# 2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election

The 2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election was held on 3 May 2012 on the same day as the 31 other local authorities in Scotland. The election used the six wards created under the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with 22 Councillors being elected. Each ward elected either 3 or 4 members, using the STV electoral system.
The election saw Labour gain 2 seats to secure an overall majority on the Council while also significantly increasing their vote. The Scottish National Party remained in second place on the Council but West Dunbartonshire proved to be their worst performance in Scotland as they lost 3 seats including that of Council leader Ronnie McColl. Independents increased their seat numbers to 3 through the addition of former Labour Councillor and the Scottish Socialist Party retained their sole seat - their only one in Scotland.
Following the election the Labour majority administration was formed. This replaced the previous SNP minority led administration which had been supported by Independent councillors that had existed from 2007-2012.

## Results

2012 West Dunbartonshire Council election result :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 12 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 54.6 | 46.6 | 12,497 | 8.9 |
| SNP | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 27.3 | 30.3 | 8,126 | 3.8 |
| Independent | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13.6 | 13.1 | 3,503 | 4.4 |
| Scottish Socialist | 1 | 0 | 0 | | 4.6 | 5.3 | 1,407 | 1.4 |
| Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 4.3 | 1,139 | 3.4 |
| Communist | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 0.4 | 94 | New |
| Scottish Christian | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0.0 | 0.2 | 39 | 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
### Lomond

* 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLabour
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from SNP
Lomond - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | Martin Rooney (incumbent) | 33.64 | 1,243 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Jonathan McColl * | 18.35 | 678 | 686.9 | 711.2 | 736.5 | 775.5 | 784.5 | 1,342.9 |
| | SNP | Ronnie McColl (incumbent) | 14.48 | 535 | 544.8 | 561.5 | 593 | 636.3 | 647.6 | |
| | Labour | Hazel Sorrell | 14.18 | 524 | 789.4 | 840.7 | 884.9 | 998.8 | | |
| | Conservative | Brian McKenzie Walker | 9.34 | 345 | 350.9 | 354.9 | 416.4 | | | |
| | Independent | George Rice | 5.66 | 209 | 214.1 | 238.9 | | | | |
| | Scottish Socialist | Louise Robertson | 4.36 | 161 | 167.9 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 8,958 Valid: 3,695 Spoilt: 79 Quota: 924 Turnout: 3,774 (42.13%) |||||||||||
* = Sitting Councillor for a different Ward.

### Leven

* 2007: 2xSNP; 1xLab; 1xSSP
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xSSP
* 2007-2012 Change: Lab gain one seat from SNP
Leven - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | John Millar (incumbent) | 31.8 | 1,622 | | | | | | |
| | Scottish Socialist | Jim Bollan (incumbent) | 21.0 | 1,073 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Gail Robertson | 20.3 | 1,036 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Michelle Stewart | 8.1 | 412 | 868.5 | 879.3 | 879.7 | 912.4 | 1,011.1 | 1,128.9 |
| | SNP | May Smillie (incumbent) | 7.7 | 392 | 417.6 | 425.9 | 439.4 | 473.9 | 549.4 | |
| | Independent | Archie Thomson | 6.4 | 329 | 359.4 | 371.6 | 371.9 | 459.8 | | |
| | Conservative | David Jardine | 4.6 | 237 | 244.8 | 247.9 | 248.1 | | | |
| Electorate: 13,186 Valid: 5,101 Spoilt: 99 Quota: 1,021 Turnout: 5,200 (39.44%) |||||||||||

### Dumbarton

* 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Dumbarton - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | David McBride (incumbent) | 30.59 | 1,678 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Ian Murray | 18.01 | 988 | 1,015.3 | 1,027.1 | 1,039.1 | 1,050.8 | 1,071.1 | 1,130.4 |
| | Independent | George Black (incumbent) | 13.96 | 766 | 788.1 | 803.4 | 818.6 | 840.2 | 905.1 | 1,146.6 |
| | Labour | Thomas Rainey | 13.74 | 754 | 1,218.9 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Iain Robertson (incumbent) | 10.21 | 560 | 568.6 | 574.9 | 581.2 | 583.7 | 597.1 | 621.3 |
| | Independent | Iain Ellis | 6.60 | 362 | 368.9 | 377.8 | 380.2 | 418.1 | 465.1 | |
| | Conservative | Sally Page | 4.14 | 227 | 230.5 | 233.6 | 234.7 | 241.2 | | |
| | Independent | Andrew Muir | 1.55 | 85 | 93.3 | 98 | 106.6 | | | |
| | Scottish Socialist | Cammy Fyfe | 1.20 | 66 | 71.9 | 78 | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,620 Valid: 5,486 Quota: 1,098 Turnout: 5,600 (44.37%) |||||||||||

### Kilpatrick

* 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Kilpatrick - 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Labour | Douglas McAllister (incumbent) | 48.01 | 1,717 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Jim Finn (incumbent) | 21.11 | 755 | 785.2 | 811.4 | 823.7 | 839.6 | 1,110.5 |
| | Labour | Lawrence O'Neill (incumbent) | 11.19 | 400 | 1,113.8 | | | | |
| | SNP | Ian Dickson | 7.96 | 285 | 291.2 | 301.4 | 305.5 | 324.4 | |
| | Independent | Walter Graham | 7.27 | 260 | 284.9 | 321.9 | 336.8 | 388.8 | 408.2 |
| | Conservative | Douglas Boyle | 3.38 | 121 | 125.8 | 134.7 | 135.1 | | |
| | Scottish Socialist | Dawn Fyfe | 1.06 | 38 | 41.8 | 53.8 | | | |
| Electorate: 9,004 Valid: 3,576 Spoilt: 86 Quota: 895 Turnout: 3,662 (40.67%) ||||||||||

### Clydebank Central

* 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Clydebank Central - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | Labour | Patrick Gerard McGlinchey (incumbent) | 34.83 | 1,587 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Jim Brown (incumbent) | 26.36 | 1,201 | | | | | |
| | Independent | Denis Agnew (incumbent) | 17.10 | 779 | 798.9 | 814.9 | 863 | 910 | 955 |
| | Labour | John Mooney | 12.42 | 566 | 1,158.9 | | | | |
| | SNP | Frank McNiff | 5.20 | 237 | 250.6 | 493.9 | 523.1 | 541.8 | 564.6 |
| | Communist | Tom Morrison | 2.06 | 94 | 98.7 | 103 | 114.9 | 119.2 | |
| | Conservative | Douglas Campbell | 2.02 | 92 | 94.6 | 97.2 | 104.9 | | |
| Electorate: 11,559 Valid: 4,556 Spoilt: 108 Quota: 912 Turnout: 4,664 (40.35%) ||||||||||

### Clydebank Waterfront

* 2007: 2xSNP; 2xLab
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP; 1xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from SNP
Clydebank Waterfront - 4 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | Labour | Gail Casey (incumbent) | 33.55 | 1,473 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | William Hendrie (incumbent) | 24.05 | 1,056 | | | | | | |
| | Independent | Marie McNair (incumbent)† | 16.24 | 713 | 777.1 | 785.2 | 796.6 | 809.8 | 842.8 | 901.5 |
| | Labour | Kath Ryall | 11.87 | 521 | 929.9 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Jim McElhill (incumbent) | 9.18 | 403 | 435.7 | 583.7 | 590.9 | 598.9 | 619.8 | 636.9 |
| | Conservative | Linda Kinniburgh | 2.66 | 117 | 128.3 | 130.3 | 131.9 | 139.1 | 142.6 | |
| | Scottish Socialist | Ann Lynch | 1.57 | 69 | 83.5 | 86.9 | 89.7 | 89.9 | | |
| | Scottish Christian | Alastair Manderson | 0.89 | 39 | 43 | 44.9 | 45.9 | | | |
| Electorate: 11,451 Valid: 4,391 Spoilt: 108 Quota: 879 Turnout: 4,499 (39.29%) |||||||||||

## Aftermath

After the election Labour were able to form a majority administration. This replaced previous SNP led minority administration.
On 5 January 2016, Marie McNair joined the Scottish National Party and ceased to be an independent.