West and Earnock (ward)

Hamilton West and Earnock is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 18,503 people.

Hamilton West and Earnock
South Lanarkshire
Boundary of Hamilton West and Earnock in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population	18,503 (2020)[1]
Electorate	15,083 (2022)
Major settlements	Hamilton (part of)
Scottish Parliament constituency	Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse
Scottish Parliament region	Central Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Hamilton and Clyde Valley
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	4
Councillor	Mary Donnelly (SNP)
Councillor	Alan Falconer (Labour)
Councillor	Graeme Horne (SNP)
Councillor	Mark McGeever (Liberal Democrats)
Created from	Cadzow Earnock Hamilton Centre North High Blantyre Hillhouse Udston Wellhall/Earnock Woodhead/Meikle Earnock

The ward was previously a Labour stronghold with the party holding half of the seats between 2007 and 2017. However, it has since become a Scottish National Party (SNP) stronghold with the party holding half of the seats since a by-election win in 2011.

Boundaries

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Hamilton West and Earnock was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained the majority of the former High Blantyre, Udston and Wellhall/Earnock wards, a small part of the former Hamilton Centre North ward and part of the former Cadzow and Woodhead/Meikle Earnock wards as well as all of the former Earnock and Hillhouse wards. Hamilton West and Earnock covers the western part of Hamilton including the Brackenhill, Earnock, High Earnock, Highstonehall, Hillhouse, Little Earnock and Udston neighbourhoods, as well as the adjoining West Craigs development.^[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's boundaries were unchanged.^[3]

Councillors

Year	Councillors
2007		Allan Falconer (Labour)		Jean McKeown (Labour)		Graeme Horne (SNP)		Tommy Gilligan (Ind.)
2011 by-election			Jon Menzies (SNP)
2012
2017			Mark McGeever (Conservative/ Liberal Democrats)	Mary Donnelly (SNP)
2019
2022

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton West and Earnock - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Mary Donnelly (incumbent)	29.7	1,731
	Labour	Allan Falconer (incumbent)	24.1	1,404
	Conservative	Graham William Fisher	12.9	753	761	779	783	785	862
	Liberal Democrats	Mark McGeever (incumbent)	11.9	691	706	715	759	778	989	1,440
	SNP	Graeme Horne (incumbent)	11.7	680	1,140	1,150	1,263
	Labour	Jim Lee	6.6	385	391	561	583	606
	Scottish Green	Leonard Gingell	3.1	179	221	227
Electorate: 15,083   Valid: 5,823   Spoilt: 135   Quota: 1,165   Turnout: 39.5%

Source:^[4][5]

2017 election

Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton West and Earnock - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Mary Donnelly	25.7	1,377
	Conservative	Mark McGeever[note 1]	22.7	1,215
	Labour	Allan Falconer (incumbent)	20.4	1,092
	SNP	Graeme Horne (incumbent)	14.1	752	1,019	1,025	1,026	1,069	1,111
	Labour	Jean McKeown (incumbent)	12.5	671	681	720	737	757	830
	Liberal Democrats	Mark Ruston	2.5	134	138	176	176	208
	Scottish Green	Christine Wright	2.1	111	119	126	127
Electorate: 14,110   Valid: 5,352   Spoilt: 151   Quota: 1,071   Turnout: 39.0%

Source:^[7][8]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton West and Earnock - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Allan Falconer (incumbent)	27.3	1,170
	SNP	Graeme Horne (incumbent)	26.9	1,153
	Labour	Jean McKeown (incumbent)	20.1	861
	SNP	John Menzies (incumbent)	13.8	592	640	888
	Conservative	Connar McBain	8.6	369	387	396
	Liberal Democrats	McKenzie Gibson	1.7	74	102	108
	UKIP	Rob Sale	1.6	70	95	99
Electorate: 13,853   Valid: 4,289   Spoilt: 77   Quota: 858   Turnout: 31.0%

Source:^[9]

2011 by-election

East Kilbride West by-election (22 October 2011) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	SNP	John Menzies	50.0	822
	Labour	Stuart Gallacher	36.9	607
	Conservative	Connar McBain	13.0	214
Electorate: 14,068   Valid: 1,643   Spoilt: 16   Quota: 822   Turnout: 11.8%

Source:^[10]

2007 election

Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election

Hamilton West and Earnock - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Allan Falconer[note 2]	26.4	1,670
	SNP	Graeme Horne[note 3]	25.1	1,591
	Independent	Tommy Gilligan[note 4][note 5]	22.6	1,433
	Labour	Jean McKeown	11.7	743	1,006	1,064	1,088	1,127	???	???
	Conservative	John Anderson	9.6	606	622	671	713	732	???
	Scottish Green	Scot Graham	2.6	167	180	232	261	320
	Scottish Socialist	Gordon McGovern	2.0	124	138	182	192
Electorate: 13,749   Valid: 6,334   Quota: 1,267   Turnout: 46.9%

Source:^[11][12]

Notes

1. On 26 July 2019, Hamilton West and Earnock Conservative councillor Mark McGeever resigned from the party and joined the Liberal Democrats following the election of Boris Johnson as Conservative Party Leader and Prime Minister.^[6]
2. Returning councillor for Wellhall/Earnock single-member ward.
3. Returning councillor for Hillhouse single-member ward.
4. Returning councillor for Earnock single-member ward.
5. Hamilton West and Earnock councillor Tommy Gilligan dies on 22 October 2011. A by-election, held on 8 December 2011, was won by the SNP's John Menzies.

References

1. "Hamilton West and Earnock". Scottish Government. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
2. "Fourth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2006. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
3. "Fifth Statutory Review of Electoral Arrangements; South Lanarkshire Council Area" (PDF). Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. May 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
4. "Ward 18 Hamilton West and Earnock Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
5. "Ward 18 Hamilton West and Earnock Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
6. Bark, Stephen (26 July 2019). "Scots Tory politician joins Lib Dems over Boris Johnson's 'racist and misogynistic language'". Daily Record (Scotland). Archived from the original on 13 October 2021.
7. "Ward 18 Hamilton West and Earnock Declaration of Results Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
8. "Ward 18 Hamilton West and Earnock Candidate Votes Per Stage Elections". South Lanarkshire Council. 5 May 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
9. "Local Government election results 2012". South Lanarkshire Council. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
10. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - Hamilton West and Earnock Ward". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
11. Teale, Andrew. "Local Elections Archive Project - 2007 - South Lanarkshire". Retrieved 19 February 2023.
12. Bochel, H. M.; Denver, D. T. (2007). Scottish Council Elections 2007 Results and Statistics (PDF). Lincoln: Policy Studies Research Centre, University of Lincoln. ISBN 978-1-874474-36-4. Retrieved 19 February 2023.