1994 Scottish regional elections

Regional elections were held in Scotland on 5 May 1994, as part of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. These were the last elections before 29 new mainland unitary authorities, established by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, came into effect. The councils up for election were last contested in 1990 Scottish regional elections, and vote and seat changes are compared to the 1990 results.

1994 Scottish regional elections

5 May 1994 (1994-05-05)
453 councillors on 12 Regional Councils in Scotland
First party Second party   Leader John Smith Alex Salmond Party Labour SNP Leader since 18 July 1992 22 September 1990 Seats won 220 73 Seat change 3 31 Percentage 41.8% 26.8% Swing 2.2% 5%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Jim Wallace John Major Party Liberal Democrats Conservative Leader since 18 April 1992 28 November 1990 Seats won 60 31 Seat change 20 21 Percentage 12.2% 13.7% Swing 4% 5.5%
Colours denote the winning party with outright control
Results by ward

Overview

Background

As these were the last elections to the Regional Councils, which were to be abolished within the next two years, the election was seen as a somewhat pointless exercise as the elected representatives would have minimal time to introduce any policies before powers were transferred to the new unitary authorities. Nevertheless, voters still saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate the popularity of John Major's incumbent Tory Government, which saw the Conservatives lose 21 seats, and be replaced by the Liberal Democrats as third largest party by number of seats.[1]

Outcome

A record number of 1522 candidates stood for election across Scotland, including a new high of 341 women candidates. Turnout stayed almost the same from 1990 at 45.6%, a decrease of 0.3%. The Conservatives' vote share decreased by 5.8%, to give them their worst ever performance at a local election, with only 13.7% of the vote. Labour retained their position as the largest party, down slightly from the previous election. The SNP made large gains of almost 5%, mainly at the expense of the Conservatives, as did the Liberal Democrats, who increased their vote share by 3.7%. Independent candidates won the most votes in the Highland, Border and Dumfries & Galloway regions, despite having lost up to 9% of the vote in some areas.

Regional Trends

Labour held Strathclyde, Lothian, Central and Fife Regions, while Independents took a majority on Orkney, Shetland, Highland and the Western Isles councils, as well as taking the most seats on Borders and Dumfries and Galloway councils. As in 1990, no party won a majority on Tayside and Grampian councils, with the SNP overtaking Labour to be the largest party on the former, and the Liberal Democrats winning a plurality of seats on the latter.

National results

Summary of the 5 May 1994 Scottish council election results[1][2]

Parties		votes	%	Seats
	Labour	704,604	41.8	220
	SNP	458,951	26.8	73
	Conservative	234,840	13.7	31
	Liberal Democrats	208,349	12.2	60
	Independent	80,092	4.2	65
	Independent Labour	4,064		1
	Communist	1,839		1
	Ind. Liberal Democrat	885		1
	Liberal[note 1]	0		1
	Scottish Militant Labour	11,476	0.7	0
	People Pension Power	313		0
	Monster Raving Loony	185		0
	Natural Law	124		0
	Ind. Conservative	97		0
	SDP	82		0
	James Connolly Society	76		0
	Doctor Slug Party	43		0
	Scottish Republican Socialist	38		0
	Scottish Christian Democratic	32		0
Total		1,706,090	45.1	453

Results by council area

Council	1990 result		1994 result		Turnout	Details
Borders		Independent		No overall control	42	Details
Central		Labour		Labour	49.7	Details
Dumfries and Galloway		Independent		No overall control	47.9	Details
Fife		Labour		Labour	45.7	Details
Grampian		No overall control		No overall control	41.6	Details
Highland		Independent		Independent	45.3	Details
Lothian		Labour		Labour	47.8	Details
Orkney		Independent		Independent		Details
Shetland		Independent		Independent		Details
Strathclyde		Labour		Labour	44.4	Details
Tayside		No overall control		No overall control	45.5	Details
Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles)		Independent		Independent		Details

Notes

1. The Liberal candidate was elected unopposed

References

1. "Scottish Regional Elections 1994" (PDF).
2. Denver, David; Bochel, Hugh (Winter 2000), "The Forgotten Elections: The Scottish Council Elections of 1999", Scottish Affairs (PDF), 30, archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2011, retrieved 16 July 2011