2017 Dundee City Council election

Elections to Dundee City Council were held on 4 May 2017 on the same day as the other Scottish local government elections. The election used the eight 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). A total of 29 Councillors were elected.

2017 Dundee City Council election

← 2012 4 May 2017 (2017-05-04) 2022 →
All 29 seats to Dundee City Council 15 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	39.6%
First party Second party Third party   Leader John Alexander Kevin Keenan Derek Scott Party SNP Labour Conservative Leader's seat Strathmartine Strathmartine The Ferry Last election 16 seats, 43.4% 10 seats, 30.1% 1 seat, 11.3% Seats won 14 9 3 Seat change 2 1 2 Popular vote 18,289 8,997 7,644 Percentage 41.3% 20.3% 17.2% Swing 2.1% 9.8% 5.9%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Fraser Macpherson Ian Borthwick Party Liberal Democrats Independent Leader's seat West End Strathmartine Last election 1 seat, 9.0% 1 seat, 4.4% Seats won 2 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 5,011 2,364 Percentage 11.3% 5.3% Swing 2.3% 0.9%
The eight multi-member wards; colours denote the winning party, as shown in the main table of results.
Council Leader before election Ken Guild SNP Elected Council Leader John Alexander SNP

After the 2012 election a Scottish National Party (SNP) majority administration of 16 was formed. In 2017 the SNP lost 2 seats reducing their numbers to 14, being one seat short of an overall majority. They formed an administration with the support of the Independent Ian Borthwick.^[1]

Background

Previous election

Main article: 2012 Dundee City Council election

At the previous election in 2012 the SNP took 16 seats and was able to form a majority administration. Labour were second with 10 and the remaining groups had 1 seat each.

Party	Seats	Vote share
SNP	16	43.4%
Labour	10	30.1%
Conservative	1	11.3%
Liberal Democrats	1	9.0%
Independent	1	4.4%

Source:^[2]

Composition

Throughout the term of the previous council, there was minimal change in the composition of members. In January 2016, Craig Melville, who was an SNP councillor for Maryfield was suspended from the party, thereby taking the number of councillors the SNP had to 15. Melville later resigned as a councillor and a by-election took place which was won back by the SNP thus resulting in the SNP returning back to 16 seats for the remainder of the term.

	Party	2012 term		2017 result
		Election	Dissolution	Seats	+/-[a]
	SNP	16	16	14	2
	Labour	10	10	9	1
	Conservative	1	1	3	2
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	2	1
	Independent	1	1	1

Retiring councillors

Ahead of the election, seven councillors announced their retirement and would not stand for re-election, that included Bob Duncan who was Lord Provost and the council leader, Ken Guild.

Ward	Party		Retiring councillor
Coldside		SNP	Jimmy Black[3]
Coldside		SNP	David Bowes[4]
East End		Labour	Lesley Brennan[5]
Lochee		SNP	Bob Duncan[3]
Lochee		Labour	Norma McGovern[5]
The Ferry		Labour	Laurie Bidwell[5]
The Ferry		SNP	Ken Guild[3]

Results

2017 Dundee City Council election result ^[6][7]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	14			2	48.3	41.3	18,289	2.1
	Labour	9			1	31.0	20.3	8,997	9.8
	Conservative	3			2	10.3	17.2	7,644	5.9
	Liberal Democrats	2			1	6.9	11.3	5,011	2.3
	Independent	1				3.5	5.3	2,364	0.9
	Green	0	0	0		0.0	2.5	1,102	1.9
	TUSC	0	0	0		0.0	1.6	688	0.3
	UKIP	0	0	0		0.0	0.2	103	New
	Scottish Socialist	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	59	New

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 2012. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Votes summary

↓

14	9	3	2	1
SNP	Labour	Conservative	LD	Independent

First preference vote share SNP   41.3% Labour   21.0% Conservative   17.2% Liberal Democrats   11.3% Independent   5.3% Green   2.5% Other   2.0%

Council seats SNP   48.3% Labour   31.0% Conservative   10.3% Liberal Democrats   6.9% Independent   3.5%

Ward summary

Results of the 2017 Dundee City Council election by ward

Ward	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	%	Seats	Total
	SNP		Lab		Conservative		Lib Dems		Independent		Others
Strathmartine	43.2%	2	18.9%	1	9.0%	0	13.6%	0	13.5%	1	1.7%	0	4
Lochee	42.7%	2	29.3%	2	12.1%	0	2.1%	0	9.7%	0	4.1%	0	4
West End	28.6%	1	11.6%	1	11.8%	1	38.5%	1	2.4%	0	9.6%	0	4
Coldside	44.2%	2	27.9%	2	11.0%	0	2.8%	0	8.6%	0	5.6%	0	4
Maryfield	49.4%	2	21.6%	1	17.6%	0	5.3%	0			6.1%	0	3
North East	53.7%	2	27.0%	1	9.1%	0	1.3%	0	5.8%	0	3.0%	0	3
East End	53.3%	2	21.7%	1	12.9%	0	2.5%	0	4.6%	0	5.0%	0	3
The Ferry	29.9%	1	11.7%	0	38.9%	2	15.8%	1			3.6%	0	4
Total	41.3%	14	20.3%	9	17.3%	3	11.3%	2	5.3%	1	4.6%	0	29

Ward results

Strathmartine

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: No Change

Strathmartine - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	John Alexander (incumbent)	32.1%	1,956
	Labour	Kevin Keenan (incumbent)	18.9%	1,155	1,178.7	1,182.9	1,220.9
	Liberal Democrats	Daniel Coleman	13.6%	828	866	869.5	884.5	884.8	1,076.9
	Independent	Ian Borthwick (incumbent)	13.5%	825	876.5	883.3	911.9	912.2	1,085.4	1,641.1
	SNP	Stewart Hunter (incumbent)	11.2%	680	1,250.05
	Conservative	Robert Lindsay	9.0%	546	549.8	550.1	555.2	555.3
	TUSC	Sinead Daly	1.7%	105	115.2	118.7
Electorate: 15,017   Valid: 6,095   Spoilt: 139   Quota: 1,220   Turnout: 6,234 (41.5%)

Lochee

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1x independent
• 2017: 2xSNP; 2xLab
• 2012-2017: Labour Gain from independent

Lochee - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	Alan Ross (incumbent)	28.6%	1,661
	Labour	Charlie Malone	15.9%	924	933.3	940.3	943.7	959.9	993.4	1,020.9	1,217.7
	SNP	Roisin Smith	14.1%	818	1,256.9
	Labour	Michael Marra	13.4%	778	785.5	793.2	794.5	812.8	819.4	848.4	968.5	1,012.5	1,241.8
	Conservative	Mason Mcilreavy	12.1%	700	702.4	703.9	708.2	724.5	728.5	739.2	813.2	814.9
	Independent	Tom Ferguson (incumbent)	9.7%	565	574.3	582.4	584.4	597.5	623.6	673.4
	Green	Gordon Matheson	2.3%	132	137.4	163.6	166.2	185.8	206.5
	TUSC	Leah Ganley	1.8%	102	104.1	108.06	110.06	112.2
	Liberal Democrats	Lynn Hutchison	1.6%	91	91.6	92.2	106.5
	Liberal Democrats	Kirsty McKenzie	0.5%	31	32.5	35.1
Electorate: 14,276   Valid: 5,802   Spoilt: 163   Quota: 1,161   Turnout: 5,965 (41.8%)

West End

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

West End - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Liberal Democrats	Fraser MacPherson (incumbent)	38.5%	2,105
	SNP	Bill Campbell (incumbent)	19.9%	1,090	1,210.9
	Conservative	Donald Hay	11.8%	643	887.2	888.5	889.5	901.3	929.8	958.6	987.2
	Labour	Richard McCready (incumbent)	11.6%	637	876.9	883.6	889.2	904.04	932.9	1,078.6	1,416.7
	SNP	Steven Rome	8.7%	474	506.6	597.5	611.1	623.5	637.1	838.8
	Green	Morgan Petrie	6.1%	331	432.2	439.5	472.7	495.1	515.9
	Independent	Andrew McBride	1.2%	67	118.3	119.6	123.09	136.9
	Independent	Bradley Booth	1.2%	65	93.8	95.1	96.7
	Scottish Socialist	Tam Wilson	1.1%	59	66.2	66.9
Electorate: 12,959   Valid: 5,471   Spoilt: 67   Quota: 1,095   Turnout: 5,538 (42.7%)

Coldside

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

Coldside - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	Mark Flynn	27.7%	1,560
	Labour	George McIrvine	16.6%	933	951.4	959.5	965.4	974.7	996.08	1,059.9	1,223.9
	SNP	Anne Rendall	16.5%	925	1,252.9
	Labour	Helen Wright (incumbent)	11.3%	633	638.02	647.9	650.5	664.04	677.9	725.9	843.7	908.9	1,139.8
	Conservative	Duncan Shaw	11.0%	618	621.07	622.1	625.4	628.4	657.5	663.9	709.8	715.1
	Independent	Mohammed Asif (incumbent)	8.6%	481	495.2	504.07	505.1	510.3	529.2	615.8
	Green	Conor Marshall	4.1%	232	252.4	291.6	295.2	327.9	351.1
	Liberal Democrats	Kristopher Hall	1.8%	101	106.02	108.8	139.1	141.2
	TUSC	Wayne Scott	1.5%	82	84.8	90.7	93.9
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher McIntyre	1.0%	57	60.9	62.3
Electorate: 14,262   Valid: 5,622   Spoilt: 229   Quota: 1,125   Turnout: 5,851 (41%)

Maryfield

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017: No change

Maryfield - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Ken Lynn (incumbent)	30.3%	1,240
	Labour	Georgia Cruickshank (incumbent)	21.6%	885	894.8	902.9	968.3	1,051.9
	SNP	Lynne Short (incumbent)	19.1%	782	968.2	972.9	997.4	1,084.3
	Conservative	James Clancy	17.6%	722	722.8	726.9	775.9	792.9
	TUSC	Stuart Fairweather	6.1%	250	253.3	253.5	270.8
	Liberal Democrats	Jenny Blain	4.1%	168	169.2	194.7
	Liberal Democrats	Robbie McKaig	1.2%	48	49.6
Electorate: 12,021   Valid: 4,095   Spoilt: 89   Quota: 1,024   Turnout: 4,184 (34.8%)

North East

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017: No Change

North East - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2
	SNP	Gregor Murray†† (incumbent)	32.8%	1,256
	Labour	Brian Gordon† (incumbent)	26.9%	1,033
	SNP	Willie Sawers (incumbent)	20.9%	800	1,057.6
	Conservative	Curtis Large	9.1%	350	351.4
	Independent	Alan Beddows	5.8%	223	229.2
	Green	Alison Orr	1.6%	62	71
	TUSC	Michael Taylor	1.6%	52	56.5
	Liberal Democrats	Tracy Mulholland	1.3%	50	51.9
Electorate: 11,337   Valid: 3,826   Spoilt: 98   Quota: 957   Turnout: 3,924 (34.6%)

East End

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2017: 2xSNP; 1xLab
• 2012-2017: No Change

East End - 3 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Will Dawson (incumbent)	38.6%	1,553
	Labour	Margaret Richardson	24%	965	982.7	986.5	993.5	1,004.1	1,047.1	1,089.7	1,177.9
	SNP	Christina Roberts (incumbent)	20.2%	811	1,144.2
	Conservative	Darren Kane	14.2%	571	575.6	576.2	585.5	589.5	619.7	630.3	677.2
	Independent	Darryl Guthrie	5.1%	205	217.3	219.2	225.3	237.3	252.6	303.5
	Green	Caitlin Meldrum	2.8%	113	124.1	132.1	133.4	145.5	165.3
	Liberal Democrats	Ryan Finnegan	2.7%	110	120.8	122.2	126.5	137.8
	UKIP	William Morren	1.4%	56	58.3	58.9
	TUSC	Ian McKay	1.3%	54	64.8	66.7	68.9
Electorate: 12,113   Valid: 4,019   Spoilt: 562   Quota: 1,110   Turnout: 4,581 (37.8%)

The Ferry

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLab
• 2017: 2xCon; 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017: Conservative & Lib Dem each gain one seat from Labour & SNP.

The Ferry - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Conservative	Derek Scott (incumbent)	31.8%	2,859
	SNP	Kevin Cordell (incumbent)	17.9%	1,608	1,616.9	1,618.9	1,622.9	1,684.9	1,809.8
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Duncan	15.8%	1,422	1,498.6	1,502.6	1,509.3	1,557.4	1,967.8
	SNP	Vari McDonald *	12.0%	1,075	1,079.5	1,084.5	1,085.5	1,139.8	1,230.6	1,260.8	1,272.8
	Labour	Angela Lyall	11.7%	1,054	1,079.3	1,093.3	1,097.3	1,139.7
	Conservative	Philip Scott	7.1%	635	1,532.9	1,534.6	1,556.5	1,566.4	1,679.9	1,732.6	1,732.7	2,013.7
	Green	Pol Clementsmith	2.6%	232	237.2	247.9	249.9
	UKIP	Calum Walker	0.52%	47	50.7	52.7
	TUSC	Paul Johnson	0.48%	43	44.9
Electorate: 16,062   Valid: 8,975   Spoilt: 831   Quota: 1,796   Turnout: 9,153 (57%)

• = Outgoing Councillor from a different ward.

Aftermath

• † In February 2019, North East Labour Cllr. Brian Gordon died after a short illness. A by-election took place on 2 May 2019 which was won by Steven Rome of the SNP.^[8][9]
• On 15 May 2019, North East SNP Cllr. Gregor Murray resigned from the party, accusing the party of being institutionally transphobic. Cllr. Murray continues to serve the ward as an Independent.^[10]
• On 11 May 2021, Lochee SNP Cllr Alan Ross resigned from the party and became an Independent. On 4 February 2022, he joined the Alba Party, becoming the first Alba councillor in Dundee.^[11][12]

North East by-election

In February 2019, North East Labour Cllr. Brian Gordon died after a short illness. A by-election took place on 2 May 2019 which was won by Steven Rome of the SNP.

North East by-election (2 May 2019) - 1 seat ^[9]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Steven Rome	46.9%	1,507	1,510	1,534	1,555	1,576	2,045
	Labour	Jim Malone	38.1%	1,224	1,229	1,248	1,284	1,388
	Conservative	Robert Lindsay	8.4%	271	274	280	290
	TUSC	Michael Taylor	2.8%	91	109	122
	Green	Alison Orr	2.4%	77	82
	Citizens First	Roger Keech	1.4%	45
Electorate: 11,434   Valid: 3,215   Spoilt: 31   Quota: 1,608   Turnout: 28.4%

Notes

1. Seat change from dissolution.