2017 Scottish Borders Council election

Elections to Scottish Borders Council were held on 4 May 2017, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the 11 wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system, a form of proportional representation, with 34 councillors elected.

2017 Scottish Borders Council election

4 May 2017
All 34 seats to Scottish Borders Council 18 seats needed for a majority
SNP Leader Michelle Ballantyne Stuart Bell Party Conservative SNP Leader's seat Selkirkshire Tweeddale East Seats before 10 9 Seats after 15 9 Seat change 5   IND LD Leader David Parker Kris Chapman Party Independent Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Leaderdale and Melrose Tweeddale West Seats before 7 6 Seats after 8 2 Seat change 1 4
The 11 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election David Parker Independent Council Leader after election Shona Haslam Conservative

Following the 2012 election, the Scottish National Party formed a coalition with the support of the Independents and the Liberal Democrats. The Borders Party also supported this administration. This replaced the previous Conservative-Lib Dem-Independent coalition which existed from 2007-2012.

The council was the first to reveal its administration after the election, with the Conservative group forming a coalition with independents to rule the council. New Tweeddale East councillor Shona Haslam will become its leader formally on 18 May. Outgoing independent leader, David Parker, will become the council's new convener.[1]

Election results

Scottish Borders Local Election Result 2017

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	15	5	0	+5	44.1%	41.6%	19,355	+18.4%
	SNP	9	1	1	0	26.5%	21.4%	9,959	+0.7%
	Independent	8	3	2	+1	23.5%	23.8%	11,050	+1.1%
	Liberal Democrats	2	0	4	-4	5.9%	8.2%	3,818	-8.3%
	Labour	0	-	-	-	0	2.8%	1,283	-3.5%
	Scottish Green	0	-	-	-	0	2.2%	1,030	+1.8%

Ward results

Tweeddale West

• 2012: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xLib Dem; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017 Change: No Change

Tweeddale West - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Heather Anderson	25.2%	1,160
	Conservative	Eric Small	22.5%	1,036	1,036.2	1,040.2	1,097.2	1,115.3	1,123.3	1,928.3
	Liberal Democrats	Kris Chapman	16.7%	768	769.2	783.2	820.2	891.4	1,073.1	1,192.2
	Conservative	John Anderson	21.3%	984	984.2	987.2	1,003.2	1,018.2	1,030.2
	Scottish Green	Catriona Hamilton	4.7%	218	221.3	238.4	262.6	332.8
	Labour	Julia Reid	4.4%	201	201.5	205.5	224.6
	Independent	Tommy Davidson	3.7%	170	170.6	190.6
	Independent	Michael Needham	1.6%	73	73.1
Electorate: 8,167 (Est.)   Valid: 4,610   Spoilt: 78   Quota: 1,153   Turnout: 4,688 (57.4%)

Tweeddale East

• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: Independent gain one seat from Lib Dem

Tweeddale East

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	Shona Haslam	37.6%	1,804
	SNP	Stuart Bell (incumbent)	20%	960	971.7	1,442.7
	Independent	Robin Tatler	16.5%	793	970.4	1,013.7	1,093.4	1,701.3
	Liberal Democrats	Amanda Kubie	13.6%	650	881.7	931.1	1,003.5
	SNP	Simon Ritchie	12.2%	585	590.7
Electorate: 8,640 (Est.)   Valid: 4,792   Spoilt: 46   Quota: 1,199   Turnout: 4,838 (56%)

Galashiels and District

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xBP; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 2xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: Independent and Con gain one seat from SNP and BP

Galashiels and District - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	Euan Jardine	28.5%	1,292
	SNP	Andy Anderson	20%	907
	Independent	Sandy Aitchison (incumbent)	11.9%	539	612.9	640.3	732.4	916.2
	Independent	Harry Scott	10.1%	460	517.8	532.4	592.4	753.1	757	988.3
	SNP	John Mitchell (incumbent)	11.5%	523	530.4	558.9	597.7	647.3
	Independent	Bill White (incumbent)	8.7%	396	441.3	462.1	522
	Liberal Democrats	Caledonia Bhatia	5.5%	249	316	369.2
	Labour	David Sharp	3.7%	167	188.5
Electorate: 10,980 (Est.)   Valid: 4,533   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 907   Turnout: 4,599 (41.9%)

Selkirkshire

• 2012: 1xCon; 1xLib Dem; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem

Selkirkshire - 3 seats[2]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Conservative	Michelle Ballantyne† (incumbent)	27%	1,081
	SNP	Elaine Thornton-Nicol	22.2%	888	889	941	956	983	1,031
	Independent	Gordon Edgar (incumbent)	12.8%	514	524	531	569	607	646	652	847	1,083
	Conservative	Trevor Adams	15.1%	606	661	663	675	694	713	713	763
	Independent	Kenneth Gunn	9.8%	392	396	403	417	429	456	464
	Labour	Scott Redpath	3.7%	147	148	165	176	219
	Liberal Democrats	Nancy Norman	3.3%	134	136	163	171
	Independent	David Black	3.1%	123	124	125
	Scottish Green	Barbara Harvie	3%	122	123
Electorate: 7,752 (Est.)   Valid: 4,007   Spoilt: 86   Quota: 1,002   Turnout: 4,093 (52.8%)

Leaderdale and Melrose

• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xBP; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xIndependent; 1xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017 Change: Con gain one seat from BP

Leaderdale and Melrose - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Independent	David Parker (incumbent)	25.2%	1,149
	Conservative	Tom Miers	20.5%	934	934.9	950.9	1,014	1,476.5
	SNP	Kevin Drum††	17.8%	811	812.4	832.5	903.7	910.8	915.5	1,105.3
	Independent	Iain Gillespie (incumbent)	11.2%	510	513.3	585.7	720.2	744.4	871.1
	Conservative	Diana Findlay	11.5%	523	523.6	543.7	529.8
	Liberal Democrats	John Paton-Day	9.4%	426	427.5	473.6
	Independent	Rebecca Fraser	4.4%	202	202.7
Electorate: 8,673 (Est.)   Valid: 4,555   Spoilt: 78   Quota: 1,139   Turnout: 4,633 (53.4%)

Mid Berwickshire

• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2017: 2xCon; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017 Change: Con gain one seat from Lib Dem

Mid Berwickshire - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Conservative	John Greenwell (incumbent)	35.1%	1,592
	Conservative	Mark Rowley	24.1%	1,096	1,434.3
	SNP	Donald Moffat (incumbent)	21.2%	962	983.2	995.3	1,022.9	1,124.7	1,435.7
	Liberal Democrats	Frances Renton (incumbent)	11.9%	539	576.5	665	728.6	816.2
	Scottish Green	Pauline Stewart	3.9%	177	181	201	249
	Labour	David Smith	3.9%	175	180.4	199.8
Electorate: 8,494 (Est.)   Valid: 4,541   Spoilt: 96   Quota: 1,136   Turnout: 4,637 (54.6%)

East Berwickshire

• 2012: 1 x Independent, 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP
• 2017: 2 x Conservative, 1 x SNP
• 2012-2017 Change: 1 x Conservative gain from Independent

East Berwickshire - 3 seats[3]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	Jim Fullarton (incumbent)	35.6%	1,505
	Conservative	Carol Hamilton	23.1%	979	1,357
	SNP	Helen Laing	19.6%	831	835	841	893	932	1,001	1,203
	Liberal Democrats	Danny Robertson	6.5%	276	296	352	398	475	627
	Labour	Eddy Coulson	7.1%	301	309	328	359	408
	Independent	Michael Clift	4.2%	178	185	233	259
	Scottish Green	Kate Duncan	3.8%	162	166	178
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,232   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 1,059   Turnout: 49.0%

Kelso and District

• 2012: 2 x Conservative, 1 x Liberal Democrat
• 2017: 2 x Conservative, 1 x Liberal Democrat
• 2012-2017 Change: No Change

Kelso and District - 3 seats[4]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Conservative	Tom Weatherston (incumbent)	28%	1,212
	Conservative	Simon Mountford (incumbent)	25%	1,083
	Liberal Democrats	Euan Robson	14.7%	636	675	675	700	741	788	955	1,370
	SNP	Alison Lamond	16.5%	713	715	715	731	749	809	850
	Independent	Ian Aitchison	7.7%	333	362	362	389	401	424
	Scottish Green	Colin Shaughnessy	3%	129	133	133	144	164
	Labour	Sally Prentice	2.7%	116	119	119	124
	Independent	Colin McGrath	2.4%	104	114	114
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 4,326   Spoilt: 89   Quota: 1,082   Turnout: 53.1%

Jedburgh and District

• 2012: 1 x SNP, 1 x Conservative, 1 x Independent
• 2017: 2 x Conservative, 1 x SNP
• 2012-2017 Change: 1 x Conservative from Independent

Jedburgh and District - 3 seats[5]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	Sandy Scott (incumbent)	28.5%	1,094
	Conservative	Scott Hamilton	26.8%	1,026
	SNP	Jim Brown (incumbent)	19.7%	755	759	760	768	795	877	1,150
	Independent	Rory Stewart (incumbent)	15.6%	600	633	657	708	747	801
	Scottish Green	Charles Strang	4.5%	171	179	183	185	218
	Labour	Kenryck Lloyd-Jones	3.1%	119	128	133	135
	Independent	Harvey Oliver	1.8%	70	82	90
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,835   Spoilt: 56   Quota: 959   Turnout: 54.4%

Hawick and Denholm

• 2012: 1 x Independent, 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP
• 2017: 1 x Independent, 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP
• 2012-2017 Change: No Change

Hawick and Denholm - 3 seats[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	Stuart Marshall (incumbent)	63.3%	2,283
	Conservative	Neil Richards	16.5%	596	952
	SNP	Clair Ramage	13.3%	478	696	697	738	764	905
	Liberal Democrats	Ian Turnbull	3.9%	140	393	410	432	471
	Labour	David Byrne	1.6%	57	98	101	114
	Scottish Green	Kevin Ferguson	1.4%	51	93	95
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,605   Spoilt: 26   Quota: 902   Turnout: 50.9%

Hawick and Hermitage

• 2012: 1 x Independent, 1 x Liberal Democrat, 1 x Conservative
• 2017: 2 x Independent, 1 x Conservative
• 2012-2017 Change: 1 x Independent gain from Liberal Democrats

Hawick and Hermitage - 3 seats[7]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Independent	Watson McAteer *	43.2%	1,496
	Conservative	George Turnbull (incumbent)	26.4%	912
	Independent	Davie Paterson (incumbent)	19.2%	665	936
	SNP	Iain Whyte	11.2%	386	482
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,459   Spoilt: 53   Quota: 865   Turnout: 50.3%

• = Sitting Councillor from Hawick and Denholm Ward.

Changes since 2017

• † On 4 December 2017, Selkirkshire Conservative Cllr Michelle Ballantyne resigned her seat upon her election to the Scottish Parliament.[8] A by-election was held on 22 February 2018 and the seat was won by Independent candidate, Caroline Penman.
• †† On 9 March 2020, it was announced that Leaderdale and Melrose SNP Cllr Kevin Drum had died over the weekend.[9] A by-election will take place later in the year.

By-elections since 2017

Selkirkshire By-election (22 February 2018)[10]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Conservative	Trevor Adams	35.7	1,247	1,251	1,262	1,276	1,307	1,342
	Independent	Caroline Penman	29.7	1,040	1,049	1,080	1,125	1,231	1,522	2,028
	SNP	John Mitchell	19.8	691	717	729	758	797
	Independent	Kenneth Gunn	6.3	219	226	238	249
	Labour	Scott Redpath	3.8	134	144	158
	Liberal Democrats	Jack Clark	2.7	95	103
	Scottish Green	Barbra Harvie	2.0	70

References

1. "Conservatives and independents to run Scottish Borders Council". 9 May 2017. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
2. Council, Scottish Borders. "Ward 4 Selkirkshire results information | Scottish Borders Council". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
3. Council, Scottish Borders. "Ward 7 East Berwickshire results information | Scottish Borders Council". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
4. Council, Scottish Borders. "Ward 8 Kelso and District results information | Scottish Borders Council". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
5. Council, Scottish Borders. "Ward 9 Jedburgh and District results information | Scottish Borders Council". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
6. Council, Scottish Borders. "Ward 10 Hawick and Denholm results information | Scottish Borders Council". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
7. Council, Scottish Borders. "Ward 11 Hawick and Hermitage results information | Scottish Borders Council". www.scotborders.gov.uk.
8. "Michelle Ballantyne resigns as Selkirkshire councillor". Border Telegraph.
9. "Councillor's death a 'great shock' to colleagues". March 9, 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
10. Council, Scottish Borders. "Local government by-election results". www.scotborders.gov.uk.

External links

• List of candidates Scottish Borders Council