1999 South Lanarkshire Council election

Elections to South Lanarkshire Council were held on 6 May 1999, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the inaugural Scottish Parliament election. Following a review, the number of single-member wards reduced from 73 to 67.

1999 South Lanarkshire Council election

6 May 1999 (1999-05-06)
All 67 seats to South Lanarkshire Council 34 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Party Labour SNP Conservative Last election 61 8 2 Seats won 54 10 2 Seat change 7 2 Popular vote 69,777 46,160 14,316 Percentage 50.1% 33.1% 10.3   Fourth party   Party Liberal Democrats Last election 2 Seats won 1 Seat change 1 Popular vote 7,900 Percentage 5.7%
Council Leader before election Tom McCabe Labour Elected Council Leader Eddie McAvoy Labour

The council remained under Scottish Labour Party control following the election - they won seven fewer seats and collected 7% less of the overall vote share than in 1995, but with less seats available their percentage loss was only 3%, and the number of votes they collected increased substantially due to the higher voter turnout, which went up from 107,833 (46.4% turnout) in 1995 to 139,564 (59.2% turnout), an increase of 29%; this was at least partly attributable to the interest in the new Scottish Parliament - the 1995 election had not been held in conjunction with votes for any other body.

The SNP and Conservative vote numbers also each nearly doubled, but with far less dramatic gains in terms of their vote share and seats. In those circumstances, the Liberal Democrats polling almost the same numbers as four years earlier could be seen as the most disappointing outcome for a major party in South Lanarkshire, in contrast to their positive overall results across Scotland on he night.[1][2]

Aggregate results

1999 South Lanarkshire Council election

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	54			7	80.6	50.1	69,777	8,325
	SNP	10			2	14.9	33.1	46,160	17,242
	Conservative	2				3.0	10.3	14,316	6,757
	Liberal Democrats	1			1	1.5	5.7	7,900	195
	Independent	0				0	0.6	401	596

Ward results

Rutherglen and Cambuslang

Bankhead

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Eddie McAvoy (incumbent)	1,301	59.1
	SNP	Alistair Fulton	482	21.9
	Liberal Democrats	Charles Clark	282	12.8
	Conservative	I. Raeburn	135	6.1
Majority			819	37.2

Burgh

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Brian McKenna	1,005	48.9
	Liberal Democrats	Elizabeth Jackson	476	23.2
	SNP	R. Richardson	448	21.8
	Conservative	R. Gilchrist	127	6.2
Majority			529	25.7

Cairns

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Pam Clearie	1,092	55.6
	SNP	John Higgins	489	24.9
	Liberal Democrats	E. Fox	187	9.5
	Conservative	S. Raeburn	119	6.1
	Socialist Labour	J. Brown	77	3.9
Majority			603	30.7

Cambuslang Central

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Bob Rooney (incumbent)	1,231	60.3
	SNP	Clare McColl	439	21.5
	Liberal Democrats	Karen MacCallum	188	9.2
	Conservative	Ronald Muir	184	9.0
Majority			792	38.8

Cathkin/Springhall

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Russell Clearie (incumbent)	1,114	50.5
	Liberal Democrats	J. Costello	714	32.4
	SNP	I. McColl	378	17.1
Majority			400	18.1

Eastfield

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John McGuinness (incumbent)	1,232	54.7
	SNP	Gordon Clark	480	21.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Baillie	304	13.5
	Conservative	J. Fisher	235	10.4
Majority			752	33.4

Fernhill

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Caldwell (incumbent)	834	44.4
	Liberal Democrats	J. McCutcheon	682	36.3
	SNP	D. Whyteside	364	19.4
Majority			152	8.1

Hallside

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Davy Keirs (incumbent)	1,174	65.3
	SNP	Anne Higgins	416	23.1
	Liberal Democrats	John Rodgers	120	6.7
	Conservative	Robina Muir	88	4.9
Majority			758	42.2

Kirkhill/Whitlawburn

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Patrick McKenna (incumbent)	842	39.9
	Liberal Democrats	G. Chapman[lower-alpha 1]	682	32.3
	SNP	H. Ross	357	16.9
	Conservative	R. Miller	228	10.8
Majority			160	7.6

Rutherglen West

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Denis McKenna	1,013	55.9
	SNP	E. Findlay	551	30.4
	Liberal Democrats	John McLellan	248	13.7
Majority			462	25.5

Spittal/Blairbeth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	William McCaig (incumbent)	1,152	50.4
	Liberal Democrats	R. McGregor	656	28.7
	SNP	D. Hamilton	306	13.4
	Conservative	A. Kenneth	173	7.6
Majority			496	21.7

Stonelaw

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal Democrats	Gretel Ross (incumbent)	1,334	58.5
	Labour	M. McCool	416	18.2
	SNP	Sherwood Shea	333	14.6
	Conservative	Jean Miller	199	8.7
Majority			918	40.2

Notes

1. Returning councillor from Burnside ward which was abolished in boundary review.

References

1. Scottish Council Elections 1999 : Results and Statistics, H.M. Bochel, D.T. Denver, Election Studies, 1999
2. Local Elections Handbook 1999, Colin Rallings & Michael Thrasher, Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth, 1999