2012 Orkney Islands Council election

← 2007 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017 →

All 21 seats to Orkney
11 seats needed for a majority
  First party
 
Leader Steven Heddle
Party Independent
Leader's seat Kirkwall East
Last election 21 seats, 100%
Seats before 21
Seats won 21
Seat change -
Popular vote 8,161
Percentage 96.9%
Swing Decrease2.3%

Council Leader before election

Stephen Hagan
Independent

Council Leader after election

Steven Heddle
Independent

The 2012 Orkney Islands Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Orkney 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 21 Councillors being elected.

As in 2007 Independents took all of the 21 seats on the council. The Scottish National Party contested 4 wards in Orkney for the first time in 2012 but only secured 3% of the vote. The council was again administered solely by Independents.

Election result

Orkney Local Election Result 2012[1][2]
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  Independent 21 - - - 100.0 96.9 8,161 -2.3
  SNP 0 - - - - 3.0 251 New
  UKIP 0 - - - - 0.1 11 New

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. This may differ from other published sources showing gain/loss relative to seats held at dissolution of Scotland's councils.

Ward results

Kirkwall East

  • 2007: 4xIndependent
  • 2012: 4xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Kirkwall East - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Independent Janice Annal (incumbent) 34.34 533              
Independent Steven Heddle (incumbent) 26.35 409              
Independent Gwenda Shearer 13.71 212 278.9 307.9 319.6        
Independent Bill Stout 9.02 140 198.6 227.1 232.9 235.3 263.2 300.9 377
SNP John Mowat 5.9 93 105.9 115.4 116.7 117.5 132.5    
Independent Alastair MacLeod 4.96 77 114.7 129.2 136.1 137.8 151.6 174.2  
Independent Gerry McGuinness 3.48 54 69.9 77.6 85.9 87.4      
Independent Paul Dawson 1.80 28 37.6 40.5          
Electorate: 3,391   Valid: 1,546   Spoilt: 6   Quota: 310   Turnout: 1,552 (45.75%)  

Kirkwall West & Orphir

  • 2007: 4xIndependent
  • 2012: 4xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Kirkwall West & Orphir - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Independent Jack Moodie (incumbent) † 30.85 476                    
Independent John Richards 18.34 283 318.1                  
Independent David Tullock (incumbent) 13.93 215 263.9 266.3 267.7 270.1 273.2 288.1 301.1 321.3    
Independent Alan Clouston 13.80 213 232.9 234.7 236.8 243 248.8 260.2 272.3 281.9 285.9 368.4
Independent David Dawson 10.50 162 186.1 188.9 188.9 192.5 206.4 213.4 219.9 232.4 236.7  
SNP Lynda Baird 3.24 50 52.8 53.2 53.2 53.3 54.3 56.3        
Independent Laurence Leonard 2.72 42 49.5 49.6 52.7 52.7 54.5 58.9 64.3      
Independent Sandra Shearer 2.2 34 43.6 44.1 44.1 45.2 50.9          
Independent Raymond Smith 1.94 30 37.8 38.4 40.4 43.2            
Independent Bryan Leslie 1.04 16 18.8 19.5 19.6              
Independent Walter Haywood 0.58 9 9.7 9.9                
Electorate: 3,289   Valid: 1,530   Spoilt: 13   Quota: 307   Turnout: 1,543 (46.94%)  

Stromness and South Isles

  • 2007: 3xIndependent
  • 2012: 3xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
Stromness and South Isles - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Independent James Stockan (incumbent) 53.2 576          
Independent Rob Crichton 11.65 126 234.2 235.3 250.5 262.3 364.1
Independent Maurice Davidson 11.28 122 172.6 174.6 189.3 216.7 270.2
Independent John Brown 10.63 115 178.9 180.9 196.8 213.6  
Independent Terry Thomson 5.64 61 82.9 84.4 100.6    
SNP Arthur Alexander Robertson 5.64 61 79.7 81.2      
UKIP Delia Mary Hall 1.02 11 15.3        
Electorate: 2,210   Valid: 1,072   Spoilt: 10   Quota: 269   Turnout: 1,082 (48.76%)  

West Mainland

  • 2007: 4xIndependent
  • 2012: 4xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
West Mainland - 4 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Independent Harvey Johnston 23.19 427              
Independent Alistair Gordon (incumbent)†† 17.49 322 333.3 335.5 353.6 371.4      
Independent Jimmy Moar (incumbent) 15.59 287 303.2 307.2 317.4 319.4 320.4 353.1 470.1
Independent Owen Tierney 13.53 249 257 263 277.1 308.8 309.5 358.9 446.1
Independent Eoin F. Scott (incumbent) 12.93 238 246.4 249.6 254.8 276.2 277 314.4  
Independent Victor Muir 7.17 132 136.9 139.9 143.9 150.1 150.5    
Independent Andrew Appleby 4.02 74 77.7 81.7 93        
Independent Carol Granere 3.97 73 75.1 78.1          
Independent David Ward 1.79 33 33.4            
Electorate: 3,379   Valid: 1,835   Spoilt: 6   Quota: 368   Turnout: 1,841 (54.53%)  

East Mainland, South Ronaldsay and Burray

  • 2007: 3xIndependent
  • 2012: 3xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: No change
East Mainland, South Ronaldsay & Burray - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Independent Russ Madge (incumbent) 40.46 564            
Independent Andrew Drever (incumbent) 18.72 261 315.2 331.6 344.5 375.3    
Independent Jim Foubister (incumbent) 16.21 226 247.9 253.5 263.2 280.2 289.6 368.6
Independent Gill Smee 10.9 152 209.3 226.9 236.6 257.3 267.2  
Independent Ken Ross 7.03 98 118.4 123.3 128.2      
SNP Ewan Loudon 3.37 47 56.6 59.8        
Independent Eleanor MacLeod 2.65 37 52.4          
Electorate: 2,536   Valid: 1,385   Spoilt: 9   Quota: 347   Turnout: 1,394 (54.97%)  

North Isles

  • 2007: 3xIndependent
  • 2012: 3xIndependent
  • 2007-2012 Change: No Change
North Isles - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Independent Stephen Hagan (incumbent) 40.93 433      
Independent Stephen Clackson 29.1 308      
Independent Gillian Skuse 16.07 170 219.2 237.7  
Independent Graham Sinclair (incumbent) 13.61 144 238.1 249.5 375.1
Electorate: 1,854   Valid: 1,055   Spoilt: 3   Quota: 264   Turnout: 1,058 (57.47%)  

Post-Election Changes

  • † Kirkwall West and Orphir Independent Cllr Jack Moodie resigned his seat for personal reasons on 9 September 2014.[1] A by-election was held on 27 November 2014 and was won by the Independent Leslie Manson.[2][permanent dead link]
  • †† West Mainland Independent Cllr Alistair Gordon died on 19 May 2015.[3] A by-election was held on 18 August 2015 to fill the vacancy and it was won by the Independent Rachael King.[4]

By-elections

Kirkwall West and Orphir by-election, 27 November 2014
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1
Independent Leslie Manson 57.5 647
Independent Gillian Skuse 25.0 281
Independent Lorraine McBrearty 12.6 142
Independent Laurence Leonard 4.9 55
Quota: 563  
West Mainland by-election, 18 August 2015
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1
Orkney Manifesto Group Rachael King 51.4 593
Independent Barbara Foulkes 38.6 281
Scottish Green Fiona Grahame 10.0 115
Quota: 578  

References

  1. ^ "2012 Scottish Local Government Elections" (PDF). Electoral Reform Society. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  2. ^ "Local Election Results 2012 - Orkney". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 5 February 2024.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120608070718/http://www.orkney.gov.uk/Council/C/results-by-ward.htm