# 1974 Scottish local elections

Elections for the Scottish district councils were held on Tuesday 7 May 1974, for both the new regional and district councils, between the two United Kingdom general elections of February and October in that same year.
These were the first elections held to the 53 district councils established by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The Labour Party did reasonably well and the Scottish National Party (SNP) did not. The councillors acted as "shadow" councils until May 1975, when the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 came into effect.

## Results
### National results

Summary of the 1974 Scottish local regional election results :
| Parties | Parties | Votes | Votes % | Wards |
| | Labour | 658,089 | 38.5 | 172 |
| | Conservative | 488,905 | 28.6 | 112 |
| | SNP | 215,502 | 12.6 | 18 |
| | Liberal | 87,333 | 5.1 | 11 |
| | Independent/Other | 261,372 | 15.3 | 114/5 |
| Total | Total | | | |
Summary of the 1974 Scottish District local council election results :
| Parties | Parties | Votes | Votes % | Wards |
| | Labour | 619,531 | 38.4 | 428 |
| | Conservative | 433,287 | 26.8 | 241 |
| | SNP | 200,307 | 12.4 | 62 |
| | Liberal | 80,232 | 5.0 | 17 |
| | Independent/Other | 280,946 | 17.5 | 345/17 |
| Total | Total | | | |
Note: Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles were governed at the district level as unitary authorities, meaning they were not included in any larger region.

### Council Results
#### Regional Councils

| Region | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Total Seats | Control | Details |
| Borders | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 29 | Independent | Details |
| Central | 17 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 34 | Labour | Details |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 35 | Independent | Details |
| Fife | 26 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 (1 Communist) | 42 | Labour | Details |
| Grampian | 13 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 53 | Conservative | Details |
| Highland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 37 | 0 | 47 | Independent | Details |
| Lothian | 24 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 49 | No overall control | Details |
| Orkney | | | | | | | | Independent | Details |
| Shetland | | | | | | | | Independent | Details |
| Strathclyde | 71 | 20 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 103 | Labour | Details |
| Tayside | 15 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 46 | No overall control | Details |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) | | | | | | | | Independent | Details |

#### District Councils

| Region | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Total Seats |
| Borders | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 54 |
| Central | 29 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 67 |
| Dumfries and Galloway | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 61 | 2 | 70 |
| Fife | 43 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 84 |
| Grampian | 30 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 48 | 0 | 108 |
| Highland | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 99 | 0 | 109 |
| Lothian | 62 | 38 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 127 |
| Orkney | | | | | | | |
| Shetland | | | | | | | |
| Strathclyde | 225 | 92 | 25 | 7 | 49 | 8 | 406 |
| Tayside | 29 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 94 |
| Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) | | | | | | | |
The seats on each district council after the election were as follows:

##### Borders

| District | Labour | Conservative | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control |
| Berwickshire | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Conservative |
| Ettrick and Lauderdale | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | Independent |
| Roxburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Border Independents 3 | Independent |
| Tweeddale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | Independent |

##### Central

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control |
| Clackmannan | 5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | Scottish Labour 1 | No overall control |
| Falkirk | 16 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 3 | Independent Labour 1 Non-Party 2 | No overall control |
| Stirling | 7 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | NOC |

##### Dumfries and Galloway

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Independent | Other | Control |
| Annandale and Eskdale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | Independent |
| Nithsdale | 6 | 1 | 1 | 17 | Non-Party 5 | Independent |
| Stewartry | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | Independent |
| Wigtown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | Independent |

##### Fife

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Other | Control |
| Dunfermline | 17 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | Labour |
| Kirkcaldy | 24 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Ratepayers 4 Communist 1 | NOC |
| North-East Fife | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Conservative |

##### Grampian

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control |
| Banff and Buchan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Independent |
| City of Aberdeen | 28 | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | Labour |
| Gordon | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | Independent |
| Kincardine and Deeside | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Independent |
| Moray | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | Independent |

##### Highland

| District | Labour | SNP | Independent | Control |
| Badenoch and Strathspey | 0 | 0 | 10 | Independent hold |
| Caithness | 0 | 0 | 15 | Independent hold |
| Inverness | 0 | 0 | 15 | Independent hold |
| Lochaber 2 vacancies | 3 | 0 | 7 | Independent |
| Nairn | 0 | 3 | 7 | Independent |
| Ross and Cromarty | 0 | 0 | 20 | Independent hold |
| Skye and Lochalsh | 0 | 0 | 10 | Independent |
| Sutherland | 0 | 0 | 14 | Independent |

##### Lothian

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Control |
| City of Edinburgh | 27 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 1 | No overall control |
| East Lothian | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Labour |
| Midlothian | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Labour |
| West Lothian | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 3 | NOC |

##### Strathclyde

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Liberal | Independent | Others | Control |
| Argyll and Bute 1 vacancy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | Independent |
| Bearsden and Milngavie | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | No overall control |
| Clydebank | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | Scottish Labour 1 | Labour |
| Cumbernauld and Kilsyth | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | SNP |
| Cumnock and Doon Valley | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Labour |
| Cunninghame | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Moderate Conservatives 7 | Labour |
| Dumbarton | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | Labour |
| East Kilbride | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | No overall control |
| Eastwood | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ratepayers 2 | Conservative |
| City of Glasgow | 54 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Independent Conservative 1 | Labour |
| Hamilton | 13 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Independent Labour 0 | Labour |
| Inverclyde | 14 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | Labour |
| Kilmarnock and Loudoun | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Labour |
| Kyle and Carrick | 10 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Conservative |
| Lanark | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | Independent |
| Motherwell | 25 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Communist 0 | Labour |
| Monklands | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Labour |
| Renfrew | 25 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | CA 1 | Labour |
| Strathkelvin | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | No overall control |

##### Tayside

| District | Labour | Conservative | SNP | Independent | Others | Control |
| Angus | 3 | 11 | 0 | 8 | 0 | Conservative |
| City of Dundee | 22 | 20 | 0 | 2 | Real Labour 1 Monifeith Ratepayers 0 | NOC |
| Perth and Kinross | 4 | 19 | 0 | 6 | 0 | Conservative |