2022 West Lothian Council election

The 2022 West Lothian Council election was held on 5 May 2022, on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the nine wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 33 Councillors elected. Each ward elects either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system - a form of proportional representation.

2022 West Lothian Council election

← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 33 seats to West Lothian Council 17 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Janet Campbell Lawrence Fitzpatrick Damian Timson Party SNP Labour Conservative Leader's seat Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh Livingston South East Calder and East Livingston Last election 13 seats, 37.3% 12 seats, 29.0% 7 seats, 23.2% Seats before 14 10 8 Seats won 15 12 4 Seat change 2 3 Popular vote 22,424 16,921 9,427 Percentage 37.9% 28.6% 15.9% Swing 0.6% 0.5% 7.3%   Fourth party Fifth party   Party Independent Liberal Democrats Last election 1 seat, 4.9% 0 seats, 2.6% Seats before 1 0 Seats won 1 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 3,775 2,831 Percentage 6.4% 4.8% Swing 1.4% 2.2%
Overall result SNP vote share by wards Labour vote share by wards Conservative vote share by wards
Council Leader before election Lawrence Fitzpatrick Labour Council Leader after election Lawrence Fitzpatrick Labour

Following the election, it was announced Labour would run the council as a minority administration with loose coalition support from the four Conservative councillors, the Independent Stuart Borrowman and Liberal Democrat, Sally Pattle.^[1]

Background

Previous election

Main article: 2017 West Lothian Council election

At the previous election in 2017, the Scottish National Party (SNP) won the most seats, forming the largest block, but were 4 seats short of a majority. Close behind the SNP were Labour, who won the next largest amount of seats, winning 12. The Conservatives won 7 seats, gaining 6 seats and increasing their vote share by 14.3%. The sole independent, Stuart Borrowman also held his seat. Following the result, the Labour and Conservative groups worked together in the chamber to hold a majority,^[2] although both parties denied this claim.^[3] This agreement led to Cllr Lawrence Fitzpatrick being appointed Council Leader and Conservative Cllr Tom Kerr was appointed Provost of West Lothian. However, in November 2021, SNP Councillors tabled a motion of no-confidence against Cllr Fitzpatrick's administration. The motion failed following support from the Conservatives.^[4]

2017 West Lothian Council election result

Party		Seats	Vote share
	SNP	13	37.3%
	Labour	12	29.0%
	Conservative	7	23.2%
	Independent	1	5.0%

Source:^[5]

Electoral system

The election used the 9 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in 2016, with 33 councillors elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.

Composition

There were two by-elections in 2021 which saw each main party field candidates. The Livingston South by-election held in March 2021 following the retirement of SNP Cllr Peter Johnston resulted in the SNP retaining the seat.^[6] Meanwhile in the October 2021 East Livingston and East Calder by-election which was called following the death of Labour Cllr Dave King resulted in a gain for the SNP.^[7] In the weeks following the by-election Labour Cllr Angela Doran-Timson joined the Conservatives.^[8][9]

Composition of West Lothian Council

Party		2017 election	Dissolution
	SNP	13	14
	Labour	12	10
	Conservatives	7	8
	Independent	1	1

Retiring Councillors

Retiring councillors

Council Ward	Party		Retiring Councillor
Linlithgow		Conservative	Tom Kerr
		SNP	David Tait
Livingston North		Labour	Dom McGuire
Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley		Labour	David Dodds
Bathgate		Labour	John McGinty
Armadale and Blackridge		SNP	Sarah King

SNP Councillor Frank Anderson was deselected by his party. He announced that he would stand as an Independent candidate in East Livingston and East Calder.^[10]

Candidates

The total number of candidates increased from 67 in 2017 to 73. Like in 2017, the SNP stood the most candidates at 17, a decrease of 6, while Labour stood 16. The Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, and Greens stood 9 candidates each. Unlike in 2017, the Scottish Family Party, Alba and the Independence for Scotland Party stood candidates, standing 5, 3 and 1 respectively. There were 4 independent candidates, an increase of 2.

Results

2022 West Lothian Council election result

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	SNP	15	2	0	2	45.5	37.9	22,424	0.6
	Labour	12	0	0		36.4	28.6	16,921	0.5
	Conservative	4	0	3	3	12.1	15.9	9,427	7.3
	Independent	1	0	0		3.0	6.4	3,775	1.4
	Liberal Democrats	1	1	0	1	3.0	4.8	2,831	2.2
	Scottish Green	0	0	0		0.0	5.3	3,119	2.6
	Scottish Family	0	0	0		0.0	0.8	457	New
	Alba	0	0	0		0.0	0.4	232	New
	ISP	0	0	0		0.0	0.1	43	New
Total		33						59,229

Source:^[11]

Ward summary

Results of the 2022 West Lothian Council election
by ward

Ward	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	%	Cllrs	Total Cllrs
	SNP		Lab		Green		Conservative		Lib Dem		Others
Linlithgow	26.3	1	19.5	1	13.2	0	19.8	0	20.3	1	0.3	0	3
Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh	41.9	2	29.6	1	4.4	0	17.7	1	3.7	0	2.7	0	4
Livingston North	48.6	2	23.8	1	4.5	0	20.7	1	3.9	0	2.0	0	4
Livingston South	39.0	2	32.4	1	4.3	0	11.7	1	2.2	0	10.4	0	4
East Livingston and East Calder	41.8	2	21.1	1	6.6	0	18.3	1	3.3	0	8.9	0	4
Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley	38.3	1	40.2	2	3.7	0	14.2	0	2.33	0	1.4	0	3
Whitburn and Blackburn	38.6	2	37.4	2	3.1	0	18.5	0	2.4	0			4
Bathgate	40.4	2	38.7	2	3.8	0	14.1	0	2.0	0	0.9	0	4
Armadale and Blackridge	22.1	1	14.1	1	2.6	0	10.6	0	1.0	0	49.7	1	3
Total	37.9	15	28.6	12	5.3	0	15.9	4	4.8	1	7.6	1	33

Source:^[11]

Seats changing hands

Below is a list of seats which elected a different party or parties from 2017 in order to highlight the change in political composition of the council from the previous election. The list does not include defeated incumbents who resigned or defected from their party and subsequently failed re-election while the party held the seat.

Seats changing hands

Seat	2017			2022
	Party		Member	Party		Member
Linlithgow		Conservative	Tom Kerr		Liberal Democrats	Sally Pattle
Whitburn and Blackburn		Conservative	Bruce Fairbairn		SNP	Mary Robertson Dickson
Bathgate		Conservative	Charles Kennedy		SNP	Pauline Stafford

Source:^[5][11]

Ward results

Linlithgow

• 2012: 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP, 1 x Labour
• 2017: 1 x Conservative, 1 x SNP, 1 x Labour
• 2022: 1 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Liberal Democrat
• 2017-2022 Change: 1 x Liberal Democrat gain from Conservative

Linlithgow - 3 seats^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5
	SNP	Pauline Orr	26.26%	1,869
	Liberal Democrats	Sally Pattle	20.33%	1,447	1,457	1,466	1,901
	Conservative	Chris Horne	19.83%	1,411	1,413	1,445	1,484	1,508
	Labour	Tom Conn (incumbent)	19.54%	1,391	1,406	1,413	1,733	1,788
	Scottish Green	Pamela Barnes	13.22%	941	988	992
	Scottish Family	Rik Smith	0.81%	58	59
Electorate: 12,435   Valid: 7,117   Spoilt: 53   Quota: 1,780   Turnout: 57.7%[14]

Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh

• 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh - 4 seats^[12][15]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	SNP	Diane Calder (incumbent)	29.04%	1,990
	Labour	Ann Davidson	19.04%	1,305	1,321	1,329	1,336	1,345	1,430
	Conservative	Angela Doran-Timson (incumbent[LAB])	17.73%	1,215	1,220	1,222	1,239	1,252	1,299	1,305	1,328	1,611
	SNP	Janet Campbell (incumbent)	12.84%	880	1,419
	Labour	Hazel McLeod	10.56%	724	732	735	745	752	773	819	981
	Scottish Green	Cam Wright	4.35%	298	317	332	345	383	447	449
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Corser	3.72%	255	261	264	275	287
	Alba	Phil Noble	1.39%	95	100	103	115
	Scottish Family	Kenneth Sutherland	1.33%	91	92	93
Electorate: 16,643   Valid: 6,853   Spoilt: 167   Quota: 1,371   Turnout: 42.2%[16]

Livingston North

• 2012: 2 x SNP, 2 x Labour
• 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Livingston North - 4 seats^[12][17]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Robert De Bold (incumbent)	29.51%	2,133
	SNP	Andrew Miller (incumbent)	19.09%	1,380	1,945
	Labour	Anne McMillan	18.63%	1,347	1,380	1,447
	Conservative	Alison Adamson (incumbent)	17.37%	1,256	1,265	1,275	1,275	1,315	1,391	1,495
	Labour	Michael Rae	5.12%	370	375	399	399	429	538
	Scottish Green	Mark Wilkinson	4.48%	324	351	550	550	572	636	749
	Liberal Democrats	Catrina McDonald	3.85%	278	288	309	310	329
	Scottish Family	Robert Bell	1.95%	141	146	158	158
Electorate: 18,312   Valid: 7,229   Spoilt: 166   Quota: 1,446   Turnout: 40.4%[18]

Livingston South

• 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2021 (by-election): 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Livingston South - 4 seats^[12][19]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
	SNP	Maria Macaulay	29.76%	2,252
	Labour	Lawrence Fitzpatrick (incumbent)	26.80%	2,028
	Conservative	Peter Heggie (incumbent)	11.68%	884	888	946	954	984	1,013	1,032	1,034	1,134	1,385
	SNP	Moira Shemilt (incumbent)	9.23%	698	1,344	1,374	1,385	1,403	1,459	1,631
	Labour	Craig Smith	5.58%	422	430	736	745	786	841	911	931	1,106
	Independent	Eddie Anderson	5.08%	384	393	422	434	453	601	657	680
	Scottish Green	Cameron Glasgow	4.34%	328	360	381	386	424	443
	Independent	Eddie Millar	4.27%	323	333	347	362	373
	Liberal Democrats	Caron Lindsay	2.21%	167	171	189	195
	Scottish Family	Margaret Hamilton	1.06%	80	82	87
Electorate: 19,101   Valid: 7,566   Spoilt: 118   Quota: 1,514   Turnout: 40.2%[20]

East Livingston and East Calder

• 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2021 (by-election): 3 x SNP, 1 x Conservative
• 2022: 2 x SNP, 1 x Labour, 1 x Conservative
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

East Livingston and East Calder - 4 seats^[12][21]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	SNP	Carl John (incumbent)	26.43%	1,741
	Conservative	Damian Doran-Timson (incumbent)	18.29%	1,205	1,213	1,239	1,279	1,288	1,310	1,317	1,377
	Labour	Danny Logue	16.38%	1,079	1,095	1,106	1,164	1,437
	SNP	Veronica Smith	9.44%	622	907	915	927	936	946	1,287	1,499
	Independent	Frank Anderson (incumbent[SNP])	7.55%	497	508	519	539	542	551	583
	Scottish Green	Neal Drummond	6.62%	436	474	478	534	542	560	585	686
	SNP	Thomas Ullathorne	5.92%	390	426	426	427	433	435
	Labour	Andy Rafferty	4.74%	312	318	319	330
	Liberal Democrats	Robert Howden	3.31%	218	224	230
	Scottish Family	Ruth Hutchison	1.32%	87	88
Electorate: 17,970   Valid: 6,587   Spoilt: 121   Quota: 1,318   Turnout: 37.3%[22]

Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley

• 2012: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP
• 2017: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP
• 2022: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley - 3 seats^[12][23]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	SNP	Pauline Clark (incumbent)	25.47%	1,292
	Labour	Cathy Muldoon (incumbent)	21.94%	1,113	1,114	1,123	1,158	1,202	1,363
	Labour	Craig Meek	18.22%	924	925	930	948	975	1,219	1,295
	Conservative	Elaine Fairbairn	14.16%	718	718	720	740	754
	SNP	Greg McCarra	12.85%	652	671	693	700	778	801	804
	Scottish Green	Neil Barnes	3.65%	185	186	197	216
	Liberal Democrats	Gillian Pattle	2.33%	118	118	127
	Alba	Hani Mohamed	1.38%	70	70
Electorate: 12,714   Valid: 5,072   Spoilt: 148   Quota: 1,269   Turnout: 41.1%[24]

Whitburn and Blackburn

• 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017: 2 x Labour, 1 x SNP, 1 x Conservative
• 2022: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017-2022 Change: 1 x SNP gain from Conservative

Whitburn and Blackburn - 4 seats^[12][25]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	SNP	Jim Dickson (incumbent)	28.26%	1,734
	Labour	George Paul (incumbent)	20.16%	1,237
	Conservative	Bruce Fairbairn (incumbent)	18.50%	1,135	1,139	1,139	1,175	1,187
	Labour	Kirsteen Sullivan	17.21%	1,056	1,069	1,076	1,122	1,189	1,747
	SNP	Mary Robertson Dickson	10.37%	636	1,085	1,085	1,095	1,196	1,230
	Liberal Democrats	Derek Pattle	2.41%	148	152	152
	Scottish Green	Carole Racionzer	3.10%	190	203	204	231
Electorate: 16,945   Valid: 6,136   Spoilt: 204   Quota: 1,228   Turnout: 37.4%[26]

Bathgate

• 2012: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017: 2xLabour; 1 x SNP; 1 x Conservative
• 2022: 2 x Labour, 2 x SNP
• 2017-2022 Change: 1 x SNP gain from Conservative

Bathgate - 4 seats^[12][27]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
	Labour	Harry Cartmill (incumbent)	33.67%	2,496
	SNP	William Boyle (incumbent)	24.36%	1,806
	SNP	Pauline Stafford	16.05%	1,190	1,265	1,507
	Conservative	Charles Kennedy (incumbent)	14.14%	1,048	1,162	1,167	1,168	1,174	1,208	1,236
	Labour	Tony Pearson	5.06%	375	1,015	1,023	1,027	1,034	1,094	1,246	1,774
	Scottish Green	Siobhan Flannigan	3.79%	281	323	351	360	392	425
	Liberal Democrats	John Mackenzie	2.02%	150	186	191	192	195
	Alba	Gordon Dent	0.90%	67	74	83	85
Electorate: 18,082   Valid: 7,413   Spoilt: 138   Quota: 1,483   Turnout: 41.8%[28]

Armadale and Blackridge

• 2012: 1 x Independent, 1 x Labour, 1 x SNP
• 2017: 1 x Independent, 1 x Labour, 1 x SNP
• 2022: 1 x Independent, 1 x Labour, 1 x SNP
• 2017-2022 Change: No Change

Armadale and Blackridge - 3 seats^[12][29]

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6
	Independent	Stuart Borrowman (incumbent)	48.92%	2,571
	SNP	Lynda Kenna	22.05%	1,159	1,407
	Labour	Andrew McGuire (incumbent)	14.12%	742	1,110	1,130	1,148	1,196	1,319
	Conservative	Chris Terry	10.56%	555	789	790	794	820	834
	Scottish Green	Sophie Brodie	2.59%	136	232	264	291	308
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Mackenzie	0.95%	50	107	110	121
	ISP	John Hannah	0.82%	43	78	91
Electorate: 13,162   Valid: 5,256   Spoilt: 58   Quota: 1,315   Turnout: 40.4%[30]

Aftermath

Although the SNP won the most seats, Labour were chosen to run the council after doing a deal with the Conservatives. The council resembles the set up after the previous election, with Labour running a minority administration with loose coalition support from the four Conservative councillors, the Independent Stuart Borrowman and Liberal Democrat, Sally Pattle.^[1]

In response to the announcement, former Labour councillor and MSP Neil Findlay, who represented Fauldhouse and the Breich Valley from 2003 to 2012, called his own party "shameful [for] voting Tories into office", saying the Conservatives were "the enemy of my class".^[31]

Armadale and Blackridge by-election

In May 2024, independent councillor Stuart Borrowman died.^[32] A by-election was held on 22 August 2024 to elect his replacement, and was won by Labour candidate Susan Manion.^[33][34]

Armadale and Blackridge by-election (22 August 2024) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Susan Manion	28.9	795	814	853	890	955	1,103	1,427
	SNP	Keith Alan Barclay	28.3	777	805	820	903	917	967
	Reform UK	David McLennan	18.9	519	519	534	559	637
	ISP	John Hannah	8.6	236	240	245
	Conservative	Douglas Smith	8.2	226	227	248	272
	Liberal Democrats	Douglas Thomas Butler	4.4	122	131
	Scottish Green	Adam William Rafferty	2.7	73
Electorate: 13,371   Valid: 2,748   Spoilt: 22   Quota: 1,375   Turnout: 20.7%

Source:^[35][36]

Whitburn and Blackburn by-election

In September 2024, Labour councillor Kirsteen Sullivan resigned after being elected as the Member of Parliament for the Bathgate and Linlithgow constituency at the 2024 general Election.^[37] A by-election has been scheduled for 14 November 2024.^[38]

Whitburn and Blackburn by-election (14 November 2024) - 1 seat

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	David Blackie Russell	30.9	1,093	1,108	1,126	1,164	1,283	1,424	1,778
	SNP	Aileen Brown	28.9	1,022	1,063	1,078	1,091	1,173	1,238
	Reform UK	David McLennan	16.3	578	579	586	653	739
	Independent	Thomas Robert Lynch	11.9	421	429	452	498
	Conservative	Charles Kennedy	6.7	239	239	259
	Liberal Democrats	Douglas Thomas Butler	2.7	97	111
	Scottish Green	Cameron Glasgow	2.6	92
Electorate: 17,247   Valid: 3,542   Spoilt: 35   Quota: 1,772   Turnout: 20.7

Notes

1. ^
   BRO: Sitting councillor for Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh.
2. ^
   LAB: On 26 October 2021 Broxburn, Uphall and Winchburgh Labour Cllr Angela Doran-Timson left the Labour Party and joined the Conservatives.^[8][9]
3. ^
   SNP: Deselected by the Scottish National Party^[10]