Midlothian Council election, 2007

Elections to Midlothian Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using 6 new wards created as a results of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, each ward will elect three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system a form of proportional representation. The new wards replace 18 single-member wards which used the plurality (first past the post) system of election.[1]

Labour lost control of the council to no overall control, something which the party suffered in many other parts of Scotland. However, they regained control in 2008 when Cllr Katie Moffat defected from the Liberal Democrats to Labour.[2] Overall, Labour lost 6 seats and the single independent lost their seat, with most going to the Scottish National Party as well as a single gain for the Liberal Democrats.

Election results

Midlothian Local Election Result 2007
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Labour 9 N/A N/A –6 50.0 36.8 12,559
  SNP 6 N/A N/A +6 33.3 33.4 11,406
  Liberal Democrats 3 N/A N/A +1 16.7 12.7 4,331
  Conservative 0 N/A N/A ±0 0.0 10.1 3,443
  Scottish Green 0 N/A N/A ±0 0.0 1.9 650
  Scottish Socialist 0 N/A N/A ±0 0.0 1.5 511
  Solidarity 0 N/A N/A ±0 0.0 1.4 494
  Had Enough 0 N/A N/A ±0 0.0 0.3 105
  Independent 0 N/A N/A –1 0.0 2.0 667

Ward results

Midlothian council election, 2007: Penicuik
Party Candidate 1st Pref % Seat Count
SNP Margaret Wilson 2,307 34.7 1 1
Labour Adam Montgomery 1,554 23.3 2 4
Liberal Democrats Ken Brown 1,001 15.0 3 7
Liberal Democrats Shiela Thacker 974 14.6
Conservative Sandy Forrest 694 10.4
Solidarity Jackie Moyers 64 1.0
Scottish Socialist Norman Gilfillan 62 0.9
Midlothian council election, 2007: Bonnyrigg
Party Candidate 1st Pref % Seat Count
SNP Bob Constable 1,905 30.3 1 1
Labour Jack Aitchison†† 1,530 24.4 2 2
Labour Derek Milligan 1,383 22.0 3 7
Scottish Green Ian Baxter 650 10.4
Conservative John Stoddart 600 9.6
Scottish Socialist Neil Bennet 138 2.2
Solidarity Chris Moyers 71 1.1
Midlothian council election, 2007: Dalkeith
Party Candidate 1st Pref % Seat Count
SNP Craig Statham 1,333 29.9 1 1
Labour Alex Bennett††† 1,331 29.9 2 1
Labour Margot Russell 761 17.1 3 7
Liberal Democrats Ray Prior 657 14.8
Conservative Rosemary McDougall 217 4.9
Solidarity Alan Boyce 94 2.1
Scottish Socialist Bob Goupillot 60 1.3
Midlothian council election, 2007: Midlothian West
Party Candidate 1st Pref % Seat Count
SNP Owen Thompson 1,981 33.2 1 1
Labour Russell Imrie 1,506 25.2 2 1
Liberal Democrats Les Thacker 868 14.5 3 10
Conservative Andrew Hardie 634 10.6
Independent Elizabeth Veitch 259 4.3
Independent George Purcell 220 3.7
Independent Pat Kenny 188 3.2
Scottish Socialist Lynn Leitch 108 1.8
Had Enough George McCleery 105 1.8
Solidarity Brian Cranston 99 1.7
Midlothian council election, 2007: Midlothian East
Party Candidate 1st Pref % Seat Count
SNP Lisa Beattie 1,988 34.6 1 1
Labour Peter Boyes 1,357 23.6 2 4
Liberal Democrats Katie Moffat 831 14.5 3 7
Conservative Robin Traquair 812 14.1
Labour Bob Jenkins 617 10.7
Solidarity Derek Duncan 82 1.4
Scottish Socialist Murray Court 63 1.1
Midlothian council election, 2007: Midlothian South
Party Candidate 1st Pref % Seat Count
SNP Colin Beattie 1,892 37.4 1 1
Labour Wilma Chalmers 1,336 26.4 2 1
Labour James Muirhead 1,184 23.4 3 2
Conservative Peter Smaill 486 9.6
Solidarity Willie Duncan 84 1.7
Scottish Socialist John Carroll 80 1.6

Changes Since 2007 Election

References

Preceded by
Midlothian Council election, 2003
Midlothian Council elections Succeeded by
Midlothian Council election, 2012