Dundee City Council controls Dundee City council area, which is one of Scotland's 32 council areas. The council area is divided into eight wards, used to elect members to the council to provide local government services to the council area.
The boundaries for all Scottish council areas and their sub divisional wards are regulated and regularly reviewed by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland. The current ones were created in 2007 after the 29 existing single member wards were merged into 8 multi-member wards. Each of the eight wards in Dundee elects 3 or 4 councillors every five years in the Scottish local council elections. The most recent elections were held in 2022.
Summary Ward numberWard nameSeats2022 resultSNPLabLDCon1Strathmartine421102Lochee42 *2 *003West End420204Coldside422005Maryfield321006North East321007East End321008The Ferry41111Total2915 *9 *41
Strathmartine
In the 2007 election, Helen Dick, Stewart Hunter, Kevin Keenan and Ian Borthwick were all elected. At the 2012 election, John Alexander won a seat in the ward, becoming the youngest councillor in Scotland and by the 2017 election, becoming the group leader of the SNP and shortly after, leader of Dundee City Council. At the 2022 election, John Alexander was re-elected and Ian Borthwick retired after sixty years as a local councillor. Borthwick's seat was eventually won by Daniel Coleman of the Liberal Democrats.
On 9 July 2024, John Alexander announced his intention to resign as council leader and councillor, triggering a by-election for the Strathmartine ward. The by-election was held on 3 October 2024 and the SNP held the seat.
ElectionCouncillors2007Helen Dick(Liberal Democrats)Stewart Hunter(SNP)Kevin Keenan(Labour)Ian Borthwick(Ind.)2012John Alexander(SNP)20172022Daniel Coleman(Liberal Democrats)2024Jimmy Black(SNP)
Lochee
In the 2007 election, John Letford, Tom Ferguson, Bob Duncan and Nigel Don were elected. In November 2007, a by-election was held following the resignation of Nigel Don who was elected to the Scottish Parliament in the 2007 Scottish Parliament election for the North East Scotland electoral region. Alan Ross subsequently won the by-election.
At the 2012 election, Norma McGovern replaced John Letford whilst the remaining councillors were all re-elected. In 2017, Norma McGovern, Tom Ferguson and Bob Duncan stepped down and Charlie Malone was elected.
In February 2022, Alan Ross, who was first elected in a by-election for the ward in 2007 defected to Alba, becoming the first Alba representative on Dundee City Council. He subsequently lost his seat to the SNP at the 2022 election.
At the 2022 election, Wendy Sculin replaced Michael Marra as a result of Marra being elected to the Scottish Parliament after the 2021 Scottish Parliament election for the North East Scotland electoral region.
In July 2024, Charlie Malone died, triggering a by-election to be held. The by-election was held on 3 October 2024 and the SNP gained the seat from Labour.
ElectionCouncillors2007John Letford(Labour)Tom Ferguson(Labour)Bob Duncan(SNP)Nigel Don(SNP)Nov 2007Alan Ross(SNP/Alba)2012Norma McGovern(Labour)2017Charlie Malone(Labour) Michael Marra(Labour)Roisin Smith(SNP)Feb 2022 2022Wendy Sculin(Labour)Siobhan Tolland(SNP)2024Lee Mills(SNP)
West End
In the 2007 election, Richard McCready, James Walker Barrie, Donald Hay and Fraser Macpherson were elected. At the 2012 election, James Walker Barrie was replaced by Bill Campbell and Donald Hay lost his seat to Vari McDonald of the SNP. At the 2017 election, Donald Hay won the seat back amid a surge in Conservative support across Scotland.
At the 2022 election, Richard McCready lost his seat to Nadia El-Nakla of the SNP, who is wife of Humza Yousaf, the Health Secretary in the Scottish Parliament. Donald Hay was once again defeated, having been beaten by Michael Critchon of the Liberal Democrats.
ElectionCouncillors2007Richard McCready(Labour)James Walker Barrie(SNP)Donald Hay(Conservative)Fraser MacPherson(Liberal Democrats)2012Bill Campbell (SNP)Vari McDonald(SNP)2017Donald Hay(Conservative)2022 Nadia El-Nakla(SNP)Michael Crichton(Liberal Democrats)
Coldside
In the 2007 election, Helen Wright, Mohammed Asif, James Black and Dave Bowes were elected.
At the 2012 election, Mohammed Asif was replaced by George McIrvine and James Black was replaced by Mark Flynn who would later go on to be Dundee City Council's head of city development.
At the 2017 election, Anne Rendall replaced Dave Bowes as the fourth councillor on the ward.
Heather Anderson, who was briefly a Member of the European Parliament for the SNP before the United Kingdom left the European Union, was elected to replace Anne Rendall after she retired at the 2022 election.
ElectionCouncillors2007Helen Wright(Labour)Mohammed Asif(Labour)James Black(SNP)Dave Bowes(SNP)20122017George McIrvine(Labour)Mark Flynn(SNP)Anne Rendall(SNP)2022Heather Anderson(SNP)
Maryfield
In the 2007 election, Joe Morrow, Elizabeth Fordyce and Ken Lynn were elected. A by-election took place following the resignation of Joe Morrow where Craig Melville of the SNP gained the seat from Labour. At the 2012 election, Georgia Cruickshank replaced Elizabeth Fordyce as the second councillor in the ward.
In 2016, another by-election was held following Craig Melville's resignation. The seat was won by Lynne Short. Short, Cruickshank and Lynn were all subsequently re-elected at the 2017 and 2022 elections.
ElectionCouncillors2007Joe Morrow(Labour)Elizabeth Fordyce(SNP)Ken Lynn(SNP)2009Craig Melville(SNP)2012Georgia Cruickshank(Labour)2016Lynne Short(SNP)20172022
North East
In the 2007 election, Brian Gordon, Andy Dawson and Willie Sawers were elected, all three previously served in three of the previous 29 single member wards. At the election in 2012, Brian Gordon was re-elected alongside Willie Sawers with Gregor Murray winning a seat which was previously held by Andy Dawson. In 2017, all three councillors were re-elected.
In 2019, Brian Gordon died and a by-election was held which resulted in the SNP gaining the seat from Labour which was won by Steven Rome. Gregor Murray who was elected as an SNP councillor, resigned from the party and sat as an independent for the remainder of the term.
In 2022, Labour gained Gregor Murray's seat whilst Steven Rome and Willie Sawers were re-elected.
ElectionCouncillors2007Brian Gordon(Labour)Andy Dawson(SNP)Willie Sawers(SNP)2012Gregor Murray(SNP /Independent)20172019Steven Rome(SNP)2022Jax Finnegan(Labour)
East End
In the 2007 election, George Regan, Will Dawson and Christina Roberts were elected. At the 2012 election, Regan was replaced by Lesley Brennan who in turn was replaced by Margaret Richardson at the 2017 election. Dorothy McHugh succeeded Richardson after she retired after the 2022 election. In September 2025, Christina Roberts resigned from the SNP in 2025 for undisclosed reasons and announced that she would be sitting as an independent councillor for the remainder of the term.
ElectionCouncillors2007George Regan(Labour)William Dawson(SNP)Christina Roberts(SNP / Ind)2012Lesley Brennan(Labour)2017Margaret Richardson(Labour)2022Dorothy McHugh(Labour)2025
The Ferry
In the 2007 election, Laurie Bidwell, Ken Guild, Derek Scott and Rod Wallace were elected. Ken Guild, who was the SNP group leader on the council became the leader of Dundee City Council after holding his seat at the 2012 election. At the same time, Bidwell and Scott retained their seats whilst the fourth seat was won by Kevin Cordell of the SNP.
Following Guild's retirement as councillor at the 2017 election, his seat was won by Philip Scott of the Conservatives. The 2017 election also saw Craig Duncan of the Liberal Democrats replace Laurie Bidwell. At the 2022 election, Phillip Scott lost his seat to Pete Shears of Labour. The Liberal Democrats replaced the Conservatives as the largest party in the ward in terms of vote share following the collapse of the party overall in Scotland.
ElectionCouncillors2007Laurie Bidwell(Labour)Ken Guild(SNP)Derek Scott(Conservative)Rod Wallace(Conservative)2012Kevin Cordell(SNP)2017Craig Duncan(Liberal Democrats)Philip Scott(Conservative)2022Pete Shears(Labour)
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