2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election

The 2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Dumfries and Galloway Council.^[1] The election used the thirteen 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 form of proportional representation, with 47 councillors being elected.

2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →
All 47 seats to Dumfries and Galloway Council 24 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ronnie Nicholson Ivor Alexander Hyslop Brian Collins Party Labour Conservative SNP Leader's seat North West Dumfries Lochar Castle Douglas and Glenkens Last election 14 seats, 29.8% 18 seats, 38.3% 10 seats, 21.3% Seats before 17 17 10 Seats won 15 14 10 Seat change 1 4 Popular vote 14,828 13,446 9,837 Percentage 29.3% 26.6% 19.5% Swing 1.2% 5.6% 0.5%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Jane S. Maitland Richard John Brodie Party Independent Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Dee Annandale South Last election 2 seats, 4.3% 3 seats, 6.4% Seats before 2 3 Seats won 7 1 Seat change 5 2 Popular vote 9,126 1,997 Percentage 18.1% 4.0% Swing 6.9% 4.3%
The 12 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Ivor Alexander Hyslop Conservative Council Leader after election Ivor Alexander Hyslop Conservative

The election saw Labour replace the Conservatives as the largest party on the council as they gained 1 seat while the Conservatives lost 4 seats. The Scottish National Party retained their third place on the authority but did not gain any additional seats. Independents proved to be the biggest winners as they returned to the council with 7 seats and 5 net gains which included 2 former members of the Labour party. The Liberal Democrats proved to be the worst performers of the election, being reduced to just a single seat.

Following the election the Conservative Party formed a coalition with the support of the SNP. This replaced the previous Conservative-Lib Dem coalition which existed from 2007 to 2012.

Results

2012 Dumfries and Galloway Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	15	2	1	1	31.9	29.3	14,828	1.2
	Conservative	14	0	4	4	29.8	26.6	13,446	5.6
	SNP	10	1	1		21.3	19.5	9,837	0.5
	Independent	7	5	0	5	14.9	18.1	9,126	6.9
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	2	2	2.1	4.0	1,997	4.3
	Scottish Green	0	0	0		0.0	1.8	932	0.8
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	0.7	372	0.4

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 results

Stranraer and North Rhins

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

Stranraer and North Rhins – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Independent	Willie Scobie (incumbent)	62.15	2,057
	Conservative	John Dougan (incumbent)	15.02	497	643.9
	SNP	Iain Dick (incumbent)	13.60	450	678.8	836.62
	Labour	Marion McCutcheon	9.24	306	679.4	808.2
Electorate: 7,185   Valid: 3,310   Spoilt: 38   Quota: 828   Turnout: 3,348 (46.07%)

Wigtown West

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

Wigtown West – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Independent	Grahame Forster (incumbent)	45.1	1,330
	SNP	Jim McClung	25.13	741
	Conservative	Roberta Tuckfield (incumbent)††	16.11	475	643.3	643.7	859.3
	Labour	John McCutcheon	13.67	403	585.5	586.7
Electorate: 6,753   Valid: 2,949   Spoilt: 26   Quota: 738   Turnout: 2,975 (43.67%)

Mid Galloway

• 2007: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xIndependent; 1xCon
• 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Lib Dem

Mid Galloway – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Alistair Geddes (incumbent)	29.66	1,027
	Independent	Jim McColm	28.68	993
	Conservative	Graham Nicol (incumbent)	18.6	644	665.6	699.2	776.2	819.6	948.2
	Labour	Heather Meldrum	13.6	471	495.5	523.4	530.7	612.5
	SNP	Doug Snell *	6.56	227	301.9	318.7	324.2
	Conservative	Sheila Stewart	2.89	100	106.9	120.2
Electorate: 7,539   Valid: 3,462   Spoilt: 49   Quota: 866   Turnout: 3,511 (45.92%)

• = Sitting Councillor for a different Ward.

Dee

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

Dee – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Independent	Colin Wyper	36.51	1,473
	Independent	Jane Maitland (incumbent)	18.39	742	815.4	849.4	889.9	956.9	1,055.2
	Conservative	Patsy Gilroy (incumbent)	18.05	728	780.9	795.4	801.3	831.9	849.4	868.4	1,021.2
	SNP	Thomas Jacques (incumbent)	11.48	463	525.4	536.2	567.4	600.3	693.6	701.6
	Labour	Marsali Caig	7.06	285	355.6	369.2	386.4	422.2
	Independent	Franca Bruno	3.5	141	181.9	196.7	220.3
	Scottish Green	James Smyth	2.85	115	127.9	140.5
	Liberal Democrats	John Womersley	2.16	87	116.3
Electorate: 7,373   Valid: 4,034   Spoilt: 38   Quota: 1,009   Turnout: 4,072 (54.71%)

Castle Douglas and Glenkens

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

Castle Douglas and Glenkens – 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Conservative	Finlay Carson	27.08	904
	Independent	George Nicol Prentice (incumbent)	23.88	797	813	826.5
	SNP	Brian Collins (incumbent)	23.88	797	800	811.2	811.5	899.6
	Labour	Daniel Scheffer	10.04	335	350.6	376.8	376.9	430.9
	Scottish Green	Paul Taylorson	6.05	202	203.2	229.4	229.6
	Conservative	Gary Wardell	5.90	197	235	249.9	250.2	265
	Liberal Democrats	Andrew Metcalf	3.18	106	109
Electorate: 8,014   Valid: 3,338   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 835   Turnout: 3,372 (41.65%)

Abbey

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

Abbey – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Labour	Tom McAughtrie (incumbent)	22.95	903
	Conservative	Ian Blake (incumbent)	21.75	856
	SNP	Rob Davidson (incumbent)	20.69	814
	Labour	Davie Stitt (incumbent)	19.9	783	870.2
	Conservative	Charles Milroy	10.29	405	411.1
	UKIP	Bill Wright	4.42	174	178.6
Electorate: 9,019   Valid: 3,935   Spoilt: 65   Quota: 788   Turnout: 4,000 (43.63%)

North West Dumfries

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

North West Dumfries – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	Labour	Ronnie Nicholson (incumbent)	23.25	932
	Conservative	John Graham Bell (incumbent)††	22.43	899
	Labour	David John McKie (incumbent)	21.38	857
	SNP	Andy Ferguson	18.44	739	746.1	768.5	773.2	982.1
	Labour	Paula Stevenson	14.50	581	690.1	702.2	746.7
Electorate: 9,906   Valid: 4,008   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 802   Turnout: 4,074 (40.46%)

Mid and Upper Nithsdale

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

Mid and Upper Nithsdale – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	Labour	Jim Dempster (incumbent)	27.45	1,194
	Conservative	Gill Dykes (incumbent)	26.53	1,154
	SNP	Andrew Stuart Wood (incumbent)	20.51	892
	Labour	John Syme (incumbent)	19.08	830	1,098.6
	UKIP	Douglas Watters	4.55	198	209.1
	Conservative	Elly Hurren	1.86	81	88.3
Electorate: 9,239   Valid: 4,349   Spoilt: 67   Quota: 870   Turnout: 4,416 (47.07%)

Lochar

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

Lochar – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Yen Hongmei Jin††††	28.46	1,190
	Labour	Jeff Leaver (incumbent)	27.73	1,159
	Conservative	Ivor Alexander Hyslop (incumbent)	15.86	663	703	710.5	723.7	1,266.4
	Conservative	John Anthony Charteris (incumbent)	15.05	629	675.9	685.6	700.3
	Labour	Ted Thompson	12.89	539	660	941.7
Electorate: 9,295   Valid: 4,180   Spoilt: 62   Quota: 837   Turnout: 4,242 (44.97%)

Nith

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

Nith – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	John Allan Martin (incumbent)	25.93	1,079
	Labour	Colin Smyth (incumbent)	19.20	799	1,010.3
	SNP	Alastair Witts (incumbent)	18.84	784	789.7	822	830.2	850.9
	Conservative	Jack Groom (incumbent)††	15.67	652	657.5	669.5	675.9	687.8	689.9	900.9
	Conservative	David Slater	8.56	356	361	366.5	369.5	382.5	383.6
	Independent	Andrew Crosbie	8.36	348	352.8	376.2	391.6	430.4	435.1	514.1
	Independent	Nello Paoletti	2.19	91	93.1	103.1	108.4
	Independent	Lee Vann-Wakelin	1.25	52	53.6	59.81
Electorate: 9,844   Valid: 4,161   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 833   Turnout: 4,227 (42.27%)

Annandale South

• 2007: 2xLab; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon
• 2012: 2xLab; 1xLib Dem; 1xCon
• 2007-2012 Change: No change

Annandale South – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Liberal Democrats	Richard John Brodie (incumbent)	21.09	959
	Labour	Sean William Marshall (incumbent)	19.55	889	901.3	903.3	905.7	1,005.7
	Conservative	Ian Brian Carruthers (incumbent)††	19.38	881	889.6	933
	Labour	Ronnie Ogilvie (incumbent)	16.74	761	764.6	766.7	767.4	842.6	916.3
	SNP	Andrew Wilson	12.49	568	573.9	577	578.9	664.9	670.9
	Independent	Marion F.B. Stewart	9.15	416	424.7	432.9	438.6
	Conservative	Brian Pope	1.61	73	73.9
Electorate: 10,864   Valid: 4,547   Spoilt: 55   Quota: 910   Turnout: 4,602 (41.85%)

Annandale North

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

Annandale North – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Ted Brown (incumbent)†	19.59	845	923
	SNP	Stephen Thompson	16.78	724	768	782.5	796.9	799.1	800.4	1,067.9
	Conservative	Peter Diggle††	15.11	652	690	693.1	875.4
	Scottish Green	Alis Ballance	14.26	615	673	687.3	755.7	759.4	761.4
	Conservative	Gail MacGregor (incumbent)	13.07	564	641	645.5	885.3
	Conservative	Roger Brian Grant (incumbent)	12.31	531	566	568.7
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Young	8.88	383
Electorate: 10,175   Valid: 4,314   Spoilt: 34   Quota: 863   Turnout: 4,348 (42.4%)

Annandale East and Eskdale

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

Annandale East and Eskdale – 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Labour	Archie Dryburgh (incumbent)	22.20	877
	Conservative	Denis Raymond Male (incumbent)	15.29	604	609.8	609.8	618.9	732.3	778.3	778.9	963.2
	Independent	Craig Peacock	14.98	592	607.3	621.9	654.9	716.8	797.1
	Conservative	Karen Carruthers††	13.92	550	554.8	554.8	560.8	661.2	690.9	691.6	808.4
	Liberal Democrats	Jock Dinwoodie	11.69	462	473.8	479.5	483.7	513.4	587.8	588.9
	SNP	Brian Richardson	10.66	421	430.2	434.4	436.8	447
	Conservative	Stuart Thompson	8.88	351	353.3	356.6	363.9
	Independent	Allan Graham (incumbent)	1.24	49	52.2	68.8
	Independent	Sidney John Elder	1.14	45	50.2
Electorate: 9,663   Valid: 3,951   Spoilt: 36   Quota: 791   Turnout: 4,348 (40.89%)

Aftermath

On 20 September 2013, 6 councillors of the Conservative Party quit their group and became independents.^[2]

In August 2015 Lochar SNP councillor Yen Hongmei Jin resigned from the party and became an independent, citing racial prejudice towards her and having lost out at a candidate selection for the Scottish Parliament election, 2016.^[3][4]

By-elections

Annandale North by-election (2012)

Annandale North Labour councillor Ted Brown died on 4 September 2012.^[5] A by-election was held on 15 November 2012 which was won by Graeme Tait of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party.

Annandale North by-election (15 November 2012) – 1 seat^[6]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4
	Conservative	Graeme Tait†††	46.0	1,819	1,857	1,922	1,980
	Labour	Peter Glanton	25.3	1,002	1,008	1,053	1,149
	Scottish Green	Alis Ballance	11.7	464	475	508	617
	SNP	Frank MacGregor	9.4	371	375	399
	Liberal Democrats	Hugh Young	5.3	208	211
	UKIP	Bill Wright	2.3	89
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
Valid: 3,953   Spoilt: 27   Quota: 1,977   Turnout: 3,980

Annandale North by-election (2016)

Annandale North Conservative councillor Graeme Tait announced on 20 March 2014 that he had defected to the Labour Party stating that he felt its "policies and values" better reflect his own and resigned his Council seat on 22 September 2016.^[7] A by-election was held on 17 November 2016 and was won by the Conservative Party's Douglas Fairbairn.

Annandale North by-election (17 November 2016) – 1 seat^[8]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1
	Conservative	Douglas Fairbairn	57.4	2041
	SNP	Sylvia Moffat	21.1	749
	Labour	Adam Wilson	17.2	611
	Scottish Green	Chris Ballance	4.3	152
	Conservative hold		Swing
Valid: 3553   Spoilt: 35