Home Page | 2012 City of Edinburgh Council election
Elections to the City of Edinburgh Council were held on 3 May 2012, the same day as the 2012 Scottish local elections. The election was the second using 17 new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ward elected three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation system of election.
All 58 seats to City of Edinburgh Council 30 seats needed for a majority
First party
Second party
Third party
Leader
Andrew Burns
Steve Cardownie
Jeremy Balfour
Party
Labour
SNP
Conservative
Leader's seat
Fountainbridge /Craiglockhart
Forth
Corstorphine /Murrayfield
Last election
15 seats, 22.93%
12 seats, 20.32%
11 seats, 22.08%
Seats before
15
13
11
Seats won
20
18
11
Seat change
5
6
0
Popular vote
39,286
37,537
27,588
Percentage
28.13%
26.87%
19.75%
Swing
5.45%
6.55%
2.33%
Fourth party
Fifth party
Leader
Maggie Chapman and Steve Burgess
Paul Edie
Party
Green
Liberal Democrats
Leader's seat
Leith Walk, Southside /Newington
Corstorphine /Murrayfield
Last election
3 seats, 8.23%
17 seats, 21.99%
Seats before
3
17
Seats won
6
3
Seat change
3
14
Popular vote
15,978
13,040
Percentage
11.44%
9.34%
Swing
3.21%
12.65%
Map of council wards
Leader of the Council before election
Jenny Dawe defeated Liberal Democrats
Leader of the council after election
Andrew Burns Labour
The main feature of the elections was the near obliteration of the Scottish Liberal Democrats as they collapsed from 17 seats on the city council to just 3, which saw them occupying the position as the smallest party. Their leader, and the leader of the council, Jenny Dawe, lost her seat in Meadows/Morningside, epitomising the poor performance. Scottish Labour replaced the Lib Dems as the largest party as they made 5 gains, winning 20 seats in total. The Scottish National Party became the second largest party, gaining 6 seats and 18 seats in total. The Scottish Conservatives retained 11 seats on the council while the Scottish Greens doubled their seat numbers to 6.
After the election a coalition was formed between the Labour Party and the SNP. This replaced the previous Lib Dem – SNP Coalition which had existed from 2007 to 2012.
Election result
2012 City of Edinburgh Council election Electorate: 331,954 Turnout: 141,552 (42.6%) Total Valid: 139,684
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 3 May 2007. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.
Ward summary
Results of the 2012 City of Edinburgh Council election by ward
Ward
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
%
Seats
Total
Labour
SNP
Conservative
Green
Lib Dem
Others
Almond
14.92
0
32.55
1
26.24
1
6.17
0
15.89
1
4.22
0
3
Pentland Hills
28.85
1
29.16
1
27.70
1
4.05
0
4.66
0
5.59
0
3
Drum Brae/Gyle
26.46
1
27.00
1
16.04
0
3.62
0
18.77
1
8.12
0
3
Forth
34.01
2
29.06
1
22.64
1
7.08
0
5.06
0
2.14
0
4
Inverleith
24.99
1
20.22
1
29.50
1
14.92
1
10.38
0
-
-
4
Corstorphine/Murrayfield
20.45
0
24.74
1
24.96
1
6.11
0
22.77
1
1.96
0
3
Sighthill/Gorgie
42.1
2
37.4
2
9.2
0
8.2
0
3.2
0
-
-
4
Colinton/Fairmilehead
17.87
0
20.59
1
52.00
2
4.91
0
3.62
0
1.01
0
3
Fountainbridge/Craiglockhart
23.24
1
23.54
1
21.15
0
24.07
1
7.34
0
0.66
0
3
Meadows/Morningside
19.64
1
15.78
1
29.90
1
19.75
1
12.30
0
2.63
0
4
City Centre
21.33
1
24.97
1
27.69
1
17.06
0
7.94
0
1.01
0
3
Leith Walk
33.24
2
28.48
1
8.11
0
20.28
1
5.09
0
4.81
0
4
Leith
32.1
1
32.4
1
6.5
0
18.9
1
9.0
0
1.1
0
3
Craigentinny/Duddingston
36.2
2
36.9
1
10.2
0
7.0
0
8.0
0
1.8
0
3
Southside/Newington
19.78
1
18.34
1
16.72
1
19.97
1
13.97
0
11.22
0
4
Liberton/Gilmerton
40.9
2
31.6
1
12.3
1
5.2
0
7.6
0
2.5
0
4
Portobello/Craigmillar
47.4
2
32.0
1
7.2
0
8.5
0
1.9
0
2.9
0
3
Total
28.13
20
26.87
18
19.75
11
11.55
6
9.34
3
0
58
Ward results
Almond
2007: 1xCon; 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP 2012: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem 2007-2012 Change: No Change
† Liberton/Gilmerton SNP councillor Tom Buchanan died on 3 April 2013. A by-election was held on 20 June 2013 and was won by Labour's Keith John Robson.
†† Craigentinny/Duddingston Labour councillor Alex Dunn defected from the Labour Party and joined the SNP on 4 December 2013.
††† On 1 March 2014 Southside/Newington SNP councillor Jim Orr resigned from the party and became an Independent citing disillusionment with internal political spats.
†††† Leith Walk SNP councillor Deidre Brock was elected as an MP for Edinburgh North and Leith (UK Parliament constituency) on 7 May 2015 and resigned her Council seat on 24 June 2015. Leith Walk Green councillor Maggie Chapman resigned her seat on 30 June 2015 to focus her efforts on winning a Scottish Parliament seat in North East Scotland. A by-election for both seats was held on 10 September 2015, Lewis Ritchie defending the SNP seat and Labour's Marion Donaldson taking the other.
†††††† Almond Liberal Democrat councillor Alastair Shields resigned from the party and became an Independent after having been de-selected. He originally indicated that he would contest the 2017 local elections as an Independent, but ruled this out in October 2016.
By Elections since 2012
Liberton/Gilmerton By-election (20 June 2013)[1]- 1 Seat
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about 2012 City of Edinburgh Council election, What is 2012 City of Edinburgh Council election? What does 2012 City of Edinburgh Council election mean?