2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

Elections to South Lanarkshire Council were held on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the twenty wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 67 Councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

3 May 2012
All 67 seats to South Lanarkshire Council 34 seats needed for a majority
Leader Edward McAvoy Anne Maggs Hamish Stewart Party Labour SNP Conservative Leader's seat Rutherglen Central and North East Kilbride Central North Clydesdale East Last election 30 seats, 44.8% 24 seats, 35.8% 8 seats, 11.9% Seats before 32 24 8 Seats won 33 28 3 Seat change 3 4 5   Leader Graeme Campbell Robert Brown Party Independent Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Avondale and Stonehouse Rutherglen South Last election 3 seats, 4.5% 2 seats, 3.0% Seats before 3 2 Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 1
Results by ward.
Council Leader before election Edward McAvoy Labour Council Leader after election Edward McAvoy Labour

The election saw Labour retain their traditional position as the largest party on the Council as they gained 3 seat from 2007 to be just 1 seat short of an overall majority. The Scottish National Party also increased their representation and remained in second place on the authority with 4 net gains. The Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party were the biggest losers, falling from 8 seats to just 3. Independents lost a seat to return to the Council with 2 seats. The Scottish Liberal Democrats lost 1 seat to be reduced to a solitary member. Following the election the Labour Party again formed an administration.

In February 2013, Labour gained overall control of South Lanarkshire Council after winning aRutherglen South by-election from the SNP.[1]

Election result

South Lanarkshire Local Election Result 2012

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	33	4	1	+3	49.3	43.18	39,895	+3.58
	SNP	28	4	0	+4	41.7	36.37	33,598	+7.17
	Conservative	3	0	5	-5	4.5	10.84	10,015	-2.06
	Independent	2	1	2	-1	3.0	2.96	2,734	-2.24
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	1	-1	1.5	2.75	2,544	-4.45
	Scottish Green	0	-	-	-	-	1.44	1,326	-1.26
	East Kilbride Alliance	0	-	-	-	-	0.74	681	-0.46
	UKIP	0	-	-	-	-	0.56	515	+0.56
	Scottish Unionist	0	-	-	-	-	0.30	278	-0.40
	Scottish Christian	0	-	-	-	-	0.25	230	+0.15
	CPA	0	-	-	-	-	0.23	209	+0.23
	Scottish Senior Citizens	0	-	-	-	-	0.22	199	+0.22
	Solidarity	0	-	-	-	-	0.18	166	-0.02

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 3 May 2007. 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 dissolution of Scotland's councils.

By-election changes prior to 2012 dissolution

Between 2007 and 2012 the following changes took place:

SNP gain 1 seat in Blantyre from Independent

Labour gain 1 seat in Cambuslang East from SNP

Labour gain 1 seat in Blantyre from SNP

SNP gain 1 seat in Hamilton West and Earnock from Independent

Independent gain 1 seat in Avondale and Stonehouse from Conservative

Ward results

Clydesdale West

• 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Con

Clydesdale West - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Labour	Eileen Logan (incumbent)	29.12	1,687
	SNP	David Shearer (incumbent)	19.83	1,149	1,180.3
	SNP	Pat Lee††††††††	15.90	921	943.8	959.5	977.3	989.2	1,000.4	1,023.1	1094.1	1,247.7
	Labour	Lynsey Hamilton	15.14	877	1,279.5
	Conservative	Alex Allison (incumbent)	11.12	644	653.1	661.7	662.4	673.7	700.3	727.8	798.7
	Independent	Duncan McFarlane	4.25	246	258.2	268.6	269.2	283.6	316.9	352.6
	Liberal Democrats	Peter Charles Meehan	2.18	126	136.3	143.4	143.8	148.7	149.8
	UKIP	Neil MacLeod	1.35	78	81.8	85.6	85.8	95.7
	Scottish Christian	Robin Mawhinney	1.12	65	69.4	73.6	73.8
Electorate: 14,923   Valid: 5,793   Spoilt: 92   Quota: 1,159   Turnout: 5,885 (38.82%)

Clydesdale North

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Con

Clydesdale North - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Catherine McClymont	27.48	1,253
	SNP	Vivienne Shaw	18.12	826	829.6	886.1	1318.1
	Conservative	Patrick Ross-Taylor (incumbent)	17.83	813	815.4	864.1	904.5	927.4
	Independent	Ed Archer	15.99	729	734.4	836.3	873.8	933.3	1,405.5
	SNP	George Sutherland (incumbent)	11.41	520	522.3	551.7
	Labour	Gordon Muir	9.17	418	510.8
Electorate: 11,747   Valid: 4,559   Spoilt: 92   Quota: 1,140   Turnout: 4,651 (38.81%)

Clydesdale East

• 2007: 2xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Con

Clydesdale East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Bev Gauld (incumbent)†††	22.29	936	981	1,013	1,069.9
	Conservative	Hamish Stewart (incumbent)	19.81	832	882	1,453
	SNP	Ian Donald McAllan	17.74	745	783	810	849.8	863.9
	Labour	Ralph Barker	17.31	727	794	824	875.5	877.2	1,120.4
	Conservative	John McLatchie	16.48	692	713
	Scottish Green	Janet Moxley	6.38	268
Electorate: 9,815   Valid: 4,200   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 1,051   Turnout: 4,265 (42.79%)

Clydesdale South

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Clydesdale South - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Archie Manson (incumbent)††††††	34.96	1,625
	Labour	George Greenshields	24.72	1,149	1,170.3
	Labour	Alex McInnes (incumbent)	18.83	875	888.6	893.8	921.4	1044.4	1,250.6
	Conservative	Colin McGavigan	10.48	487	494.1	494.3	561.7
	SNP	Tom McDonald	6.73	313	703.9	704.4	736.4	852
	UKIP	Chris McEwan	4.28	199	206.7	206.9
Electorate: 11,620   Valid: 4,648   Spoilt: 113   Quota: 1,163   Turnout: 4,761 (40.0%)

Avondale and Stonehouse

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Con

Avondale and Stonehouse - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
	SNP	Isobel Dorman	21.40	1,148
	SNP	William Holman (incumbent)	16.14	866	922.7	931.8	949.8	992.8	1,061.3	1,162.6
	Labour	Margaret Cooper	12.49	670	673.1	674.1	685.2	698.3	732.3	759.3	764	1,158.8
	Conservative	Allan Finnie	11.63	624	625.4	634.5	641.6	649.6	666.6	718.7	724.5	734.7	739.4
	Independent	Graeme Campbell (incumbent)	9.36	502	503.2	505.2	516.4	525.4	580.6	808	823.5	853	861.9	1,100.3
	Labour	John Hamilton	9.21	494	494.9	494.9	498.2	521.2	564.2	588.3	596.6
	Independent	Lynn Filshie (incumbent)	7.62	409	411.6	417.6	428.7	459.7	554.8
	Independent	Jim Malloy (incumbent)	6.32	339	340.4	340.4	357.4	380.5
	Scottish Green	Erica Young	3.37	181	183	185.1	189.2
	Independent	Kenny Weir	1.75	94	96.4	99.4
	UKIP	Melvyn Donald Randall	0.69	37	37.4
Electorate: 12,848   Valid: 5,364   Spoilt: 97   Quota: 1,073   Turnout: 5,461 (41.75%)

East Kilbride South

• 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

East Kilbride South - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Archie Buchanan (incumbent)	40.74	1,725
	Labour	Jim Docherty (incumbent)	28.43	1,203
	SNP	Douglas Edwards (incumbent)	11.22	475	1,020.9	1,029.3	1,038.7	1,061.1
	Labour	Patrick Quigg	8.01	339	377.6	489.4	499.7	514
	East Kilbride Alliance	Colin McKay	4.56	193	214.6	219.2	225.7	242.1
	Conservative	Patricia Harrow	3.40	144	150.9	153.8	162.9	167.9
	Solidarity	John Park.	2.72	115	123.9	126.4	128.4
	Liberal Democrats	Douglas Herbison	0.94	40	45.8	47.6
Electorate: 11,537   Valid: 4,234   Spoilt: 91   Quota: 1,059   Turnout: 4,325 (36.7%)

East Kilbride Central South

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

East Kilbride Central South - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	John Anderson (incumbent)	38.04	1,721
	Labour	Gerry Convery (incumbent)	35.32	1,598
	Labour	Susan Kerr	12.84	581	613.5	1,011.9	1,044	1,107.8	1,306.2
	SNP	Duncan McLean	6.76	306	795.1	804.4	826.4	860.4
	Conservative	Isabel Perratt	4.93	223	231.9	236.6	254.2
	Liberal Democrats	Alasdair Sutherland	2.10	95	105.9	114.9
Electorate: 10,854   Valid: 4,524   Spoilt: 133   Quota: 1,132   Turnout: 4,657 (41.68%)

East Kilbride Central North

• 2007: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

East Kilbride Central North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Anne Maggs (incumbent)	29.31	1,733
	Labour	Alice Marie Mitchell (incumbent)	22.80	1,348
	Labour	Christopher Thompson (incumbent)	18.01	1,065	1,100.9	1,230.6
	SNP	Sheena Wardhaugh (incumbent)	9.28	549	972.7	977.8	983.7	993.5	1,064.8	1,115.3	1,374.4
	Scottish Green	Kirsten Robb	8.73	516	560.7	571	579.6	598.7	715.2	819.6
	Conservative	William Chalmers	6.33	374	378.4	380.8	383.2	386.3	412.4
	East Kilbride Alliance	Clare Keane	4.68	277	287.2	290.7	293.3	302.5
	Solidarity	Richard Foster	0.86	51	53.2	53.6	55.4
Electorate: 14,005   Valid: 5,913   Spoilt: 104   Quota: 1,183   Turnout: 6,017 (42.22%)

East Kilbride West

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2012: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

East Kilbride West - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Conservative	Graham Simpson (incumbent)	25.25	1,197
	SNP	David Watson(incumbent)	24.22	1,148	1,150.1	1,188.4
	Labour	Janice McGinlay	16.98	805	806	849.3	849.3	974.7	1,740.9
	Labour	Alan Scott (incumbent)	16.88	800	801.4	822.6	822.7	916
	SNP	John Reilly	12.22	579	579.5	604.6	606.5
	East Kilbride Alliance	Brian Jones	4.45	211	213.1
Electorate: 12,092   Valid: 4,740   Spoilt: 44   Quota: 1,186   Turnout: 4,784 (39.20%)

East Kilbride East

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lab

East Kilbride East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	John Cairney (incumbent)	27.37	1,037
	SNP	Jim Wardhaugh (incumbent)	22.51	853	855.3	866.6	912.7	1,030.9
	SNP	Gladys Miller	20.98	795	798.4	818.5	862.8	976.9
	Labour	Graham Scott (incumbent)	17.71	671	746.2	765.6	837.3
	Conservative	Ian Harrow	8.47	321	322.9	356.9
	Liberal Democrats	Nigel Benzies	2.96	112	113.2
Electorate: 9,622   Valid: 3,789   Spoilt: 72   Quota: 948   Turnout: 3,861 (39.38%)

Rutherglen South

• 2007: 1xLab; 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP
• 2012: 1xLab; 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Rutherglen South - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Brian McKenna (incumbent)	26.03	1,244
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Brown	24.71	1,181	1,185.3	1,213.4
	SNP	Anne Higgins (incumbent)†	23.88	1,141	1,143.4	1,151.4	1,156.2	1,198.7
	Labour	Gerard Killen	17.81	851	887.7	914.2	918.1	971.5
	Conservative	Richard Tawse	4.85	232	232.5	268.6	272.1
	Scottish Unionist	Michael Haigh	2.72	130	130.7
Electorate: 11,153   Valid: 4,779   Spoilt: 72   Quota: 1,195   Turnout: 4,851 (42.85%)

Rutherglen Central and North

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Rutherglen Central and North - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Edward McAvoy (incumbent)	40.77	1,571
	SNP	Gordon Clark (incumbent)	23.41	902	928.3	973.8
	Labour	Denis McKenna (incumbent)	20.17	777	1,300.1
	Conservative	Jean Miller	5.19	200	204.6	218.9
	SNP	Michael Hanley	4.10	158	163.4	175.5
	Scottish Unionist	Jim Nixon	3.84	148	152.3	165.9
	Liberal Democrats	Tunweer Malik	2.52	97	103.6	128.1
Electorate: 10,280   Valid: 3,853   Spoilt: 113   Quota: 964   Turnout: 3,966 (37.48%)

Cambuslang West

• 2007: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Lib Dem

Cambuslang West - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Russell Clearie (incumbent)	34.67	1,669
	SNP	Clare McColl (incumbent)	26.17	1,260
	Liberal Democrats	David Baillie (incumbent)	14.69	707	752.9	762.3	835.6	1,048.3
	Labour	Richard Tullett *	12.59	606	949.8	960.8	1,029.6	1,065.3	1,394.5
	Conservative	James MacKay	7.15	344	355.6	357.8	387.8
	Scottish Green	Janice Sharkey	4.74	228	244.9	260.1
Electorate: 11,948   Valid: 4,814   Spoilt: 81   Quota: 1,204   Turnout: 4,895 (40.29%)

• = Sitting Councillor for a different Ward.

Cambuslang East

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Cambuslang East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Walter Brogan (incumbent)	43.04	1,554
	SNP	Christine Deanie	23.40	845	875.6	925.4
	Labour	Pam Clearie (incumbent)	17.47	631	1,176.8
	SNP	Alistair Fulton	8.61	311	326.1	340
	Conservative	Alan Fraser	5.26	190	195	210.7
	Liberal Democrats	Lindsay Watt	2.22	80	91.7	118
Electorate: 11,090   Valid: 3,611   Spoilt: 103   Quota: 903   Turnout: 3,714 (32.56%)

Blantyre

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2012: 3xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from Independent

Blantyre - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Labour	Hugh Dunsmuir (incumbent)	25.04	1,144
	SNP	Bert Thomson (incumbent)†††††	20.33	929
	Labour	Jim Handibode (incumbent)†††††††††	16.55	756	935.7
	Labour	John McNamee (incumbent)	12.67	579	600.9	616.9	617.4	621.4	626.2	638.7	686.5	751.7	843.7
	SNP	John Mullen	10.29	470	472.2	472.7	484.2	485.7	489.8	511.9	541.9	580.8
	Independent	Michael Martin	5.12	234	238.2	238.9	239.4	241.4	259.7	297	348.4
	CPA	Michael McGlynn	4.57	209	212	213.2	213.6	213.6	216.9	253.2
	Conservative	Isobel Black	3.85	176	179	179.4	179.7	187.7	190.8
	Independent	Gavin Wallace	0.88	40	41.4	41.6	41.9	45
	Liberal Democrats	Mike Watson	0.70	32	33	33.1	33.2
Electorate: 13,021   Valid: 4,569   Spoilt: 135   Quota: 914   Turnout: 4,704 (35.09%)

Bothwell and Uddingston

• 2007: 1xCon; 1xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Bothwell and Uddingston - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Jim McGuigan (incumbent)	35.22	1,342
	Labour	Maureen Devlin (incumbent)	29.50	1,124
	Conservative	Anne Kegg	23.78	906	1,000.5
	Labour	Patrick Morgan	11.50	438	550.8
Electorate: 9,525   Valid: 3,810   Spoilt: 59   Quota: 953   Turnout: 3,869 (40.00%)

Hamilton North and East

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Hamilton North and East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Labour	Davie McLachlan(incumbent)	24.37	1,037	1,045	1,073
	SNP	Lynn Adams ††††††††††	22.20	945	964	994	994.3	1,044.3	1,726.4
	Labour	Monica Lennon	18.66	794	808	827	833.5	892.5	944.7
	SNP	Barry Douglas (incumbent)	18.23	776	792	803	803.4	862.4
	Conservative	Margaret Murray	10.10	430	448	471	471.2
	Independent	Balarabe Baba	3.31	141	170
	Scottish Green	Alasdair Duke	3.13	133
Electorate: 12,361   Valid: 4,256   Spoilt: 112   Quota: 1,065   Turnout: 4,368 (34.43%)

Hamilton West and Earnock

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Independent

Hamilton West and Earnock - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Allan Falconer (incumbent)	27.28	1,170
	SNP	Graeme Horne (incumbent)	26.88	1,153
	Labour	Jean McKeown (incumbent)	20.07	861
	SNP	John Menzies (incumbent)	13.80	592	639.9	887.7
	Conservative	Connar McBain	8.60	369	387.1	395.6
	Liberal Democrats	McKenzie Gibson	1.73	74	101.9	107.9
	UKIP	Rob Sale	1.63	70	94.8	98.6
Electorate: 13,853   Valid: 4,289   Spoilt: 77   Quota: 858   Turnout: 4,366 (30.96%)

Hamilton South

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Con

Hamilton South - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Joe Lowe (incumbent)	36.6	1,975
	SNP	Angela Crawley†††††††	23.2	1,255
	Labour	Brian McCaig (incumbent)	14.8	800	1,512.3
	SNP	Bobby Lawson (incumbent)††	9.3	502	537.4	598.9	746.5	773.4	861.1	988.3
	Conservative	John Murray (incumbent)	9.2	496	515.9	542.3	544.5	583.9	653.6
	Scottish Senior Citizens	David Holland	3.7	199	233.9	313.7	323.5	379.8
	Scottish Christian	Craig Smith	3.1	165	175.9	197.5	200.3
Electorate: 14,383   Valid: 5,392   Spoilt: 134   Quota: 1,079   Turnout: 5,526 (37.49%)

Larkhall

• 2007: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2007-2012: No change

Larkhall - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Jackie Burns (incumbent)	37.42	1,965
	SNP	Peter Craig (incumbent)	21.41	1,124
	SNP	Lesley McDonald (incumbent)††††	18.24	958	1,009.6	1,102.4
	Labour	Andy Carmichael (incumbent)	14.32	752	1,506.9
	Conservative	David Murray	6.11	321	333.6	363.4
	UKIP	Donald Murdo MacKay	2.50	131	140.8	176.5
Electorate: 14,510   Valid: 5,251   Spoilt: 106   Quota: 1,051   Turnout: 5,357 (36.19%)

Changes since last election

• † Rutherglen South SNP Cllr Anne Higgins died on 20 November 2012. A by-election was held on 14 February 2013 and was won by Labour's Gerard Killen which gave the party an overall majority on the Council.[2]
• †† Hamilton South SNP Cllr Bobby Lawson died on 13 August 2013. A by-election was held on 24 October 2013 and was won by the Labour Party's Stuart Gallacher.[3]
• ††† Clydesdale East SNP Cllr Reverend Bev Gauld resigned from the party and became an Independent after the party legalised same-sex marriage[4]
• †††† Larkhall SNP Cllr Lesley McDonald defected from the SNP and joined the Labour Party on 2 May 2014.[5]
• ††††† Blantyre SNP Cllr Bert Thomson defected from the SNP and joined the Labour Party in 2014.
• †††††† Clydesdale South SNP Cllr Archie Manson resigned on 14 March 2014 on health grounds. The by-election was won by the Labour Party's Gordon Muir on 5 June 2014.[6]
• ††††††† Hamilton South SNP Cllr Angela Crawley was elected as an MP for Lanark and Hamilton East on 7 May 2015. She resigned her Council seat on 22 May 2015.[7] A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 6 August 2015 and it was won by the SNP's John Ross.
• †††††††† Clydesdale West SNP Cllr Pat Lee defected from the SNP and joined Solidarity on 27 May 2015.[8]
• ††††††††† Blantyre Labour Party Cllr Jim Handibode died on 19 September 2015.[9] A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 10 December 2015 and was won by Labour's Mo Razzaq.
• †††††††††† Hamilton North and East SNP Cllr Lynn Adams died on 21 September 2015.[10] A by-election was held on 21 January 2016 to fill the vacancy and it was won by the party's Stephanie Callaghan.

By-elections since 2012

Rutherglen South By-election (14 February 2013) [11]- 1 Seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Gerard Killen	39.86%	1,352	1,358	1,370	1,376	1,396	1,616	2,090
	Liberal Democrats	David Baillie	29.45%	999	1,004	1,016	1,035	1,104	1,278
	SNP	Margaret Ferrier	20.99%	712	714	730	741	755
	Conservative	Aric Gilinisky	3.77%	128	133	134	170
	UKIP	Donald Murdo MacKay	3.27%	111	115	120
	Scottish Green	Susan Martin	1.74%	59	60
	Independent	Craig Smith	0.91%	31
Electorate:     Valid: 3,392   Spoilt: 46 (1.34%)   Quota: 1,697   Turnout: 3,438 (26.61%)

Hamilton South By-election (24 October 2013) [12]- 1 Seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Labour	Stuart Gallacher	51.7%	1,781
	SNP	Josh Wilson	32.5%	1,120
	Conservative	Lynne Nailon	9.4%	322
	Scottish Christian	Craig Martin	3.9%	133
	UKIP	Josh Richardson	2.5%	86
Electorate:     Valid: 3,442   Spoilt: 43   Quota: 1,722   Turnout: 3,485

Clydesdale South By-election (5 June 2014) [13]- 1 Seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Gordon Muir	40.8%	1,492	1,512	1,559	1,819	2,366
	SNP	George Sneddon	32.0%	1,170	1,203	1,260	1,356
	Conservative	Donna Hood	18.0%	659	674	744
	UKIP	Donald MacKay	6.4%	233	247
	Scottish Green	Ruth Thomas	2.8%	104
Electorate:     Valid: 3,658   Spoilt: 52   Quota: 1,830   Turnout: 3,710 (30.97%)

Hamilton South By-election (6 August 2015)- 1 Seat[14]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	John Ross	48.0	1881	1883	1888	1905	1919	1988
	Labour	Jim Lee	35.6	1396	1398	1405	1410	1425	1460
	Conservative	Lynne Nailon	8.9	349	349	354	365	389	394
	Scottish Green	John Kane	3.2	127	128	132	135	146
	Scottish Christian	Craig Smith	2.0	77	80	81	84
	UKIP	Donald Murdo MacKay	1.1	43	44	45
	Liberal Democrats	Matthew Cockburn	0.82	32	34
	Pirate	Andrew McCallum	0.33	13
Electorate: 14811   Valid: 3918   Spoilt: 52   Quota: 1960   Turnout: 3970 (26.8%)

Blantyre By-election (10 December 2015) - 1 Seat[15]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Mo Razzaq	47.2	1,476	1,483	1,504	1,536	1,589
	SNP	Gerry Chambers	39.6	1,236	1,246	1,259	1,314	1,327
	Conservative	Taylor Muir	4.5	140	156	172	173
	Scottish Socialist	Sean Baillie[16]	3.9	122	125	133
	Liberal Democrats	Stephen Reid	2.9	92	97
	UKIP	Emma Jay Docherty	1.9	59
Electorate: 13,745   Valid: 3,125   Spoilt: 45   Quota: 1,563   Turnout: 3,170 (23.1%)

Hamilton North and East By-election (January 21 2016) - 1 Seat[17]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Stephanie Callaghan	42.9%	1,089	1,096	1,138	1,206	1,569
	Labour	Lyndsay Clelland	33.6%	855	861	878	1,052
	Conservative	James MacKay	18.5%	469	480	485
	Scottish Green	Steven Hannigan	3.3%	83	90
	Liberal Democrats	Norman Rae	1.8%	45
Electorate: 12,423   Valid: 2,541   Spoilt: 31   Quota: 1,271   Turnout: 2,572 (20.2%)

References

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-21473487
2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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4. http://www.carlukegazette.co.uk/news/local-headlines/councillor-bev-gauld-resigns-from-snp-1-3303340
5. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/larkhall-snp-councillor-lesley-mcdonald-3483752
6. http://www.claudiabeamish.com/?p=2706
8. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Solidarity-Scotland/156108464538212
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11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2013-10-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-11-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-11-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-04-28. Retrieved 2015-08-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2015-12-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
16. "Scottish Socialists Stand in Blantyre – SAVE OUR SERVICES". 9 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
17. http://www.southlanarkshire.gov.uk/press/article/1473/hamilton_north_and_east_by_election

http://www.andrewteale.me.uk/pdf/2012/s-lanarks12.pdf