# 2007 Midlothian Council election

Elections to Midlothian Council were held on 3 May 2007, the same day as the other Scottish local government elections and the Scottish Parliament general election. The election was the first one using six new wards created as a result of the Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004. Each ward will elect three or four councillors using the single transferable vote system form of proportional representation. The new wards replace 18 single-member wards which used the plurality (first past the post) system of election.
Labour lost control of the council to no overall control, something which the party suffered in many other parts of Scotland. However, they regained control in 2008 when Cllr Katie Moffat defected from the Liberal Democrats to Labour. Overall, Labour lost six seats and the single independent lost their seat, with most going to the Scottish National Party as well as a single gain for the Liberal Democrats.

## Election results

Midlothian local election results 2007 :
| Party | Seats | Gains | Losses | Net gain/loss | Seats % | Votes % | Votes |
| Labour | 9 | N/A | N/A | –6 | 50.0 | 36.8 | 12,559 |
| SNP | 6 | N/A | N/A | +6 | 33.3 | 33.4 | 11,406 |
| Liberal Democrats | 3 | N/A | N/A | +1 | 16.7 | 12.7 | 4,331 |
| Conservative | 0 | N/A | N/A | ±0 | 0.0 | 10.1 | 3,443 |
| Scottish Green | 0 | N/A | N/A | ±0 | 0.0 | 1.9 | 650 |
| Scottish Socialist | 0 | N/A | N/A | ±0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 511 |
| Solidarity | 0 | N/A | N/A | ±0 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 494 |
| Had Enough | 0 | N/A | N/A | ±0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 105 |
| Independent | 0 | N/A | N/A | –1 | 0.0 | 2.0 | 667 |

## Ward results

Midlothian council election, 2007: Penicuik :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| SNP | Margaret Wilson | 2,307 | 34.7 | 1 | 1 |
| Labour | Adam Montgomery | 1,554 | 23.3 | 2 | 4 |
| Liberal Democrats | Ken Brown | 1,001 | 15.0 | 3 | 7 |
| Liberal Democrats | Shiela Thacker | 974 | 14.6 | | |
| Conservative | Sandy Forrest | 694 | 10.4 | | |
| Solidarity | Jackie Moyers | 64 | 1.0 | | |
| Scottish Socialist | Norman Gilfillan | 62 | 0.9 | | |
Midlothian council election, 2007: Bonnyrigg :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| SNP | Bob Constable | 1,905 | 30.3 | 1 | 1 |
| Labour | Jack Aitchison†† | 1,530 | 24.4 | 2 | 2 |
| Labour | Derek Milligan | 1,383 | 22.0 | 3 | 7 |
| Scottish Green | Ian Baxter | 650 | 10.4 | | |
| Conservative | John Stoddart | 600 | 9.6 | | |
| Scottish Socialist | Neil Bennet | 138 | 2.2 | | |
| Solidarity | Chris Moyers | 71 | 1.1 | | |
Midlothian council election, 2007: Dalkeith :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| SNP | Craig Statham | 1,333 | 29.9 | 1 | 1 |
| Labour | Alex Bennett††† | 1,331 | 29.9 | 2 | 1 |
| Labour | Margot Russell | 761 | 17.1 | 3 | 7 |
| Liberal Democrats | Ray Prior | 657 | 14.8 | | |
| Conservative | Rosemary McDougall | 217 | 4.9 | | |
| Solidarity | Alan Boyce | 94 | 2.1 | | |
| Scottish Socialist | Bob Goupillot | 60 | 1.3 | | |
Midlothian council election, 2007: Midlothian West :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| SNP | Owen Thompson | 1,981 | 33.2 | 1 | 1 |
| Labour | Russell Imrie | 1,506 | 25.2 | 2 | 1 |
| Liberal Democrats | Les Thacker | 868 | 14.5 | 3 | 10 |
| Conservative | Andrew Hardie | 634 | 10.6 | | |
| Independent | Elizabeth Veitch | 259 | 4.3 | | |
| Independent | George Purcell | 220 | 3.7 | | |
| Independent | Pat Kenny | 188 | 3.2 | | |
| Scottish Socialist | Lynn Leitch | 108 | 1.8 | | |
| Had Enough | George McCleery | 105 | 1.8 | | |
| Solidarity | Brian Cranston | 99 | 1.7 | | |
Midlothian council election, 2007: Midlothian East :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| SNP | Lisa Beattie | 1,988 | 34.6 | 1 | 1 |
| Labour | Peter Boyes | 1,357 | 23.6 | 2 | 4 |
| Liberal Democrats | Katie Moffat† | 831 | 14.5 | 3 | 7 |
| Conservative | Robin Traquair | 812 | 14.1 | | |
| Labour | Bob Jenkins | 617 | 10.7 | | |
| Solidarity | Derek Duncan | 82 | 1.4 | | |
| Scottish Socialist | Murray Court | 63 | 1.1 | | |
Midlothian council election, 2007: Midlothian South :
| Party | Candidate | 1st Pref | % | Seat | Count |
| SNP | Colin Beattie | 1,892 | 37.4 | 1 | 1 |
| Labour | Wilma Chalmers | 1,336 | 26.4 | 2 | 1 |
| Labour | James Muirhead | 1,184 | 23.4 | 3 | 2 |
| Conservative | Peter Smaill | 486 | 9.6 | | |
| Solidarity | Willie Duncan | 84 | 1.7 | | |
| Scottish Socialist | John Carroll | 80 | 1.6 | | |

## Changes since 2007 election

* † On 3 June 2008, Midlothian East Cllr Katie Moffat defected from the Liberal Democrats to the Labour Party.
* †† On 29 March 2012, Bonnyrigg Cllr Jack Aitchison resigned from the Labour Party and now sits as an Independent.
* ††† On 5 April 2012, Dalkeith Cllr Alex Bennett formally resigned from the council to secure his Local Government pension.