2027 Scottish local elections

2027 Scottish local elections
6 May 2027 (2027-05-06)
All 1,226 seats to 32 Scottish councils
 
Leader John Swinney Jackie Baillie
(acting)		 Russell Findlay
Party SNP Labour Conservative
Leader since 6 May 2024 23 July 2026 27 September 2024
Last election 453 seats, 34.1% 282 seats, 21.7% 214 seats, 19.7%
Current seats 413 258 172
 
Ind
Leader None Alex Cole-Hamilton Ross Greer /
Gillian Mackay
Party Independent Liberal Democrats Green
Leader since 20 August 2021 29 August 2025
Last election 152 seats, 8.4% 87 seats, 8.6% 35 seats, 6.0%
Current seats 236 88 32
 
Leader Malcolm Offord
Party Reform
Leader since 15 January 2026
Last election Did not contest
Current seats 23

The 2027 Scottish local elections will be held on 6 May 2027, as part of the 2027 United Kingdom local elections. All 1,226 seats across all 32 Scottish local authorities are up for election.

Background

The last election was in 2022, which was held five years after the 2017 election.

In the 2022 election, the SNP increased its vote share and won a record high result - and secured an overall majority on Dundee City Council,[1] whilst Labour won overall control of West Dunbartonshire Council.[2]

Voting system and eligibility to vote

Ballot paper used for the 2022 elections in the Victoria Park ward of the Glasgow City Council

Councillors are elected to represent multi-member wards using the single transferable vote (STV) method, which has been used for all elections to local authorities in Scotland since the 2007 election. Mainland wards may have between 2 and 5 councillors, and single councillor wards are permitted where such a ward includes an inhabited island.[3] For these elections wards represented by one, two or five councillors will only be contested in the four council areas in which ward boundaries have been redrawn after 2017, namely Na h-Eileanan an Iar, North Ayrshire, Orkney and Shetland.

Overall, the 32 local authorities have one one-seat district (Arran), seven two-seat districts and three five-seat districts (North Ayrshire) in addition to the bulk of the members elected in three- and four-seat districts.

All registered electors (British citizens and all other foreign nationals with leave to remain, including refugees)[4] who are aged 16 or over on polling day are entitled to vote in the local elections.[5] A person who has two homes (such as a university student who has a term-time address and lives at home during holidays) can register to vote at both addresses as long as they are not in the same electoral area, and can vote in the local elections for the two different local councils.[6]

Opinion polling

First preference voting intention
Date(s)
conducted		 Polling organisation/client Sample size SNP Con Lab Lib Dem Green Others Lead
5 May 20222022 Scottish local elections–34.1%19.7%21.7%8.6%6.0%16%12.4%

Results

Councils

Council Outgoing 2027 Article
Largest party Control Largest party Control
Aberdeen City SNP SNP + Lib Dem coalition
Aberdeenshire Conservative Con, Lib Dem + Ind coalition
Angus SNP Con, Ind + Lab coalition
Argyll and Bute SNP SNP, Lib Dem + Ind coalition
Clackmannanshire SNP SNP minority
Dumfries and Galloway SNP SNP minority
Dundee City SNP SNP majority
East Ayrshire SNP SNP minority
East Dunbartonshire SNP SNP minority
East Lothian Labour Labour minority
East Renfrewshire SNP, Lab, Con Lab + Ind coalition
City of Edinburgh SNP Labour minority
Falkirk SNP SNP minority
Fife SNP Labour minority
Glasgow City SNP SNP minority
Highland Independent SNP + Ind coalition
Inverclyde Labour Labour minority
Midlothian SNP SNP minority
Moray Conservative Conservative minority
Na h-Eileanan Siar Independent Independent majority
North Ayrshire SNP SNP minority
North Lanarkshire Labour Labour minority
Orkney Islands Independent Independent majority
Perth and Kinross SNP SNP minority
Renfrewshire SNP SNP minority
Scottish Borders Conservative Con + Ind coalition
Shetland Islands Independent Independent majority
South Ayrshire Independent Independent minority
South Lanarkshire SNP, Lab Labour minority
Stirling SNP SNP, Grn + Ind coalition
West Dunbartonshire Labour Labour minority
West Lothian SNP Labour minority

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dundee election results 2022: SNP take overall control of city council". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Scottish council elections 2022: SNP finishes as biggest party". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  3. ↑ "News Release: Final Proposals for Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands council areas submitted to Scottish Ministers" (PDF) (Press release). Boundaries Scotland. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  4. ↑ "Right to vote extended". gov.scot. 20 February 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  5. ↑ Uberoi, Elise; Johnston, Neil (19 November 2020). "Voting age". Commons Library. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  6. ↑ Electoral Commission. "I have two homes. Can I register at both addresses?". electoralcommission.org.uk. The Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 15 November 2008. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.