# 2012 Midlothian Council election

The 2012 Midlothian Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Midlothian Council. The election used the six wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004, with each ward electing three or four Councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation, with 18 Councillors being elected.
The election saw Labour retain their traditional position as the largest party on the council though they lost compared to the 2007 election. The Scottish National Party significantly increased their representation with 2 net gains and a significant rise in vote share to have the same seat numbers as the Labour Party. The Scottish Green Party gained a seat on the council for the first time and so too did Independent, former Conservative member, Peter de Vink. The Scottish Liberal Democrats were wiped out from this authority as well, losing all 3 of their seats (2 in the election, 1 by the defection of a member after 2007).
Following the election the SNP formed a minority administration with the support of the Green Party and the Independent. This is the first time that Labour had not had a role in the running of Midlothian in 84 years.

## Election result

Midlothian Local Election Result 2012 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes | +/− |
| Labour | 8 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 44.44 | 39.49 | 9,967 | +2.69 |
| SNP | 8 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 44.44 | 39.47 | 9,936 | +5.97 |
| Scottish Green | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5.56 | 4.49 | 1,134 | +2.59 |
| Independent | 1 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5.56 | 3.75 | 946 | +1.75 |
| Conservative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 8.51 | 2,147 | -1.59 |
| Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 3 | -3 | 0.00 | 3.73 | 941 | -8.87 |
| TUSC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.67 | 168 | 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
### Penicuik

* 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
* 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
* 2007-2012: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem
Penicuik – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| | SNP | Derek George Rosie | 29.9 | 1,427 | | | | | |
| | Labour | Adam Montgomery (incumbent) | 28.6 | 1,363 | | | | | |
| | SNP | Joe Wallace | 14.8 | 706 | 915.6 | 950.6 | 1,009.1 | 1,057.9 | 1,343.9 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Sheila Thacker | 11.8 | 562 | 571.5 | 601.6 | 721.8 | 993.1 | |
| | Conservative | Sandy Forrest | 9.9 | 474 | 476.5 | 489.8 | 505.9 | | |
| | Scottish Green | Gary Christopher Bell | 5.0 | 237 | 242.6 | 269.5 | | | |
| Electorate: 10,693 Valid: 4,769 Spoilt: 76 Quota: 1,193 Turnout: 4,845 (44.6%) ||||||||||

### Bonnyrigg

* 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2012: 1xLab; 1xSNP; 1xGRN
* 2007-2012 Change: GRN gain one seat from Lab
Bonnyrigg – 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 | Derek Milligan (incumbent) | 30.67 | 1,574 | | | | | | |
| | SNP | Bob Constable (incumbent) | 24.49 | 1,257 | 1,272.1 | 1,566.5 | | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Ian Baxter | 13.07 | 671 | 681.3 | 704.2 | 787.1 | 930.4 | 1,079.9 | 1,407.4 |
| | Labour | Louie Lorraine Milliken | 10.23 | 525 | 749.4 | 768.5 | 809.4 | 864.9 | 1,020.4 | |
| | Independent | Jack Aitchison (incumbent) | 7.44 | 382 | 396.9 | 406.5 | 430.3 | 474.1 | | |
| | Conservative | Emma Cummings | 7.11 | 365 | 368.5 | 373.5 | 386.8 | | | |
| | SNP | Thomas Munro | 6.98 | 358 | 366.5 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 12,007 Valid: 5,132 Spoilt: 99 Quota: 1,284 Turnout: 5,205 (42.74%) |||||||||||

### Dalkeith

* 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Dalkeith – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Labour | Alex Bennett | 31.6 | 1,021 | | | | |
| | SNP | Jim Bryant | 24.9 | 803 | 816.9 | | | |
| | Labour | Margot Russell (incumbent) | 18.7 | 604 | 760.2 | 760.6 | 774.9 | 810.6 |
| | SNP | Colin Cassidy | 12.7 | 410 | 417.7 | 425.6 | 447.6 | 469.1 |
| | Conservative | Robin Traquair | 5.7 | 184 | 187.3 | 187.4 | 194.8 | 235.2 |
| | Liberal Democrats | George Boyd | 4.1 | 133 | 138.8 | 138.9 | 152.4 | |
| | TUSC | Willie Duncan | 2.3 | 75 | 80.8 | 80.9 | | |
| Electorate: 8,678 Valid: 3,230 Spoilt: 81 Quota: 808 Turnout: 3,311 (37.22%) |||||||||

### Midlothian West

* 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
* 2012: 2xSNP; 1xLab
* 2007-2012 Change: SNP gain one seat from Lib Dem
Midlothian West – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SNP | Andrew Coventry | 21.5 | 930 | 935 | 943 | 987 | 1,017 | 1,071 | 1,106 |
| | SNP | Owen Thompson (incumbent)†† | 18.20 | 789 | 793 | 805 | 832 | 861 | 900 | 960 |
| | Labour | Russell Imrie (incumbent) | 17.9 | 776 | 778 | 784 | 823 | 872 | 966 | 1,595 |
| | Labour | Alex Jones | 17.58 | 762 | 764 | 773 | 794 | 821 | 856 | |
| | Conservative | Andrew Hardie | 10.7 | 462 | 480 | 497 | 567 | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Les Thacker (incumbent) | 5.67 | 246 | 247 | 263 | 309 | | | |
| | Scottish Green | Helen Blackburn | 5.2 | 226 | 234 | 258 | | | | |
| | Independent | George McCleery | 2.38 | 103 | 115 | | | | | |
| | TUSC | Lynn Leitch | 0.95 | 41 | | | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,714 Valid: 4,335 Spoilt: 54 Quota: 1,084 Turnout: 4,389 (40.46%) |||||||||||

### Midlothian East

* 2007: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xLib Dem
* 2012: 1xSNP; 1xLab; 1xIndependent
* 2007-2012 Change: Independent gain one seat from Labour
Midlothian East – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| | SNP | Lisa Beattie (incumbent) | 33.1 | 1,372 | | | | | | |
| | Labour | Peter Boyes (incumbent) † | 24.2 | 1,003 | 1,015.5 | 1,020.5 | 1,036.7 | 1,048.6 | | |
| | Labour | Katie Moffat (incumbent) | 11.5 | 475 | 486.9 | 493.2 | 525.7 | | | |
| | Independent | Peter de Vink | 11.1 | 461 | 484.9 | 503.4 | 686.3 | 737.8 | 800.9 | 1014.3 |
| | SNP | Paul Bertram | 9.8 | 405 | 656.9 | 665.9 | 689.4 | 721.1 | 781.7 | |
| | Conservative | Richard Thomson | 9.1 | 379 | 388.3 | 388.3 | | | | |
| | TUSC | Bob Goupillot | 1.3 | 52 | 54.2 | | | | | |
| Electorate: 10,409 Valid: 4,147 Spoilt: 78 Quota: 1,037 Turnout: 4,225 (39.84%) |||||||||||

### Midlothian South

* 2007: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2012: 2xLab; 1xSNP
* 2007-2012 Change: No change
Midlothian South – 3 seats :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Labour | Jim Muirhead (incumbent) | 36.0 | 1,305 | | | | |
| | SNP | Cath Johnstone | 21.7 | 786 | 807.9 | 845.1 | 855.7 | 1538.5 |
| | SNP | Dougie Crawford | 19.1 | 693 | 706.1 | 729.7 | 732.3 | |
| | Labour | Bryan Pottinger | 15.4 | 559 | 870.9 | 947.9 | | |
| | Conservative | Peter Smaill | 7.8 | 283 | 293.9 | | | |
| Electorate: 9,288 Valid: 3,626 Spoilt: 68 Quota: 907 Turnout: 3,694 (39.04%) |||||||||

## Post-Election Changes

* † Midlothian East Independent and former Labour Cllr Peter Boyes resigned due to ill-health on 11 August 2014. A by-election was held on 27 November 2014 and was won by Labour's Kenny Young.
* †† Midlothian West SNP Cllr Owen Thompson was elected as an MP for Midlothian on 7 May 2015. He resigned as Leader of Midlothian Council on 23 June 2015 and announced he would resign his Council seat with effect from 1 July 2015. A by-election was held to fill the vacancy on 10 September 2015 and the seat was held by the SNP's Kelly Parry.

## By-elections

Midlothian East By-election (27 November 2014) – 1 Seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| | Labour | Kenny Young | 32.9% | 1,294 | 1,310 | 1,343 | 1,443 | 1,682 |
| | SNP | Colin Cassidy | 32.1% | 1,260 | 1,270 | 1,357 | 1,384 | 1,613 |
| | Independent | Robert Hogg | 19.8% | 780 | 789 | 831 | 914 | |
| | Conservative | Andrew Hardie | 8.4% | 331 | 342 | 359 | | |
| | Scottish Green | Bill Kerr-Smith | 5.0% | 197 | 210 | | | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Euan Davidson | 1.7% | 68 | | | | |
| Electorate: 11,637 Valid: 3,930 Spoilt: 40 Quota: 1,966 Turnout: 3,970 (34.1%) |||||||||
Midlothian West By-election (10 September 2015) – 1 Seat :
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | Count | Count | Count |
| Party | Party | Candidate | FPv% | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| | SNP | Kelly Parry | 43.2% | 1,540 | 1,558 | 1,701 |
| | Labour | Ian Miller | 26.5% | 945 | 977 | 1,082 |
| | Conservative | Pauline Winchester | 14.7% | 524 | 570 | 618 |
| | Scottish Green | Daya Feldwick | 10.4% | 372 | 420 | |
| | Liberal Democrats | Jane Davidson | 4.5% | 162 | | |
| | Independent | David Tedford | 0.7% | 25 | | |
| Electorate: 11,582 Valid: 3,568 Spoilt: 49 Quota: 1,785 Turnout: 3,617 (31.2%) |||||||