Larkhall (South Lanarkshire ward)

Larkhall is one of the 20 electoral wards of South Lanarkshire Council. Created in 2007, the ward elects four councillors using the single transferable vote electoral system and covers an area with a population of 18,524 people.

Larkhall
South Lanarkshire
Boundary of Larkhall in South Lanarkshire from 2007–2017.
Population	18,524 (2020)[1]
Electorate	15,010 (2022)
Major settlements	Larkhall
Scottish Parliament constituency	Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse
Scottish Parliament region	Central Scotland
UK Parliament constituency	Hamilton and Clyde Valley
Current ward
Created	2007 (2007)
Number of councillors	4
Councillor	Andy Carmichael (Labour)
Councillor	Richard Nelson (Conservative)
Councillor	Ross Clark (SNP)
Councillor	Lesley McDonald (Labour)
Created from	Cadzow Dalserf Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair Larkhall East Larkhall South Larkhall West Stonehouse

The ward is a Labour stronghold with the party winning half the seats at every election since the ward's creation. Between 2014 and 2017, the party held three of the four seats following a defection.

Boundaries

The ward was created following the Fourth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2007 Scottish local elections. As a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, local elections in Scotland would use the single transferable vote electoral system from 2007 onwards so Larkhall was formed from an amalgamation of several previous first-past-the-post wards. It contained all of the former Dalserf, Larkhall East and Larkhall West wards as well as part of the former Cadzow ward and a small part of the former Hamilton Centre/Ferniegair and Stonehouse wards. As the name suggests, Larkhall centres on the town of Larkhall and the surrounding rural area including the villages of Ashgill, Netherburn and Quarter. The ward's eastern boundary is formed by the River Clyde which coincides with the council's border with North Lanarkshire Council.^[2] Following the Fifth Statutory Reviews of Electoral Arrangements ahead of the 2017 Scottish local elections, the ward's boundaries were unchanged.^[3]

Councillors

Year	Councillors
2007		Jackie Burns (Labour/Independent)		Andy Carmichael (Labour)		Peter Craig (SNP)		Lesley McDonald (SNP/Labour)
2012
2014
2017								Richard Nelson (Conservative)
2022		Lesley McDonald (Labour)				Ross Clark (SNP)

Election results

2022 election

Main article: 2022 South Lanarkshire Council election

Larkhall - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Labour	Andy Carmichael (incumbent)	25.5	1,580
	Conservative	Richard Nelson (incumbent)	24.5	1,518
	SNP	Ross Clark	22.4	1,389
	Independent	Jackie Burns (incumbent)	10.3	639	679	725	732	742	753	796	886
	Labour	Lesley McDonald	7.5	463	678	745	752	759	769	831	975	1,379
	SNP	George Sutherland	6.4	399	408	410	532	532	533	549
	Liberal Democrats	Jake Stevenson	2.4	148	157	199	202	211	223
	Scottish Libertarian	David Laird	0.6	36	41	44	45
	UKIP	Donald Murdo Mackay	0.3	21	25	56	56	63
Electorate: 15,010   Valid: 6,193   Spoilt: 140   Quota: 1,239   Turnout: 42.2%

Source:^[4][5]

2017 election

Main article: 2017 South Lanarkshire Council election

Larkhall - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
	Conservative	Richard Nelson	26.34	1,645
	Labour	Andy Carmichael (incumbent)	17.71	1,106	1,150	1,161	1,179	1,202	1,483
	SNP	Peter Craig (incumbent)	16.83	1,051	1,056	1,060	1,067	1,120	1,153	1,175	1,176	1,880
	Labour	Jackie Burns (incumbent)[note 1]	15.8	987	1,027	1,040	1,054	1,083	1,175	1,255
	SNP	Donald MacLeod	11.27	704	709	714	720	761	790	801	802
	Labour	Lesley McDonald (incumbent)	6.56	410	447	457	488	512
	Scottish Green	Bobby Bulloch	2.58	161	177	192	232
	Liberal Democrats	Lindsay Watt	1.63	102	160	180
	UKIP	Donald Murdo MacKay	1.28	80	143
Electorate: 14,478   Valid: 6,246   Spoilt: 168   Quota: 1,250   Turnout: 44.3%

Source:^[7][8]

2012 election

Main article: 2012 South Lanarkshire Council election

Larkhall - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3
	Labour	Jackie Burns (incumbent)	37.4	1,965
	SNP	Peter Craig (incumbent)	21.4	1,124
	SNP	Lesley McDonald (incumbent)[note 2]	18.2	958	1,010	1,102
	Labour	Andy Carmichael (incumbent)	14.3	752	1,507
	Conservative	David Murray	6.11	321	334	363
	UKIP	Donald Murdo MacKay	2.5	131	141	177
Electorate: 14,510   Valid: 5,251   Spoilt: 106   Quota: 1,051   Turnout: 36.2%

Source:^[10]

2007 election

Main article: 2007 South Lanarkshire Council election

Larkhall - 4 seats

Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count
				1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Labour	Jackie Burns[note 3]	38.0	2,699
	SNP	Peter Craig	17.8	1,264	1,335	1,387	1,437
	SNP	Lesley McDonald	12.5	890	931	981	1,059	1,071	1,212	???
	Conservative	Gregor Cameron	7.9	563	591	640	795	796
	Labour	Robin Cunningham	7.1	502	727	757	828	829	888
	Scottish Unionist	Mary Duckett	6.6	466	507	545
	Labour	Andy Carmichael	5.2	366	1,025	1,066	1,109	1,110	1,189	???
	Liberal Democrats	Callan Dick	4.9	349	376
Electorate: 14,934   Valid: 7,099   Quota: 1,420   Turnout: 48.7%

Source:^[11][12]

Notes

1. Larkhall Labour councillor Jackie Burns was expelled from the party and became an independent following a conviction for breach of the peace in May 2017.^[6]
2. Larkhall councillor Lesley McDonald defected from the SNP and joined Labour on 2 May 2014.^[9]
3. Returning councillor for Larkhall South single-member ward.