Elections to Fife Council took place on 5 May 2022 on the same day as the 31 other Scottish local government elections. As with other Scottish council elections, it was held using single transferable vote (STV) – a form of proportional representation – in which multiple candidates are elected in each ward and voters rank candidates in order of preference.

For the second consecutive election, the Scottish National Party were returned as the largest party with 34 seats but remained shy of an overall majority. Despite a small increase in vote share, Labour lost four seats but again finished second with 20 councillors. The Liberal Democrats leapfrogged the Conservatives into third place after gaining six seats to hold 13 while the Conservatives lost almost half their number to return eight members. For the second time since the local government reforms in the 1990s, no independent candidates were elected.

With support from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives, Labour formed a minority administration to run the council, and David Ross was elected as council leader in his own right, having previously been co-leader after the 2017 election.

Background Previous election

At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats for the first time in a Fife election after gaining three seats to hold 29. Labour lost 11 seats to hold 24 as they were replaced as the largest party. The Conservatives made a net gain of 12 to hold 15 seats while the Liberal Democrats lost three seats to hold seven.

+2017 Fife Council election resultPartySeatsVote shareSNP2933.6%Labour2424.3%Conservatives1520.9%Liberal Democrats713.0%

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Electoral system The election used the 22 wards created by the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements, with 75 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Composition Several changes in the composition of the council occurred between the 2017 and 2022 elections. Most were changes to the political affiliation of councillors including SNP councillor Kate Stewart who left the party to become an independent, Conservative councillor Linda Holt who resigned from the party to become an independent and SNP councillor John Docherty who stood as an independent in the 2022 elections. Three by-elections resulted in a Conservative gain from Labour, an SNP hold and an SNP gain from the Conservatives.

+Composition of Fife CouncilParty2017 resultDissolutionSNP2928Labour2423Conservatives1514Liberal Democrats77Independent03

Retiring councillors +Retiring councillorsCouncil WardPartyDeparting CouncillorWest Fife and Coastal VillagesConservativeMino ManekshawIndependentKate StewartLabourBobby McClellandDunfermline NorthSNPIan FergusonLabourHelen LawDunfermline SouthSNPFay SinclairRosythSNPSharon Green-WilsonConservativeTony OrtonInverkeithing and Dalgety BaySNPAlice McGarryBurntisland, Kinghorn and Western KirkcaldyLabourGordon LanglandsKirkcaldy NorthLabourNeil CrooksGlenrothes North, Leslie and MarkinchSNPFiona GrantConservativeMichael GreenGlenrothes Central and ThorntonSNPVikki WiltonTay BridgeheadLiberal DemocratsTim BrettSNPBill ConnorSt AndrewsLabourBrian ThompsonConservativeDominic NolanEast Neuk and LandwardLiberal DemocratsBill PorteousCuparSNPKaren MarjoramBuckhaven, Methil and Wemyss VillagesLabourRyan Smart

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Candidates The total number of candidates fell from 185 in 2017 to 179. As was the case five years previous, the SNP fielded the highest number of candidates at 39 (six less than in 2017) across the 22 wards. Both Labour and the Conservatives also fielded at least one candidate in every ward, but the 32 candidates fielded by Labour was four less than in 2017, whereas the Conservatives increased their total number of candidates from 22 to 23. The Liberal Democrats contested all but one ward, fielding a total of 26 candidates (up two from 2017). The Greens also contested all but one ward however, the 21 candidates fielded by the party were three less than the previous election. The number of independent candidates contesting the election fell from 29 in 2017 to just eight. As with the previous election, both the Libertarians and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) fielded a single candidate. For the first time, the Scottish Family Party (14), the Alba Party (11), the Independence for Scotland Party (ISP) (one), the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC) (one) and Sovereignty (one) fielded candidates in a Fife election. Neither Solidarity nor the British Unionist Party (BUP), who had contested the 2017 election, fielded any candidates.

Election results

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Note: Votes are the sum of first preference votes across all council wards. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 4 May 2017. This is because STV has an element of proportionality which is not present unless multiple seats are being elected. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at the dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward summary

|- class="unsortable" align="centre" !rowspan=2 align="left"|Ward ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs ! % !Cllrs !rowspan=2|TotalCllrs |- class="unsortable" align="center" !colspan=2|SNP !colspan=2|Lab !colspan=2|Lib Dem !colspan=2|Con !colspan=2|Others |- |align="left"|West Fife and Coastal Villages |bgcolor="#efe146"|39.1 |bgcolor="#efe146"|1 |32.5 |1 |6.7 |0 |17.1 |1 |7.9 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Dunfermline North |bgcolor="#efe146"|36.2 |bgcolor="#efe146"|1 |28.5 |1 |6.4 |0 |17.4 |1 |8.2 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Dunfermline Central |bgcolor="#efe146"|33.4 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |24.6 |1 |24.7 |1 |9.4 |0 |7.9 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Dunfermline South |bgcolor="#efe146"|33.5 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |23.2 |1 |19.5 |1 |10.6 |0 |6.2 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Rosyth |bgcolor="#efe146"|39.4 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |26.3 |1 |6.5 |0 |16.8 |0 |11.1 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay |bgcolor="#efe146"|38.8 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |18.5 |1 |4.0 |0 |29.2 |1 |9.4 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Cowdenbeath |36.6 |2 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|38.0 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|1 |1.4 |0 |28.9 |1 |5.0 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty |43.2 |2 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|43.6 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|2 |1.8 |0 |7.7 |0 |3.8 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy |bgcolor="#efe146"|37.9 |bgcolor="#efe146"|1 |29.4 |1 |3.5 |0 |21.0 |1 |8.3 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Kirkcaldy North |38.9 |1 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|39.0 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|1 |colspan="2" |15.2 |1 |6.8 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Kirkcaldy Central |37.9 |1 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|41.6 |bgcolor="#eea2ad"|2 |2.5 |0 |13.6 |0 |4.4 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Kirkcaldy East |bgcolor="#efe146"|40.3 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |39.7 |1 |2.9 |0 |11.7 |0 |5.3 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Glenrothes West and Kinglassie |bgcolor="#efe146"|49.5 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |32.5 |1 |3.8 |0 |11.6 |0 |2.6 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch |bgcolor="#efe146"|44.6 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |26.4 |1 |5.1 |0 |18.6 |1 |5.3 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Glenrothes Central and Thornton |bgcolor="#efe146"|48.7 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |27.9 |1 |3.9 |0 |12.1 |0 |7.4 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Howe of Fife and Tay Coast |31.0 |1 |colspan="2" |bgcolor="#ffa500"|44.9 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|2 |14.6 |0 |9.5 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Tay Bridgehead |28.4 |1 |4.3 |0 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|48.2 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|2 |8.4 |0 |10.7 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|St Andrews |22.2 |1 |8.4 |0 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|48.1 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|2 |14.7 |1 |6.6 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|East Neuk and Landward |25.1 |1 |2.6 |0 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|45.8 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|2 |13.2 |0 |14.2 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Cupar |25.8 |1 |3.4 |0 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|52.4 |bgcolor="#ffa500"|2 |11.5 |0 |7.0 |0 |3 |- |align="left"|Leven, Kennoway and Largo |bgcolor="#efe146"|42.4 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |24.7 |1 |19.3 |1 |10.4 |0 |4.5 |0 |4 |- |align="left"|Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages |bgcolor="#efe146"|47.4 |bgcolor="#efe146"|2 |40.8 |2 |2.3 |0 |6.5 |0 |3.5 |0 |4 |- class="unsortable" class="sortbottom" !Total !36.9 !34 !24.5 !20 !16.8 !13 !14.4 !8 !7.5 !0 !75

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Seats changing hands Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.

+ Seats changing handsSeat20172022PartyMemberPartyMemberDunfermline CentralLabourGarry HaldaneLiberal DemocratsAude Boubaker-CalderDunfermline SouthConservativeDavid RossSNPNaz Anis-MiahRosythConservativeTony OrtonSNPAndy JacksonInverkeithing and Dalgety BayConservativeDave ColemanSNPSarah NealCowdenbeathLabourGary GuichanSNPBailey-Lee RobbKirkcaldy NorthLabourNeil CrooksConservativeJames LeslieKirkcaldy EastConservativeRichard WattSNPNicola PatrickHowe of Fife and Tay CoastConservativeAndy HeerLiberal DemocratsGary HoltSt AndrewsLabourBrian ThompsonLiberal DemocratsAl ClarkEast Neuk and LandwardConservativeLinda HoltLiberal DemocratsSean DillonCuparConservativeTony MiklinskiLiberal DemocratsJohn CaffreyLeven, Kennoway and LargoConservativeGraham RitchieLiberal DemocratsEugene Clarke

Notes

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Ward results

West Fife and Coastal Villages Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Dunfermline North Labour, the SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Dunfermline Central Labour retained one of the two seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP and Conservatives retained their seats and the Liberal Democrats gained one seat from Labour.

Dunfermline South The Liberal Democrats, Labour and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Rosyth The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Cowdenbeath The SNP and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election while Labour retained one of their two seats and the SNP gained one seat from Labour.

Lochgelly, Cardenden and Benarty The SNP (2) and Labour (2) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy The SNP, Labour and the Conservatives retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Kirkcaldy North The SNP retained the seat they had won at the previous election while Labour held one of their two seats and the Conservatives gained one seat from Labour.

Kirkcaldy Central Labour (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Kirkcaldy East The SNP and Labour retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the SNP also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Glenrothes West and Kinglassie The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Glenrothes North, Leslie and Markinch The SNP (2), Labour (1) and the Conservatives (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Glenrothes Central and Thornton The SNP (2) and Labour (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

Howe of Fife and Tay Coast The Liberal Democrats and the SNP retained the seats they had won at the previous election while the Liberal Democrats also gained one seat from the Conservatives.

Tay Bridgehead The Liberal Democrats (2) and the SNP (1) retained the seats they had won at the previous election.

St Andrews