2012 Midlothian Council election
2012 Scottish local government election
The 2012 Midlothian Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Midlothian Council. The election used the six wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 18 Councillors being elected.
The election saw Labour retain their traditional position as the largest party on the council though they lost compared to the 2007 election. The Scottish National Party significantly increased their representation with 2 net gains and a significant rise in vote share to have the same seat numbers as the Labour Party.
The Scottish Green Party gained a seat on the council for the first time and so too did Independent, former Conservative member, Peter de Vink. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were wiped out from this authority as well, losing all 3 of their seats (2 in the election, 1 by the defection of a member after 2007).
Following the election the SNP formed a minority administration with the support of the Green Party and the Independent. This is the first time that Labour had not had a role in the running of Midlothian in 84 years.
Election result
Note: "Votes" are the first preference votes. The net gain/loss and percentage changes relate to the result of the previous Scottish local elections on 3 May 2007.
“2012 Midlothian Council election” enters the record as 2012 Scottish local government election. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Midlothian, Council and election can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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