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2022 Midlothian Council election

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2022 Midlothian Council election
← 2017 5 May 2022 (2022-05-05) 2027 →
All 18 seats to Midlothian Council
10 seats needed for a majority
Registered75,636
Turnout42.4%
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Kelly Parry Derek Milligan Peter Smaill
Party SNP Labour Conservative
Leader's seat Midlothian West Bonnyrigg Midlothian East
Last election 6 seats, 30.7% 7 seats, 30.2% 5 seats, 22.7%
Seats before 7 6 5
Seats won 8 7 3
Seat change Increase 2 Steady Decrease 2
Popular vote 11,844 10,575 5,270
Percentage 37.6% 33.5% 16.7%
Swing Increase 6.9% Increase 3.3% Decrease 6.0%
Council Leader before election

Derek Milligan
Labour

Council Leader after election

Kelly Parry
SNP

Elections to Midlothian Council took place on 5 May 2022 as part of the 2022 Scottish local elections. The election used the six wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 18 councillors being elected. Each ward elected three members, using the STV electoral system - a form of proportional representation.[1]

For the first time, the Scottish National Party emerged as the largest party on the council with eight seats, with Labour winning seven and the Conservatives three.[2]

Background

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Previous election

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Main article: 2017 Midlothian Council election

At the previous election in 2017, the Labour party won the most seats at 7, closely followed by the SNP and the Conservatives, with 6 & 5 respectively. The Conservatives increased their vote share by over 14%, while Labour and the SNP dropped sharply in vote share, with 9.3%, and 8.8% drops respectively.

2017 Midlothian Council election result
Party Seats Vote share

Labour 7 30.2%

SNP 6 30.7%

Conservatives 5 22.7%

Source:[3]

Electoral system

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The election used the 6 wards created following the fifth statutory review of electoral arrangements conducted by Local Government Boundary Commission for Scotland in 2016, with 18 councillors elected. Each ward elected either three or four councillors, using the single transferable vote (STV) electoral system – a form of proportional representation – where candidates are ranked in order of preference.[4]

Results

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2022 Midlothian Council election
Party Seats Gains Losses Net gain/loss Seats % Votes % Votes +/−
  SNP 8 2 0 Increase 2 44.4 37.6 11,844 Increase 6.9
  Labour 7 0 0 Steady 38.9 33.5 10,575 Increase 3.3
  Conservative 3 0 2 Decrease 2 16.7 16.7 5,270 Decrease 6.0
  Green 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 5.3 2,542 Decrease 1.6
  Liberal Democrats 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 4.8 1,025 Increase 2.8
  Alba 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 0.7 220 New
  Scottish Libertarian 0 0 0 Steady 0.0 0.2 58 New
Total 18 31,534

Source:[5]

Wards

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Penicuik

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  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017-2022: 1 SNP gain from Con
Penicuik - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
SNP Debbi McCall (incumbent) 31.8 1,639            
Labour Willie McEwan 23.9 1,234 1,261 1,268 1,418      
Conservative Richard Thomson 17.7 912 917 923 1,003 1,037 1,073  
SNP Connor McManus 11.4 589 857 869 889 904 1,159 1,276
Green Helen Armstrong 7.4 383 409 416 482 508    
Liberal Democrats Ken Brown 6.8 351 356 364        
Alba George Boyd 0.8 46 46          
Electorate: 11,133   Valid: 5,154   Spoilt: 88   Quota: 1,289   Turnout: 47.1%  

Bonnyrigg

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  • 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2022: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2017-2022 Change: No change
Bonnyrigg - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4
Labour Derek Milligan (incumbent) 40.4 2,428      
SNP Dianne Alexander 35.2 2,117      
Conservative David Virgo 23.5 1,012 1,299 1,323 1,720
Green Daya Feldwick 7.6 459 735 1,155  
Electorate: 14,239   Valid: 6,016   Spoilt: 57   Quota: 1,505   Turnout: 48.5%  

Dalkeith

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  • 2017: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2022: 2xLab; 1xSNP
  • 2017-2022 Change: No change
Dalkeith - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Labour Stephen Curran (incumbent) 27.0 1,163          
SNP Colin Cassidy (incumbent) 23.5 1,012 1,017 1,035 1,133    
Labour Margot Russell (incumbent) 18.6 800 881 894 953 956 1,199
SNP Karen Green 11.6 501 503 508 602 648 663
Conservative Mark Wells 10.7 459 462 464 482 483  
Green Marion Black 6.9 299 301 311      
Alba Jamie Bryant 1.6 56 56        
Electorate: 11,594   Valid: 4,306   Spoilt: 117   Quota: 1,077   Turnout: 38.1%  

Midlothian West

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  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017-2022 Change: No change
Midlothian West - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6
Labour Russell Imrie (incumbent) 26.7 1,645          
SNP Pat Kenny 18.7 1,149 1,158 1,176 1,206 1,370  
Conservative Pauline Winchester (incumbent) 18.6 1,144 1,161 1,167 1,323 1,386 1,397
SNP Kelly Parry (incumbent) 18.3 1,126 1,131 1,143 1,159 1,449 2,643
Green Jill Simon 10.1 624 636 649 773    
Liberal Democrats Richard Chandler 6.5 400 431 441      
Alba Andrew Coventry 1.2 74 76        
Electorate: 13,917   Valid: 6,162   Spoilt: 105   Quota: 1,541   Turnout: 45.0%  

Midlothian East

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  • 2017: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2022: 1xCon; 1xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017-2022 Change: No change
Midlothian East - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5
Labour Bryan Pottinger 29.8 1,473        
Conservative Peter Smaill (incumbent) 22.4 1,106 1,153 1,255    
SNP Stuart McKenzie (incumbent) 21.2 1,045 1,060 1,079 1,080 1,254
SNP Ann Montague 12.5 616 634 657 658 805
Green Bill Kerr-Smith 8.7 428 456 575 578  
Liberal Democrats Jenny Marr 5.5 274 336      
Electorate: 12,229   Valid: 4,942   Spoilt: 58   Quota: 1,236   Turnout: 40.9%  

Midlothian South

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  • 2017: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xCon
  • 2022: 2xSNP; 1xLab
  • 2017-2022 Change: 1 SNP gain from Con
Midlothian South - 3 seats
Party Candidate FPv% Count
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Labour Kelly Drummond (incumbent) 25.1 1,243            
SNP Ellen Scott 21.1 1,045 1,045 1,051 1,053 1,185 1,206 1,345
SNP Douglas Bowen 20.3 1,005 1,005 1,013 1,018 1,072 1,097 1,223
Conservative Robin Stenhouse 12.9 637 637 642 658 678    
Labour Hazel Flanagan 11.6 573 576 579 588 680 999  
Green Malcolm Spaven 7.0 349 349 356 370      
Scottish Libertarian Daniel Fraser 1.2 58 58 63        
Alba Christopher Hampton 0.9 44 44          
Electorate: 12,524   Valid: 4,954   Spoilt: 120   Quota: 1,239   Turnout: 40.5%  

Aftermath

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On 24 May, the SNP group announced that it had secured support to run a minority administration in Midlothian.[6] Kelly Parry was elected leader of the council with Debbi McCall serving as provost.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Map showing the_Wards within the Midlothian Area
  2. ^ Sharp, Marie (7 May 2022). "SNP take most seats in Midlothian". Midlothian View. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Local Election Results 2017 - Midlothian". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  4. ^ "Upcoming elections". Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Midlothian Council 2022". Ballot Box Scotland. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  6. ^ Morrison, Hamish (24 May 2022). "Midlothian Council: SNP take control after 'Better Together' deal". The National. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
  7. ^ Bowen, Phil (24 May 2022). "Midlothian's new Provost and Council Leader elected". Midlothian View. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
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