Contents
Council-Wide Results
A good day for the SNP in the Wee County, as they benefitted from setbacks for the two other big parties, gaining a seat and thus holding exactly half of the total with 9. Labour had a surprisingly bad result given national trends, ending up only barely ahead of the Conservatives. A better distribution of votes however meant they remained steady on 5 seats, whereas the Conservatives dropped two councillors to end up with 3. Finally, the Greens had a great result, making the widely-expected gain in Clackmannanshire South (Alloa), and recording a decent increase in their overall vote share.
Administration
After the election, an SNP administration was formed. Mathematically speaking it’s neither a majority nor minority, holding precisely half of the seats. However, assuming that Clackmannanshire operates on a similar basis to other councils, the Provost or Convener of the council will have the casting vote. As the SNP hold that role, they have an effective majority.
Interactive Map
Clackmannanshire was historically the smallest of Scotland’s counties, leading to the “Wee County” moniker in contrast to the neighbouring “Big County” of Perthshire. Unlike many of Scotland’s other small counties, Clacks has survived successive reorganisations as an independent governing unit. With substantial industrialisation around the main town of Alloa, plus the mills and distilleries of the Hillfoots villages, Clacks was a strong area for Labour throughout the 20th Century.
However, it was also an early core of SNP support, swinging their way in both of the 1974 Elections, before returning to Labour. That’s been the dynamic since, with both parties at some point having held the Westminster seat at least once, and the SNP the Holyrood seat since 2003. There was a brief Conservative stint from 2017 to 2019 in the UK seat too, though it’s likely that was driven largely by the Perthshire component, Clacks being too small to have a seat to itself.
Local elections experienced a similar history, starting with SNP-Labour tie in the first ever District Council election, which then went majority SNP in 1977. Labour then held consistent majorities up to and including the first post-reorganisation election. 1999 saw the SNP as the largest party with exactly half of the seats, before it then reverted to a Labour lead for the final FPTP vote in 2003.
2007
At the first STV election in 2007, the two parties were almost entirely evenly split. Labour’s 8 seats saw them the largest on the council, ahead of the SNP on 7 who had a very narrow lead in votes. The remaining three seats went one each to the Conservatives, Lib Dems, and an Independent.
2012
In 2012 the SNP opened up a much more substantial lead in votes, though that simply equalised them with Labour on 8 seats apiece. The Lib Dems lost their councillor, the Conservatives held theirs, and a single Independent was also elected, though it was a new face as the 2007 term Independent had joined the SNP (and has been successfully re-elected under that banner at both elections since.)
2017
The Conservative revival sweeping Scotland in 2017 showed strongly in the Wee County, as both the SNP and Labour saw significant decreases in their vote share. Nonetheless, the SNP held steady at 8 seats, whilst Labour ended even with the Conservatives on 5 seats. No Independents were elected at this election, with 2012’s Independent also having joined the SNP (and was successfully re-elected, before resigning to trigger a 2018 by-election). Though they didn’t win any seats, the Greens also contested this election for the first time and recorded one of their strongest vote shares in the country.
Individual Ward Results
Councillors and Key Stats
4 Councillors, in order elected:
🟡SNP: Phil Fairlie
🔵Conservative: Darren Lee
🔴Labour: Mark McLuckie
🟡SNP: Graham Lindsay
Change vs 2017: No change
Electorate: 8936
Turnout: 42.0%
Valid: 3643 (97.0%)
Spoiled: 111 (3.0%)
Quota: 729
Candidates
🟡SNP: Phil Fairlie
🔵Conservative: Darren Lee
🟡SNP: Graham Lindsay
🔴Labour: Mark McLuckie
🟠Lib Dem: Laura Quin
🟢Green: Cara Quinn
🔴Labour: Daniel Rooney
Clackmannanshire West: First Preferences
Clackmannanshire West: Transfers
Clackmannanshire West: Results by Polling District
Clackmannanshire West: Second Preferences
Clackmannanshire West: Two-Candidate Preferred
Councillors and Key Stats
3 Councillors, in order elected:
🟡SNP: Donald Balsillie
🔵Conservative: Martha Benny
🟡SNP: Fiona Law
🔴Labour: William Keogh
Change vs 2017: No change
Turnout: 47.9%
Electorate: 8643
Valid: 4028 (97.3%)
Spoiled: 111 (2.7%)
Quota: 806
Candidates
🟢Green: Clare Andrews
🟡SNP: Donald Balsillie
🔵Conservative: Martha Benny
🟠Lib Dem: Gordon Bruce
⚫Alba: Eva Comrie
🔴Labour: William Keogh
🟡SNP: Fiona Law
⚪Independent: Ian Millar
Clackmannanshire North: First Preferences
Clackmannanshire North: Transfers
Clackmannanshire North: Results by Polling District
Clackmannanshire North: Second Preferences
Clackmannanshire North: Two-Candidate Preferred
Councillors and Key Stats
3 Councillors, in order elected:
🟡SNP: Wendy Hamilton
🔴Labour: Janine Rennie
🟡SNP: Jan Brown
Change vs 2017: +1 SNP, -1 Conservative
Turnout: 39.6%
Electorate: 6301
Valid: 2402 (96.2%)
Spoiled: 95 (3.8%)
Quota: 601
Candidates
🟡SNP: Wendy Hamilton
🟢Green: John Hosie
🔴Labour: Carolynne Hunter
🔵Conservative: Kate Mason
🟡SNP: Jane McTaggart
🔴Labour: Janine Rennie
🔴Labour: Huw Sherrard
Note: Labour made a mistake in their nomination papers – Carolynne Hunter was intended as a Clackmannanshire North candidate.
Clackmannanshire Central: First Preferences
Clackmannanshire Central: Transfers
Clackmannanshire Central: Results by Polling District
Clackmannanshire Central: Second Preferences
Clackmannanshire Central: Two-Candidate Preferred
Councillors and Key Stats
4 Councillors, in order elected:
🔴Labour: Kenneth Earle
🟡SNP: Ellen Forson
🟢Green: Bryan Quinn
🟡SNP: Craig Holden
Change vs 2017: +1 Green, -1 Conservative
Electorate: 9357
Turnout: 41.7%
Valid: 3803 (97.4%)
Spoiled: 100 (2.6%)
Quota: 761
Candidates
🔴Labour: Kenneth Earle
🟡SNP: Ellen Forson
🟡SNP: Craig Holden
🔵Conservative: William Marlin
🟢Green: Bryan Quinn
⚫Alba: Matthew Reilly
⚪Independent: Hugh van Lierop
Clackmannanshire South: First Preferences
Clackmannanshire South: Transfers
Clackmannanshire South: Results by Polling District
Clackmannanshire South: Second Preferences
Clackmannanshire South: Two-Candidate Preferred
Councillors and Key Stats
3 Councillors, in order elected:
🟡SNP: Scott Harrison
🔵Conservative: Denis Coyne
🔴Labour: Kathleen Martin
Change vs 2017: No change
Turnout: 48.0%
Electorate: 7004
Valid: 3315 (98.6%)
Spoiled: 46 (1.4%)
Quota: 829
Candidates
⚪Independent: Les Calderwood
🔵Conservative: Denis Coyne
🔵Conservative: Neil Gault
🟡SNP: Scott Harrison
🔴Labour: Kathleen Martin
🟠Lib Dem: Angus Myles
🟢Green: Marion Robertson
Clackmannanshire East: First Preferences
Clackmannanshire East: Transfers
Clackmannanshire East: Results by Polling District
Clackmannanshire East: Second Preferences
Clackmannanshire East: Two-Candidate Preferred
If you’re unsure about what any of this data means, a quick explanation is given in this piece.