2022 Stirling Council election

2022 Elections to Stirling Council were held on 5 May 2022, the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the seven wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 23 councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

2022 Stirling Council election
← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →

All 23 seats to Stirling Council
12 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Scott Farmer Neil Benny Danny Gibson
Party SNP Conservative Labour
Leader's seat Stirling West Stirling West Stirling North
Last election 9 seats, 34.7% 9 seats, 37.2% 4 seats, 16.2%
Seats before 8 9 4
Seats after 8 7 6
Seat change Decrease1 Decrease2 Increase2

  Fourth party
 
Leader Alasdair Tollemache
Party Scottish Green
Leader's seat Dunblane and Bridge of Allan
Last election 1 seat, 6.6%
Seats before 1
Seats after 1
Seat change Steady0

The 7 multi-member wards

Council Leader before election

Scott Farmer
SNP

Council Leader after election

Chris Kane
Labour

The election saw Scottish Labour increase their representation on the council by two and significantly increase their vote share. The SNP lost one seat and the Scottish Greens retained their single seat. The Scottish Conservatives saw their representation on the Council drop by two seats. The Scottish Liberal Democrats failed to win representation and one independent candidate won a seat.

2022 results edit

2022 Stirling Council election result
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SNP 8 0 1  1 34.8 33.3 12,196  1.4
  Conservative 7 0 2  2 30.4 31.5 11,522  5.7
  Labour 6 2 0  2 26.1 16.1 5,899  0.1
  Scottish Green 1 0 0  0 4.3 7.0 2,546  0.4
  Independent 1 1 0  1 4.3 5.7 2,103  2.4
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0  0 0.0 5.0 1,841  1.7
  Scottish Family 0 0 0  0 0.0 1.2 428 New
  Alba 0 0 0  0 0.0 0.2 61 New

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 4 May 2017. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results edit

Trossachs and Teith edit

  • 2017: 2xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2022: 2xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2017-2022: No change
Trossachs and Teith - 3 seats[1]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Conservative Martin Earl (incumbent) 37.8 2,031
SNP Gene Maxwell 19.2 1,031 1,053.0 1,054.0 1,064.7 1,238.4 1,377.5
SNP John Watson 14.2 761 773.5 774.5 785.5 874.2 945.2 974.7
Labour Josh Hamilton 9.1 491 530.6 534.9 610.1 764.2
Scottish Green Wendy Faulkner 8.3 444 480.2 485.5 537.6
Conservative Elaine Watterson 7.2 385 881.6 893.3 926.7 950.9 1,078.8 1,079.2 1,262.4
Liberal Democrats Galen Milne 3.5 188 218.4 223.8
Scottish Family Dolores Hughes 0.8 41 46.1
Electorate: 9,475   Valid: 5,372   Spoilt: 100   Quota: 1,344   Turnout: 57.8%  

Forth and Endrick edit

  • 2017: 2xCon; 1xSNP
  • 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017-2022 Change: 1 Lab gain from Con
Forth and Endrick - 3 seats[2]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SNP Rosemary Fraser 24.1 1,451 1,454.0 1,484.0 1,570.0
Conservative Paul Henke 18.8 1,130 1,140.0 1,180.0 1,272.0 1,272.4 1,291.1 2,334.0
Conservative Thomas Heald 17.3 1,043 1,048.0 1,071.0 1,153.0 1,153.3 1,175.6
Labour Gerry McGarvey 14.0 846 857.0 996.0 1,137.0 1,140.4 1,438.0 1,481.1
SNP Paul Goodwin 11.1 671 672.0 687.0 719.0 776.4
Independent Rob Davies‡ (incumbent) 7.8 468 489.0 548.0
Liberal Democrats James MacLaren 5.7 345 355.0
Scottish Family Liam McKechnie 1.1 69
Electorate: 10,854   Valid: 6,023   Spoilt: 72   Quota: 1,506   Turnout: 56.2%  

Dunblane and Bridge of Allan edit

  • 2017: 2xCon; 1xSNP; 1xGreen
  • 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xGreen; 1xLab
  • 2017-2022 Change: 1 Lab gain from Con


Dunblane and Bridge of Allan - 4 seats[3]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Conservative Douglas Dodds (incumbent) 21.6 1,536
SNP Graham Houston (incumbent) 17.8 1,266 1,268.0 1,269.0 1,293.0 1,317.3 1,815.3
Scottish Green Alasdair Tollemache (incumbent) 16.0 1,138 1,141.0 1,147.0 1,156.0 1,207.5 1,260.5 1,466.4
Labour Ewan Dillon 11.9 842 846.9 850.9 856.9 901.1 910.1 957.4 971.2 1,330.5 1,577.0
Liberal Democrats Fayzan Rehman 9.4 665 669.2 674.2 674.2 748.3 760.3 785.6 799.6
Conservative Willy Stirling 8.4 598 686.2 701.4 705.4 819.0 819.0 823.3 824.9 956.0
SNP Ahsan Khan 7.9 564 564.2 564.2 569.2 581.2
Independent Alastair George Majury (incumbent) 5.3 377 382.2 387.2 396.2
Alba Bill Cowan 0.9 61 61.1 64.1
Scottish Family Nickie Willis 0.7 50 50.3
Electorate: 11,911   Valid: 7,097   Spoilt: 102   Quota: 1,420   Turnout: 60.4%  


Stirling North edit

  • 2017: 2xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab
  • 2022: 2xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab
  • 2012-2017: No change
Stirling North - 4 seats[4]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SNP Susan McGill (incumbent) 25.7 1,305
Conservative Rachel Nunn 22.8 1,161
Labour Danny Gibson (incumbent) 20.2 1,029
SNP Jim Thomson (incumbent) 12.6 642 872.7 878.2 879.6 886.3 908.4 1,474.8
Scottish Green Amy Smith 13.7 695 727.3 735.6 737.9 751.7 852.1
Liberal Democrats Oliver Franklin 3.7 190 195.3 254.1 257.6 276.2
Scottish Family Shena McLelland 1.3 64 64.9 77.7 78.3
Electorate: 11,589   Valid: 5,117   Spoilt: 91   Quota: 1,018   Turnout: 44.7%  

Stirling West edit

  • 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2012-2017 Change: No change
Stirling West - 3 seats[5]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Conservative Neil Benny (incumbent) 23.8 1,313 1,334.0 1,364.0 2,041.0
SNP Scott Farmer (incumbent) 21.9 1,207 1,214.0 1,239.0 1,240.0 1,258.9 1,279.9 2,038.4
Labour Jen Preston 20.0 1,100 1,118.0 1,268.0 1,302.0 1,509.2
SNP Morag Fulton 13.8 760 768.0 792.0 801.0 809.1 834.0
Conservative Alastair Pettigrew 13.3 730 742.0 762.0
Liberal Democrats Dick Moerman 5.2 285 296.0
Scottish Family Michael Willis 2.0 110
Electorate: 10,192   Valid: 5,505   Spoilt: 95   Quota: 1,377   Turnout: 54.9%  

Stirling East edit

  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2022: 1xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017-2022: No change
Stirling East - 3 seats[6]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
SNP Gerry McLaughlan 30.7 1,177
Conservative Bryan Flannagan (incumbent) 23.3 893 895.0 905.0 925.0 931.2 999.2
Labour Chris Kane (incumbent) 21.6 829 839.4 848.4 877.7 933.9 1,019.6
SNP Grant Thoms 8.0 306 488.4 497.4 502.2 578.7 650.0
Independent Gary McGrow 7.9 303 305.8 310.8 323.0 359.7
Scottish Green Linda Hendry 4.7 182 189.8 194.1 213.9
Liberal Democrats Gordon Murphy 2.4 91 93.2 98.2
Scottish Family David Tortolano 1.4 53 53.6
Electorate: 8,587   Valid: 3,834   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 959   Turnout: 45.5%  

Bannockburn edit

  • 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2022: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xInd
  • 2017-2022 Change: 1 Ind gain from SNP
Bannockburn - 3 seats[7]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Independent Alasdair MacPherson (incumbent) 26.0 955
Labour Margaret Brisley (incumbent) 20.7 762 770.1 775.3 794.8 813.3 839.8 900.8 1,188.2
SNP Brian Hambly 20.4 749 755.2 756.3 764.6 786.9 1,085.1
Conservative Stuart McLuckie 19.1 702 705.1 717.2 731.5 737.6 739.6 743.9
SNP Diane Tortolano 8.3 306 310.1 313.1 320.2 345.8
Scottish Green Marie Stadtler 2.4 87 88.8 93.0 101.1
Liberal Democrats Hilary MacPherson 2.1 77 78.5 81.6
Scottish Family Sophie Hendry 1.1 41 41.9
Electorate: 8,777   Valid: 3,679   Spoilt: 64   Quota: 920   Turnout: 42.6%  

Notes edit

  • ‡On 17 May 2017, Robert Davies (Forth and Endrick) was suspended from the Scottish Conservative party over potentially offensive Twitter posts.[8][9] He was reinstated on 21 August 2017. However, on 29 September 2017, Robert Davies resigned from the Conservative group at a council meeting and subsequently had his Conservative party membership terminated. He ran as an independent in the 2022 election.[10]

Aftermath edit

Despite the SNP winning the most seats, Labour formed a minority administration after the Conservatives voted in favour of it.[11]

Changes since 2022 edit

In October 2022, Labour councillor Ewan Dillon quit the party to become an independent. This reduced the ruling Labour administration to five councillors.[12]

By-elections since 2022 edit

A by-election was held in Dunblane and Bridge of Allan on 16 March 2023 following the death of SNP councillor Graham Houston.[13]


Dunblane and Bridge of Allan by-election (16 March 2023) – 1 seat[14]
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1
Conservative Robin Kleinman 41.0 1,832
SNP Ahsan Khan 26.9 1,202
Labour David Wilson 13.4 600
Liberal Democrats Dick Moerman 8.9 399
Scottish Green Clare Andrews 8.7 389
Scottish Family Nickie Willis 1.1 50
Valid: 4,074   Quota:   Turnout: 38.1  


A by-election will be held in Dunblane and Bridge of Allan on 25 January 2024 following the resignation of Conservative councillor Douglas Dodds due to health concerns.


Dunblane and Bridge of Allan by-election (25 January 2024) – 1 seat
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Conservative Thomas Heald 37.8 1,644 1,653 1,714 1,738 1,998 2,286
SNP Ahsan Khan 23.3 1,000
Labour David Wilson 20.2 869
Scottish Green Clare Andrews 10.1 433
Liberal Democrats Dick Moerman 6.8 292
Scottish Family Michael Willis 1.2 50
Electorate: 11,778   Valid: 4,288   Spoilt: 27   Quota: 2,145   Turnout: 36.6  


References edit

  1. ^ "Stirling Ward 1 results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Ward 2 - Forth and Endrick results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  3. ^ "Ward 3 - Dunblane and Bridge of Allan results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  4. ^ "Ward 4 - Stirling North results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  5. ^ "Ward 5 - Stirling West results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Ward 6 - Stirling East results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Ward 7 - Bannockburn results" (PDF). stirling.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Racist tweets councillor leaves Tories". BBC News. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  9. ^ Jones, Gareth Iwan (12 May 2017). "Second newly-elected Tory councillor embroiled in offensive Twitter row". Daily Record. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  10. ^ "Racist tweets councillor Robert Davies leaves Scottish Conservatives". BBC News. 29 September 2017.
  11. ^ Wilson, Louise (19 May 2022). "Comment: Labour's 'grown-up politics' is all talk". Holyrood.
  12. ^ Marjoribanks, Kaiya (19 October 2022). "Stirling councillor leaves Labour to become independent in political switch". Daily Record. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Tributes paid following the death of Councillor Graham Houston". Stirling Council. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  14. ^ Meighan, Craig (17 March 2023). "Tories become largest party at Stirling Council after by-election win". STV News.