2017 Falkirk Council election

Elections to Falkirk Council will be held on 4 May 2017, the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election will use the nine wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 30 councillors being elected, a reduction of 2 members from 2012. Each ward will elect either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.

Following the 2012 election, the controlling administration consisted of 14 Labour members, 2 Conservative and 1 Independent (Cllr Buchanan). Opposition is 13 SNP members and 2 Independent (Cllrs Spears and McCabe). The Council Leader is Cllr Craig C Martin, Provost is Cllr Reid and the Depute Provost Cllr Patrick.

2017 Falkirk Council election

4 May 2017
All 30 seats to Falkirk Council 16 seats needed for a majority
Leader Cecil Meiklejohn Craig Martin John Patrick Party SNP Labour Conservative Leader's seat Falkirk North Carse, Kinnaird & Tryst Falkirk South Last election 13 seats, 40.6% 14 seats, 43.8% 2 seats, 6.3% Seats before 13 14 2 Seats won 13 14 2 Seats after 12 9 7 Seat change -1 -5 +5   Leader Billy Buchannan Party Independent Leader's seat Bonnybridge and Larbert Last election 3 seats, 9.4% Seats before 1 Seats won 3 Seats after 2 Seat change -1
Council Leader before election Craig Martin Labour Council Leader after election Cecil Meiklejohn SNP

Election result summary

Falkirk Local Election Result 2017

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	12	-	1	-1	40	38.8	20,861
	Labour	9	-	5	-5	30	23.1	12,421
	Conservative	7	5	-	+5	23.3	24.5	13,168
	Independent	2		-1	-1	6.7	9.8	5,308
	Scottish Green	-	-	-	-	0.0	3.6	1,933
	Other parties	-	-	-	-	0.0	0.1	63

Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections in May 2012. The number of Falkirk Council seats was reduced by 2 in the 2017 election. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Bo'ness and Blackness

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain one seat from SNP

Bo'ness and Blackness - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	SNP	Ann Ritchie (incumbent)	27.97	1,510
	Conservative	Lynn Munro	26.15	1,412
	Labour	David Aitchison	20.49	1,106	1,116.38	1,130.17	1,381.23
	SNP	Alan Gilbert	14.1	761	880.73	882.71	892.69
	Scottish Green	Mari-Ellena Corvi	5.78	312	324.72	333.19	360.08
	Labour	Michael Burnett	5.52	298	302.24	312.82
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,399   Spoilt: 137   Quota: 1350   Turnout: 5,536 (46.8%)

Grangemouth

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: 1 less seat compared to 2012. Labour lose seat.

Grangemouth - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	David Balfour (incumbent)	26.95	1,510
	Labour	Allyson Black (incumbent)	23.22	1,301	1,309.44	1,332.73	1,483.53
	Conservative	James Bundy	18.38	1,030	1,031.79	1,040	1,074.58	1,094.4
	Independent	Robert Spears (incumbent)	17.49	980	988.08	1,004.58	1,247.12	1,274.46	1,834.19
	SNP	Margaret-Ann Milne	12.06	676	756.82	799.39
	Scottish Green	Judith McLaughlin	1.91	107	109.72
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,604   Spoilt: 99   Quota: 1,402   Turnout: 5,703 (44.3%)

[1]

Denny and Banknock

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain 1 seat from Independent

Denny and Banknock - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	Paul Garner (incumbent)	26.3	1,664
	Labour	Jim Blackwood (incumbent)	15.27	965	976.27	976.51	996.75	1,019.23	1,020.57	1,233.78	1,359.61
	Conservative	Nigel Harris	14.49	916	918.16	918.16	924.16	950.16	950.39	964.43	1,068.91	1,086.46	1,314.59
	SNP	Fiona Collie	13.98	884	1,200.27	1,210.99	1,255.15	1,274.11
	Independent	Brian McCabe (incumbent)	10.87	687	719.13	722.85	737.57	780.57	782.45	811.89	984.92	1,002.97
	Independent	Alexander John Waddell	8.26	522	528.47	529.47	537.7	615.95	616.69	640.97
	Labour	Khalid Hamid	4.97	314	322.87	323.11	333.35	355.83	356.51
	Independent	Anne Montgomery	3.65	231	232.92	235.16	247.4
	Scottish Green	Cheryl Brind	1.89	119	122.84	125.08
	Solidarity	Sean Mellon	0.3	19	21.64
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 6,321   Spoilt: 95   Quota: 1,265   Turnout: 6,416 (44.1%)

Carse, Kinnaird & Tryst

• 2012: 2xLab; 2xSNP
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain 1 seat from Labour

Carse, Kinnaird & Tryst - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	Jim Flynn	27.85	1,968
	SNP	Gary Bouse	27.18	1,921
	Labour	Joan Coombes *	13.53	956	1,069.44	1,098.21	1,154.31	1,229.31	1,251.22	2,106.01
	SNP	Laura Murtagh	13.3	940	955.48	1,350.04	1,374.34	1,530.07
	Labour	Martin Murray	12.03	850	964.01	980.63	997.67	1,050.7	1,070.97
	Scottish Green	Chris Marsh	4.12	291	328.16	358.51	408.87
	Independent	Safia Ali	1.99	141	198.71	206.1
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 7,067   Spoilt: 133   Quota: 1,414   Turnout: 7,200 (44%)

• = Outgoing Councillor for Grangemouth ward.

Bonnybridge and Larbert

• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain 1 seat from Labour

Bonnybridge and Larbert - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Tom Coleman (incumbent)†	33.7	1,898
	Conservative	David Grant	24.31	1,368	1,389.43	1,404.2	1,427.07
	Independent	Billy Buchanan (incumbent)	20.15	1,134	1,225.91	1,271.58	1,394.9	1,400.54	1,902.47
	Labour	Linda Gow (incumbent)	15.71	884	963.51	992.13	1,110.3	1,115.96
	Scottish Green	David Robertson	3.84	216	384.58	417.2
	Independent	Janine Rennie	2.27	128	153.3
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,628   Spoilt: 51   Quota: 1,408   Turnout: 5,679 (45.1%)

Falkirk North

• 2012: 2xSNP; 2xLab
• 2017: 2xSNP; 2xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: No change

Falkirk North - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	David Alexander (incumbent)	35.82	2,326
	Labour	Denis Goldie *	17.22	1,118	1,160.83	1,208.1	1,313.84
	SNP	Cecil Meiklejohn (incumbent)	16.33	1,060	1,864.91
	Conservative	Wendy Chandrachud	14.11	916	933.22	948.14	978.61	979.61
	Labour	Robert Bissett	12.95	841	908.11	962.4	1,102.62	1,113.75	1,563.47
	Scottish Green	Debra Pickering	3.56	231	263.23	519.28
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 6,492   Spoilt: 196   Quota: 1,299   Turnout: 6,688 (41%)

• = Outgoing Councillor for Falkirk South.

Falkirk South

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: 1 less seat compared to 2012. Labour lose seat.

Falkirk South - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	SNP	Lorna Binnie	35.68	2,216
	Conservative	John Patrick (incumbent)	32.09	1,993
	Labour	Pat Reid *	27.15	1,686
	Scottish Green	Donnie Buchanan	5.07	315
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 6,210   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 1,533   Turnout: 6,281 (48.3%)

• = Sitting Councillor from Falkirk North.

Lower Braes

• 2012: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: No change

Lower Braes - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Conservative	Malcolm Nicol (incumbent)	34.49	1,864
	SNP	Adanna McCue	30.19	1,632
	Labour	Alan Nimmo (incumbent)	14.06	760	894.04	944.99	961.84	970.94	1,066.33	1,146.65	1,446.12
	Independent	Ricky Wilson	10.34	559	633.98	669.5	684.89	725.99	779.78	993.11
	Independent	Steven Jackson (incumbent)	5.27	285	339.93	359.32	369.06	421.23	472.93
	Scottish Green	Chris Brind	3.02	163	181.68	282.9	293.23	303.1
	Independent	Sam Hemple	1.81	98	121.07	128.28	137.12
	UKIP	Stuart Martin	0.81	44	89.04	91.96
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,405   Spoilt: 50   Quota: 1,352   Turnout: 5,455 (46.2%)

Upper Braes

• 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain 1 seat from Labour

Upper Braes - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	James Kerr††	30.22	1,701
	Labour	John McLuckie (incumbent)††	23.85	1,342	1,441.91
	SNP	Gordon Hughes (incumbent)	18.27	1,028	1,036.61	1,040.73	1,066.78	1,093.98	1,218.31	2,112.31
	SNP	Farah Farzana	14.84	835	837.07	838.76	890.08	910.68	978.8
	Independent	Jim Robertson	6.4	360	401.68	409.18	449.03	602.12
	Independent	Neil Durning	3.25	183	224.17	228.32	262
	Scottish Green	Tom McLaughlin	3.18	179	193.12	196.92
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 5,628   Spoilt: 104   Quota: 1,408   Turnout: 5,732 (46.5%)

Changes since 2017

• † On 30 November 2017 Bonnybridge and Larbert SNP Cllr Tom Coleman died following a short illness.[2] A by-election was held on 15 February 2018 and the seat was retained by his son, Niall.
• †† On 21 September 2018 Upper Braes Labour Cllr John McLuckie and Conservative Cllr James Kerr were suspended by both of their respective parties and became Independents having been charged by the police following an investigation into planning irregularities in Falkirk.[3]

By-elections since 2017

Bonnybridge and Larbert By-election (15 February 2018)[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Niall Coleman	38.6	1,295	1,300	1,354	1,619	1,866
	Conservative	George Stevenson	32.4	1,088	1,096	1,115	1,280
	Labour	Linda Gow	24.2	813	821	858
	Scottish Green	David Robertson	3.7	124	129
	UKIP	Stuart Martin	1.0	35
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,355   Spoilt: 30   Quota: 1,678   Turnout: 3,385 (26.5%)

References

1. "Ward 2 - Grangemouth". Falkirk Council. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
2. https://www.falkirkherald.co.uk/news/politics/death-of-falkirk-provost-tom-coleman-1-4628456
3. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-45600222
4. http://www.falkirk.gov.uk/services/council-democracy/elections-voting/by-election.aspx