On May 5th 2022, local people from all walks of life tuned in, turned up, and voted for change in their local communities.
All 40 councillors were elected to the twelve wards that make up Perth and Kinross council using the Single Transferable Vote.
The people of Perth & Kinross chose to give the Scottish National Party an extra seat at the table to become the largest party to represent the council. This, combined with low voter turnout in various wards, resulted in the Conservative and Unionist Party to lose four seats along with their minority control of the council.
In the run up to this election, Scottish Labour had just one local councillor, Alasdair Bailey. However, we do live in interesting times and Perth City North proved that by electing the councils second Labour councillor, Brian Leishman.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats remained unchanged from the 2017 elections with 4 seats won while the Scottish Green Party won zero seats but gained more vote-share.
Another key determinant in the later stages of the vote was that in order to survive the first stage, you or your party had to obtain 15% of the vote, a fact that was apparently not widely disclosed.
That might very well explain why many Independent candidates lost their seats across the U.K., and it might give them grounds to contest the election or, at the very least, get that arbitrary and unfair rule for non-partisan candidates removed.
Only Six Councillors are Women
Of the 40 councillors elected, only six are women with less than 10% under the age of 45.
Perth and Kinross council is over 82% male of whom all but probably three are over the age of 45.
The SNP’s Fiona Sarwar was one of four female councillors that decided not to continue with their campaigns.
She said, ‘Politics remains a very tough place for young people and women especially in local government.’
This highlights to us that we can and must do more to build a truly representative democracy at the local level.
We do not wait for the world to change, we become the change in the world that we simply know must exist, must be. The world will join us as they’re willing and able.
Please scroll down and discover a visual guide to the local election results by ward.
Ward One – Carse of Gowrie
The Scottish Labour party’s only Perthshire councillor prior to the election was Alasdair Bailey. He gained the most first preference votes and was re-elected at the first stage of voting after surpassing the quota of 1,137 to reach 1,265 first preference votes.
Angus Forbes is the incumbent Conservative and Unionist party councillor standing for re-election, and was elected much later in the fifth stage of voting when he just made it over the quota by two votes with 1,139 votes.
And Ken Harvey, the Scottish National Party candidate standing for election for the first time was elected last at the eighth stage of voting with 1,652 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Two – Strathmore
The local Provost, Dennis Melloy, was not re-elected this time around and instead his fellow colleague, Hugh Anderson was elected for the first time at the last stage of voting after finally surpassing the quota of 1,353 with 2,138 6th preference votes.
Colin Stewart was first elected in 2017 as a Conservative and Unionist party councillor but chose to stand as an independent this time around.
He was re-elected at the fourth stage of voting after amassing 1,585 votes.
Jack Welch was elected for the first time to represent the Scottish National Party at the last stage of voting with 1,380 votes.
And finally, Grant Stewart of the Scottish National Party was elected for the first time at the first stage of voting with 1,780 first preference votes.
Compared with 2017, the Scottish National Party and the idependents gained a seat whilst the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Conservative and Unionist Party lost one.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Three – Blairgowrie/Glens
There was no change in representation in ward three compared with the 2017 elections with all three incumbent councillors being re-elected.
However, compared with 2017, there was a decline in first preference votes for the Conservative and Unionist party while the Scottish National Party saw a slight increase in the number of people giving them their first preference votes.
As a result of the 2022 elections, Caroline Shiers of the Conservative and Unionist party maintained her position by surpassing the quota of 1,166 at the first stage of voting with 1,202 first preference votes.
Fellow Conservative, Bob Brawn, was also re-elected. The public gave Bob the majority of their last preference votes and at the final stage of voting, he made it over the quota with 1,244 votes.
Tom McEwan, the Scottish National Party councillor, was re-elected at the sixth stage of voting with 1,194 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Four – Highland
Since the age of 23, Xander McDade has been active in local politics and in 2022 he chose to stand once again as an independent councillor for re-election.
The quota of 1,114 was surpassed at the fifth stage of voting for Xander as he amassed 1,148 votes.
Although, the incumbant Micheal Williamson of the Scottish National Party was elected much later in the eighth stage of voting having reached 1,740 votes for re-election.
Conservative and Unionist party incumbant councillor, John Duff, recieved a quick win with 1,120 second preference votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Five – Strathtay
With a quota of 1,290, the Scottish Liberal Democrats candidate, Claire McLaren, was given the opportunity to represent her ward after being elected at the fifth stage of voting with 1,821 votes.
Incumbant councillor, Ian James, was re-elected to serve on behalf of the Conservative and Unionist party at the third stage of voting with 1,698 votes.
And Grant Laing was re-elected for the Scottish National Party at the first stage of voting with 1,328 first preference votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Six – Strathearn
Noah Khogali became the youngest candidate to be elected to serve on behalf of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party in the Strathearn ward at the age of just 21 after surpassing the quota at the first stage of voting with 1,337 first preference votes.
Independent councillor, Rhona Brock, who is seeking re-election was not far behind either having amassed 1,224 first preference votes to maintain her seat at the table.
However, Stewart Donaldson of the Scottish National Party had to wait a wee bit longer to find out whether or not the public had chosen to re-elect him. And they did in the fourth stage of voting with 1,137 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Seven – Strathallan
Council leader and Conservative and Unionist party councillor, Murray Lyle stood down alongside Tom Gray of the Scottish National Party at this election.
The public chose to re-elect the incumbant Conservative and Unionist party councillor, Crawford Reid in the last stage of voting after finally surpassing the quota of 1,197 with 1,205 votes.
Fellow Conservative, Keith Allen, was elected for the first time at the first stage of voting with 1,420 first preference votes.
And Steven Carr was elected to serve on behalf of the Scottish National Party for the first time at the last stage of voting with 1,205 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Eight – Kinross-Shire
Incumbant councillors Callum Purves (Conservative) and Mike Barnacle (Independent/Conservative) stood down at this election.
Scottish Liberal Democrat councillor, Willie Robertson, was re-elected after surpassing the quota of 1,287 at the first stage of voting with 1,346 first preference votes.
Scottish National Party councillor, Richard Watters, was also re-elected at the first stage of voting with 1,638 first preference votes.
Neil Freshwater of the Scottish Conservative and Unionist party was elected for the first time at the last stage of voting with 1,876 votes.
And Dave Cuthbert decided to run again, this time as an Independent candidate. He was elected at the last stage of voting with 1,302 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Nine – Almond and Earn
Dennis Melloys’ time as Lord Provost came to an end this year and the Conservative and Unionist councillor chose to stand down alongside fellow party councillor, Kathleen Baird.
However, both were quickly replaced when David Illingworth and Frank Smith were elected to represent the Conservative and Unionist party.
The Scottish National Party hopeful, Michelle Frampton would have been delighted when all 1,339 votes came from first preference votes meaning she was elected for the first time at the first stage of voting.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Ten – Perth City South
Incumbant Scottish Liberal Democrat councillor, Liz Barrett, was re-elected at the first stage of voting with 2,315 first preference votes.
Sheila McCole of the Scottish National Party was also re-elected. She passed the quota of 1,367 at the last stage of voting with 1,489 votes.
Andy Chan (Conservative), and Ian Macpherson (SNP) were elected for the first time. Ian gained election with 1,377 first preference votes while Andy gained his seat at the second stage of voting with 1,419 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Eleven – Perth City North
The Conservative and Unionist party candidate, Aziz Rehman, lost his seat to Brian Leishman of the Scottish Labour party who was elected for the first time to become just one of two labour councillors in Perth and Kinross.
With a quota of 865, Brian gained his seat at the last stage of voting with 1,091 votes.
Both of the Scottish National Party incumbant councillors Ian Massie and John Rebbeck were successfully re-elected.
Ian was re-elected at the first stage of voting with 1,129 first preference votes and John was next with 997 second preference votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Ward Twelve – Perth City Centre
No new faces this year as all four incumbant councillors were re-elected.
Eric Drysdale surpassed the quota of 1,052 first with 1,445 first preference votes followed by Peter Barrett of the Scottish Liberal Democrats who was re-elected at the third stage of voting with 1,056 votes.
The Conservative and Unionist councillor, Chris Ahern, recieved his good news at the last stage of voting with 1,328 votes.
And finally, Andrew Parrott of the Scottish National Party joined in on the celebrations at the sixth stage of voting with 1,174 votes.
All illustrations below show each candidates first preference votes.
Let’s Recap..
This year, the Scottish National Party gained their best ever result in a Scottish Local Council election and gained one new seat on Perth & Kinross council to take their total number of seats to 16.
Minority control of the council is now with the Scottish National Party after having been in the hands of the Conservative and Unionist Party who lost four of their seats taking their total number of seats down to 14.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats remain unchanged from the 2017 elections with the same four seats but did increase their overall number of votes ever so slightly.
Independents have one new face this time around taking their seat total to four.
Likewise, Scottish Labour have a new face as well taking their total number of seats to two.
And finally, although the Scottish Green Party didn’t win any seats this year, they did increase their vote share.
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Happy voting 🙂
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- Contact your local Electoral Registration Office if you have a question about registering to vote.
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