Contents

Overall 2022 Result

Council-Wide Results

Midlothian was very closely contested between the SNP and Labour across the previous two elections, so although modest, this is the largest SNP vote lead yet. A gain of two seats to 8 also gave them a seat advantage over Labour too, who were unchanged on 7. This came from a big drop in Conservative support, with their two losses leaving them with 3 seats.

As they had in 2017, the Greens suffered from the fact Midlothian is entirely three-member wards, so despite a solid vote share increase they still didn’t elect a councillor. Lib Dems did increase their share too, but still on the low end for them.

Administration

After the election, an SNP minority administration was formed.

Interactive Map

Overview

Modern Midlothian is very much a shadow of its former self. It had already lost the historic centre at Edinburgh before the advent of true local government, and then in the 70’s was further truncated with the loss of everything west of the Pentlands, Musselburgh, and the area around Heriot. The area remaining was largely defined by mining for much of the 20th Century, though perhaps not to the same degree as West Lothian.

That naturally led to Labour consistently winning Westminster seats covering the area right up until the SNP’s 2015 landslide. They were strong enough here that Midlothian was one of their 2017 gains, brief though they proved. In the Scottish Parliament the SNP relieved Labour of their Midlothian seat in 2011, though due to boundary changes they also could be considered to have displaced a Lib Dem that had held a mostly Borders seat with a sliver of Midlothian in it.

Apart from a brief spell where Labour fell one short of a majority after the 1977 election due to an SNP surge, they barely had a handful of opposition councillors for decades. That was mostly in the form of Conservatives during the District Council period, followed by the SNP then Lib Dems after the unitary councils were created in the 90’s.

Previous STV Elections

2007
2012
2017

Individual Ward Results

Penicuik (Ward 1)

Councillors and Key Stats

3 Councillors, in order elected:
🟡SNP: Debbi McCall
🔴Labour: Willie McEwan
🟡SNP: Connor McManus
Change vs 2017: +1 SNP, -1 Conservative
Turnout: 47.1%
Electorate: 11133
Valid: 5154 (98.3%)
Spoiled: 88 (1.7%)
Quota: 1289

Candidates

🟢Green: Helen Armstrong
Alba: George Boyd
🟠Lib Dem: Ken Brown
🟡SNP: Debbi McCall
🔴Labour: Willie McEwan
🟡SNP: Connor McManus
🔵Conservative: Richard Thomson

Penicuik: First Preferences
Penicuik: Transfers
Penicuik: Results by Polling District
Penicuik: Second Preferences
Penicuik: Two-Candidate Preferred

Bonnyrigg (Ward 2)

Councillors and Key Stats

3 Councillors, in order elected:
🔴Labour: Derek Milligan
🟡SNP: Dianne Alexander
🔵Conservative: David Virgo
Change vs 2017: No change
Turnout: 42.7%
Electorate: 14239
Valid: 6016 (99.1%)
Spoiled: 57 (0.9%)
Quota: 1505

Candidates

🟡SNP: Dianne Alexander
🟢Green: Daya Feldwick
🔴Labour: Derek Milligan
🔵Conservative: David Virgo

Bonnyrigg: First Preferences
Bonnyrigg: Transfers
Bonnyrigg: Results by Polling District
Bonnyrigg: Second Preferences
Bonnyrigg: Two-Candidate Preferred

Dalkeith (Ward 3)

Councillors and Key Stats

3 Councillors, in order elected:
🔴Labour: Stephen Curran
🟡SNP: Colin Cassidy
🔴Labour: Margot Russell
Change vs 2017: No change
Turnout: 38.1%
Electorate: 11594
Valid: 4306 (97.4%)
Spoiled: 117 (2.6%)
Quota: 1077

Candidates

🟢Green: Marion Black
Alba: Jamie Bryant
🟡SNP: Colin Cassidy
🔴Labour: Stephen Curran
🟡SNP: Karen Green
🔴Labour: Margot Russell
🔵Conservative: Mark Wells

Dalkeith: First Preferences
Dalkeith: Transfers
Dalkeith: Results by Polling District
Dalkeith: Second Preferences
Dalkeith: Two-Candidate Preferred

Midlothian West (Ward 4)

Councillors and Key Stats

3 Councillors, in order elected:
🔴Labour: Russell Imrie
🟡SNP: Kelly Parry
🔵Conservative: Pauline Winchester
Change vs 2017: No change
Electorate: 13917
Turnout: 45.0%
Valid: 6162 (98.3%)
Spoiled: 105 (1.7%)
Quota: 1541

Candidates

🟠Lib Dem: Richard Chandler
Alba: Andrew Coventry
🔴Labour: Russell Imrie
🟡SNP: Pat Kenny
🟡SNP: Kelly Parry
🟢Green: Jill Simon
🔵Conservative: Pauline Winchester

Midlothian West: First Preferences
Midlothian West: Transfers
Midlothian West: Results by Polling District
Midlothian West: Second Preferences
Midlothian West: Two-Candidate Preferred

Midlothian East (Ward 5)

Councillors and Key Stats

3 Councillors, in order elected:
🔴Labour: Bryan Pottinger
🔵Conservative: Peter Smail
🟡SNP: Stuart McKenzie
Change vs 2017: No change
Turnout: 40.9%
Electorate: 12229
Valid: 4942 (98.8%)
Spoiled: 58 (1.2%)
Quota: 1236

Candidates

🟢Green: Bill Kerr-Smith
🟠Lib Dem: Jenny Marr
🟡SNP: Stuart McKenzie
🟡SNP: Ann Montague
🔴Labour: Bryan Pottinger
🔵Conservative: Peter Smail

Midlothian East: First Preferences
Midlothian East: Transfers
Midlothian East: Results by Polling District
Midlothian East: Second Preferences
Midlothian East: Two-Candidate Preferred

Midlothian South (Ward 6)

Councillors and Key Stats

3 Councillors, in order elected:
🔴Labour: Kelly Drummond
🟡SNP: Ellen Scott
🟡SNP: Douglas Bowen
Change vs 2017: +1 SNP, -1 Conservative
Turnout: 40.5%
Electorate: 12524
Valid: 4954 (97.6%)
Spoiled: 120 (2.4%)
Quota: 1239

Candidates

🟡SNP: Douglas Bowen
🔴Labour: Kelly Drummond
🔴Labour: Hazel Flanagan
🟤Libertarian: Daniel Fraser
Alba: Christopher Hampton
🟡SNP: Ellen Scott
🟢Green: Malcolm Spaven
🔵Conservative: Robin Stenhouse

Midlothian South: First Preferences
Midlothian South: Transfers
Midlothian South: Results by Polling District
Midlothian South: Second Preferences
Midlothian South: Two-Candidate Preferred

Data Notes