2003 Scottish local elections

The 2003 Scottish local elections were held on 1 May 2003, the same day as Scottish Parliament elections and local elections in parts of England. All 32 Scottish councils had all their seats up for election – all Scottish councils are unitary authorities.

2003 Scottish local elections

← 1999 1 May 2003 (2003-05-01) 2007 →
All 1,222 seats to Scottish councils
Turnout	49.6%[1]
First party Second party   Leader Jack McConnell John Swinney Party Labour SNP Seats won 509 181 Seat change 42 23 Popular vote 611,843 451,660 Percentage 32.6% 24.1% Swing 3.7% 4.6%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Jim Wallace David McLetchie Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Seats won 175 122 Seat change 18 14 Popular vote 272,057 282,895 Percentage 14.5% 15.1% Swing 1.9% 1.6%
Colours denote the winning party with outright control
Colours denote the party with the most seats
Colours denote party of the elected councillor for each ward

This was the last election for local government in Scotland to use the first past the post electoral system.

Boundary changes

Minor council boundary took place to better reflect certain areas:^[2]

• Transfer of properties at Blackburn from Aberdeen City Council to Aberdeenshire Council
• Transfer of an area of land at West Farm, Broxburn from City of Edinburgh Council to West Lothian Council
• Transfer of an area of land and properties at Ardoch Sewage Works from Argyll & Bute Council to West Dunbartonshire Council
• Transfer of an area of land at Braehead from Glasgow City Council to Renfrewshire Council

Results

Summary of the 1 May 2003 Scottish council election results

Parties		Votes	Votes %	+/-	Wards	Net Gain/Loss
	Labour	611,843	32.6	−3.7%	509	−42
	SNP	451,660	24.1	−4.6%	181	−23
	Conservative	282,895	15.1	+1.6%	122	+14
	Liberal Democrats	272,057	14.5	+1.9%	175	+18
	Independent	189,749	10.1	+3.0%	230	+39
	Other	67,533	3.6	+2.0%	4	−6
Total		1,875,737			1,222

Councils

Council	1999 result		Control before election (if different)	2003 result		Details
Aberdeen City		Labour	NOC		No overall control	Details
Aberdeenshire		No overall control			No overall control	Details
Angus		SNP			SNP	Details
Argyll and Bute		Independent			Independent	Details
Clackmannanshire		No overall control			Labour	Details
Dumfries and Galloway		Labour			No overall control	Details
Dundee City		No overall control			No overall control	Details
East Ayrshire		Labour			Labour	Details
East Dunbartonshire		No overall control			No overall control	Details
East Lothian		Labour			Labour	Details
East Renfrewshire		No overall control			No overall control	Details
City of Edinburgh		Labour			Labour	Details
Falkirk		Labour			No overall control	Details
Fife		Labour	Labour Minority		No overall control (Lab[3])	Details
Glasgow City		Labour			Labour	Details
Highland		Independent			Independent	Details
Inverclyde		Labour	NOC		Liberal Democrats	Details
Midlothian		Labour			Labour	Details
Moray		Independent			Independent	Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar		Independent			Independent	Details
North Ayrshire		Labour			Labour	Details
North Lanarkshire		Labour			Labour	Details
Orkney		Independent			Independent	Details
Perth and Kinross		No overall control			No overall control	Details
Renfrewshire		Labour			Labour	Details
Scottish Borders		No overall control			No overall control	Details
Shetland		Independent			Independent	Details
South Ayrshire		Labour	NOC		No overall control	Details
South Lanarkshire		Labour			No overall control (Lab minority)	Details
Stirling		No overall control (Lab minority)			Labour	Details
West Dunbartonshire		Labour	NOC (Ind+SNP+SSP)		Labour	Details
West Lothian		Labour			Labour	Details