Elections to Midlothian Council took place on 5 May 2022 as part of the 2022 Scottish local elections. The election used the six wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 18 councillors being elected. Each ward elected three members, using the STV electoral system - a form of proportional representation.Map showing the_Wards within the Midlothian Area
For the first time, the Scottish National Party emerged as the largest party on the council with eight seats, with Labour winning seven and the Conservatives three.
Background
Previous election
At the previous election in 2017, the Labour party won the most seats at 7, closely followed by the SNP and the Conservatives, with 6 & 5 respectively. The Conservatives increased their vote share by over 14%, while Labour and the SNP dropped sharply in vote share, with 9.3%, and 8.8% drops respectively. + 2017 Midlothian Council election resultPartySeatsVote shareLabour730.2%SNP630.7%Conservatives522.7% Source:
Electoral system The election used the 6 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in 2016, with 18 councillors elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.
Results
Source:
Ward results Penicuik 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2017-2022: 1 SNP gain from Con
Bonnyrigg 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2022: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2017-2022 Change: No change
Dalkeith 2017: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2022: 2xLab; 1xSNP 2017-2022 Change: No change
Midlothian West 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2017-2022 Change: No change
Midlothian East 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab 2017-2022 Change: No change
Midlothian South 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab 2017-2022 Change: 1 SNP gain from Con
Aftermath On 24 May, the SNP group announced that it had secured support to run a minority administration in Midlothian. Kelly Parry was elected leader of the council with Debbi McCall serving as provost.
References