2017 Argyll and Bute Council election

The 2017 Argyll and Bute Council elections took place on 4 May 2017 alongside local elections across Scotland. This was the third local election to take place using the Single Transferable Vote electoral system.

Main article: 2017 Scottish local elections

2017 Argyll and Bute Council election

May 4, 2017 (2017-05-04)
All 36 seats to Argyll and Bute Council 19 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Sandy Taylor Dick Walsh Gary Mulvaney Party SNP Independent Conservative Leader's seat Mid Argyll Dunoon Helensburgh Central Last election 13 15 4 Seats before 8 20 4 Seats won 11 10 9 Seat change 2 5 5   Fourth party   Leader Aileen Morton Party Liberal Democrats Leader's seat Helensburgh Central Last election 4 Seats before 4 Seats won 6 Seat change 2
The 11 multi-member wards
Council Leader before election Dick Walsh Independent Council Leader after election Aileen Morton Scottish Liberal Democrats (as part of TALIG)

Background

At the previous election in 2012, Independent councillors were the largest grouping on the council, with a total of 15 councillors, while the Scottish National Party (SNP) had 13 councillors. Following that election, an administration was formed between the SNP and the Argyll First group of independent councillors. However, this coalition broke down in 2013, after the SNP National Executive prevented the SNP group forming a coalition with the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats.[1] Four members of the SNP group (former SNP group leader Roddy McCuish, Mary Jean Devon, Michael Breslin and Robert MacIntyre) left the SNP in 2013, following the collapse of the SNP-independent administration, and sat as independents for the remainder of their terms as councillors. A coalition of Independents, Scottish Conservatives, and Liberal Democrats was formed in October 2013, led by an independent councillor, Dick Walsh. The collapse of the SNP-independent administration led to an investigation by Audit Scotland.[2]

A number of councillors who had been elected in 2012 did not serve a full term and resigned prior to the 2017 elections:

• SNP councillor Fred Hall left the SNP group in 2013 and sat as an independent. He resigned in 2014, which led to a by-election in the Oban South and the Isles ward in May 2014, which was won by Neil MacIntyre for Scottish Labour.[3]
• Louise Lee, who had been elected for the SNP for Oban North and Lorn in 2012, also resigned in 2014, resulting in a by-election in July 2014, which was won by the independent candidate John McGregor, who died shortly afterwards.[4] The death of John MacGregor led to another by-election in Oban North and Lorn, which was won by Iain MacLean for the SNP in October 2014.[5] Iain MacLean left the SNP in March 2016 and sat for the remainder of his term as an independent.[6]
• John Semple, SNP councillor for South Kintyre, also resigned after the Scottish Independence referendum, leading to a by-election in December 2014, which was won by John Armour for the SNP.[7]
• Duncan MacIntyre (Independent, Oban North and Lorn) resigned for health reasons in December 2015.[8] His seat was won by Julie MacKenzie for the SNP in February 2016.[9]
• Iain Angus MacDonald, who had originally been elected as an Independent councillor for Oban North and Lorn in 2012, joined the SNP in September 2014, but resigned in March 2016.[10] The resulting by-election in June 2016 was won by an independent, Kieron Green.[11]

Eight of the sitting councillors did not seek re-election, including the outgoing council leader Dick Walsh (Independent), Michael Breslin (Independent, originally SNP), Iain MacLean (Independent, originally SNP)), Vivien Dance (Independent), Bruce Marshall (Independent), Isobel Strong (SNP), Neil MacIntyre (Scottish Labour), and Maurice Corry (Scottish Conservative).[12]

Results

The SNP became the largest party on the council for the first time, as the Independent group lost a third of its seats compared to the previous election. The Conservatives gained five seats and the Liberal Democrats gained two, but both remained in their respective places as the two smaller parties.

Despite the SNP's position, a coalition was formed of Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Independents, referred to as The Argyll Lomond and the Isles Group (TALIG). Aileen Morton, leader of the group, was elected as council leader.[13]

Ward results

South Kintyre

• There was no election for the ward of South Kintyre, a three-member ward, as there were only three candidates nominated: Donald Kelly (Scottish Conservative), John Armour (SNP), and Rory Colville (Liberal Democrat), all of whom were the incumbent councillors for the ward.

South Kintyre - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1
	SNP	John Armour (incumbent)		unopposed
	Liberal Democrats	Rory Colville (incumbent)		unopposed
	Conservative	Donald Kelly (incumbent)		unopposed

Kintyre and the Islands

(Includes Colonsay, Gigha, Islay, Jura, Scarba)

• 2012: 1xSNP; 1xIndependent; 1xLib Dem
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xLib Dem; 1xConservative
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain one seat from Independent

Kintyre and the Islands - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	SNP	Anne Horn (incumbent)	29.3	821
	Conservative	Alastair John Redman	23.1	648	652.5	679.1	689.1	707.7
	Liberal Democrats	Robin Currie (incumbent)	22.4	626	649.4	694.7	770.7
	Independent	John McAlpine (incumbent)	14.7	411	432.0	473.1	525.7
	Labour	Michael Kelly	5.7	160	169.6
	Scottish Green	Ed Tyler	4.8	134	176.9	196.3
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 2,800   Spoilt: 40   Quota: 701   Turnout: 2,840 (54.1%)

Mid Argyll

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

Mid Argyll - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Independent	Douglas Trevor Philand (incumbent)	28.7	948
	SNP	Sandy Taylor (incumbent)	27.5	911
	Conservative	Alec McNeilly	15.9	528	543.4	544.1	560.5	584.2	620.2
	Independent	Donnie MacMillan (incumbent)	12.9	427	467.1	482.3	511.1	603.8	703.9	985.4
	Independent	Jane McCurdie	5.7	190	209.7	217.6	243.5
	Scottish Green	Elaine Morrison	5.2	171	186.6	226.9	265.4	308.6
	Labour	Jane Kelly	3.9	132	140.7	147.4
Electorate: TBC   Valid: 3,307   Spoilt: 49   Quota: 827   Turnout: 3,356 (54.7%)

Oban South and the Isles

(Includes Coll, Iona, Mull, Tiree)

• 2012: 3xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative and Independent gain one seat each from SNP

Oban South and the Isles - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Independent	Roddy McCuish (incumbent)	21.12	808
	Independent	Mary-Jean Devon (incumbent)	19.19	734	744.1	789.8
	Conservative	Jamie McGrigor	16.44	629	636.3	667.9	671.0	712.5	759.0	770.0
	SNP	Jim Lynch	16.03	613	616.7	619.8	623.0	637.4	680.0	1164.3
	SNP	Sean MacIntyre	13.22	506	511.5	519.5	520.9	539.1	572.7
	Labour	Jake Ainscough	5.91	226	229.0	257.5	259.8	276.8
	Independent	Alistair MacDougall (incumbent)	4.05	155	158.2	169.5	179.3
	Liberal Democrats	David Pollard	4.03	154	156.4
Electorate:     Valid: 3,825   Spoilt: 66   Quota: 766   Turnout: 3,891 (47.5%)

Oban North and Lorn

• 2012: 3xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2017: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative gain from Independent

Oban North and Lorn - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Independent	Elaine Robertson (incumbent)	22.01	913
	Conservative	Andrew Vennard	17.11	710	721.8	727.9	746.5	769.4	789.6	814.1	828.4
	SNP	Julie McKenzie (incumbent)	16.63	690	694.6	698.6	704.8	717.1	754.8	829.2	1356.5
	SNP	Breege Smyth	12.97	538	543.1	546.1	548.2	562.2	581.5	647.2
	Independent	Kieron Green (incumbent)	11.69	485	515.8	519.3	563.3	600.5	677.0	764.2	797.0
	Scottish Green	William Mohieddeen	7.33	304	307.5	308.5	320.6	328.0	342.4
	Independent	Neil MacKay	4.39	182	189.5	210.3	222.4	262.5
	Independent	Grant Nicholson	3.71	154	159.2	166.7	177.0
	Independent	Brian Burnett	2.68	111	115.0	118.1
	Independent	Allan McKie	1.49	62	64.3
Electorate:     Valid: 4,149   Spoilt: 51   Quota: 830   Turnout: 4,200 (52.0%)

Cowal

• 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xConservative; 1xLiberal Democrat
• 2012-2017 Change: Conservative & Liberal Democrat each gain one seat from Independent

Cowal - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4
	SNP	William Gordon Blair (incumbent)	26.3	918
	Conservative	Yvonne McNeilly	26.2	912
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Reid	22.7	791	794.5	810.7	899.1
	Independent	Alex McNaughton (incumbent)	11.2	389	391.6	400.7	428.5
	SNP	Alison Mulholland	8.2	287	323.0	323.4	344.8
	Labour	Susanna Rice	5.4	187	188.2	191.3
Electorate:     Valid: 3,484   Spoilt: 71   Quota: 872   Turnout: 3,555 (60.3%)

Dunoon

• 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2017: 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xIndependent
• 2012-2017 Change: Con gain one seat from Independent

Dunoon - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	SNP	Audrey Forrest	19.66	575	580	593	600	616	638	670	1,064
	Conservative	Bobby Good	18.26	534	539	557	584	602	643	732
	SNP	Keir Low	14.05	411	421	423	437	455	467	487
	Independent	Jim Anderson	10.70	313	339	353	391	412	542	658	687
	Liberal Democrats	Ross Moreland	9.03	264	275	286	306	372	406
	Independent	John Allison	7.38	216	237	256	305	330
	Labour	Mick Rice	6.67	195	203	216	227
	Independent	Gordon McKinven	5.26	154	164	195
	Independent	Jimmy McQueen (incumbent)	4.85	142	150
	Independent	Brian Logan	4.14	121
Electorate:     Valid: 2,925   Spoilt: 72   Quota: 732   Turnout: 2,997 (53.1%)

Isle of Bute

• 2012: 2xSNP; 1xIndependent
• 2017: 2xIndependent; 1xSNP
• 2012-2017 Change: Independent gain one seat from SNP

Isle of Bute - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7
	Independent	Jean Moffat	19.06	472	494	588	657
	SNP	Jim Findlay	17.5	433	437	461	709
	Conservative	Peter Wallace	17.2	427	437	482	492	496.8	504.0
	SNP	Robert MacIntyre (incumbent)	15.9	395	402	433
	Independent	Len Scoullar (incumbent)	13.7	340	354	440	502	524.2	537.2	740.5
	Independent	Fraser Gillies	13.1	325	343
	Independent	John McCallum	3.4	85
Electorate:     Valid: 2,477   Spoilt: 61   Quota: 620   Turnout: 2,538 (51.6%)

Lomond North

• 2012: 2xIndependent; 1xCon
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent;
• 2012-2017 Change: SNP gain from Independent

Lomond North - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6
	Conservative	Barbara Morgan	29.39	989
	SNP	Iain Shony Paterson	20.15	678	679.8	688.1	710.8	759.1	813.3
	Independent	George Freeman (incumbent)	17.4	587	613.0	636.8	687.5	822.9	1152.3
	Independent	Fiona Baker	12.10	407	437.3	473.7	531.0	623.6
	Independent	Robert Graham MacIntyre (incumbent)	10.67	359	375.9	386.4	426.4
	Labour	Fiona Howard	6.30	212	228.2	280.1
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Kennedy	3.95	133	157.4
Electorate:     Valid: 3,365   Spoilt: 30   Quota: 842   Turnout: 3,395 (55.4%)

Helensburgh Central

• 2012: 1xIndependent; 1xSNP; 1xCon; 1xLib Dem
• 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 2xLib Dem
• 2012-2017 Change: Lib Dem gain from Independent

Helensburgh Central - 4 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5
	Conservative	Gary Mulvaney (incumbent)	46.33	1789
	SNP	Lorna Douglas	22.61	873
	Liberal Democrats	Aileen Morton (incumbent)	17.97	694	1075.6
	Liberal Democrats	Graham Hardie	6.68	258	356.8	563.2	589.6	864.3
	Independent	James Alexander Robb (incumbent)	6.39	247	478.1	526.2	558.6
Electorate:     Valid: 3,861   Spoilt: 56   Quota: 773   Turnout: 3,917 (51.7%)

Helensburgh and Lomond South

• 2012: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2017: 1xLib Dem; 1xSNP; 1xCon
• 2012-2017 Change: No Change

Helensburgh and Lomond South - 3 seats
Party		Candidate	FPv%	Count 1	Count 2	Count 3	Count 4	Count 5	Count 6	Count 7	Count 8
	Conservative	David Fairbairn Kinniburgh (incumbent)	38.96	1149
	SNP	Richard MacDonald Trail (incumbent)	17.80	525	528.2	529.6	534.7	563.0	583.4	594.2	730.7
	Liberal Democrats	Ellen Morton (incumbent)	13.97	412	521.5	527.0	540.5	615.5	847.2
	Labour	Christopher Fagan	8.48	250	287.2	291.6	305.4
	Independent	Mike Crowe	8.41	248	309.2	321.2	377.8	434.3	484.0	509.5
	Liberal Democrats	Jacqueline Davis	8.10	239	299.1	304.3	322.8	394.9
	Independent	Ian Macquire	3.19	94	119.8	129.0
	UKIP	Jack Streeter	1.09	32	57.0
Electorate:     Valid: 2,949   Spoilt: 32   Quota: 738   Turnout: 2,981 (52.3%)

References

1. "Argyll and Bute Council SNP group drops coalition plan". BBC News. 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
2. McIvor, Jamie (2013-10-29). "Argyll and Bute Council: Accounts Commission calls for 'urgent action'". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
3. "Labour wins Argyll and Bute council by-election". BBC News. 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
4. "Sudden death of newly elected Oban councillor | Press and Journal". Press and Journal. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
5. "SNP: by-election win reflects huge surge in support for party following indyref". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
6. Kerr, Moira (2016-03-21). "SNP councillors resign amid claims of a 'witch hunt' in the Highlands". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
7. "SNP wins Argyll and Bute Council by-election". www.buteman.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
8. "SNP takes seat in Argyll and Bute Council by-election". BBC News. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
9. "SNP takes seat in Argyll and Bute Council by-election". BBC News. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
10. Kerr, Moira (2016-03-21). "SNP councillors resign amid claims of a 'witch hunt' in the Highlands". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
11. "Independent pips SNP candidate to by-election win". The Oban Times incorporating The Lochaber Times. 2016-06-07. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
12. "Your council candidates: Last Dance in Helensburgh as Walsh era ends". Helensburgh Advertiser. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
13. "Economic growth and education priorities in Argyll | Press and Journal". Press and Journal. Retrieved 20 May 2017.